1. religion and spirituality
2. judaism

2021 E. 71st STREET
TULSA, OKLAHOMA 74136
Vol. 76 No. 7
www.JEWISHTULSA.org
Founded in 1930 by Tulsa Section, National Council of Jewish Women
27 Av 5765
PUBLISHED BY THE JEWISH FEDERATION OF TULSA
Sept. 1, 2005
“DISENGAGEMENT” FROM GAZA
Sharon speech to Israelis:
“most difficult and painful step”
THE FOLLOWING IS A TRANSCRIPT
OF A SPEECH TO HIS NATION BY
ISRAEL S PRIME MINISTER, ARIEL
SHARON ON AUGUST 15, 2005
Citizens of Israel, The day has
arrived.
We are beginning the most difficult
and painful step of all — evacuating
our communities from the Gaza Strip
and Northern Samaria.
This step is very difficult for me
personally.
It was with a heavy heart that the
government of Israel made the decision regarding disengagement, and
the Knesset did not lightly approve it.
It is no secret that I, like many others, believed and hoped that we
could forever hold on to Netzarim
and Kfar Darom. However, the
changing reality in this country, in
this region, and in the world,
required another reassessment and
changing of positions.
Gaza cannot be held onto forever.
Over one-million Palestinians live
there, and they double their
numbers with every generation. They
live in incredibly cramped refugee
camps, in poverty and squalor, in
hotbeds of ever-increasing hatred,
with no hope whatsoever on the horizon.
It is out of strength and not weakness that we are taking this step. We
tried to reach agreements with the
Palestinians which would move the
two peoples towards the path of
peace. These were crushed against a
wall of hatred and fanaticism.
The unilateral Disengagement Plan,
which I announced approximately
two years ago, is the Israeli answer to
this reality.
This plan is good for Israel in any
future scenario.
We are reducing the day-to-day
friction and its victims on both sides.
The IDF will redeploy on defensive
lines behind the Security Fence.
Those who continue to fight us will
SEE SHARON ON
PAGE 2
GAZA
Annual Hebrew Marathon
Is Coming!
Camp Shalom 2005
S c o r e s B i g Wi n
Some 320 campers attend recordbreaking 11 weeks of summer fun
A PLAYER FOR THE
INTERNATIONALLY
FAMOUS
HARLEM
GLOBETROTTERS
BASKETBALL TEAM
manages to get past
the defense of our own
Camp Shalom team to
score a basket during
Camp Shalom's Globetrotter's
Basketball
Week at the Charles
Schusterman
JCC.
See more photos and
information about this
year’s extremely successful Camp Shalom
on pages 6 and 11.
“Race to Learn” Set for October 23-30
JEWISH COMMUNITY
BLOOD DRIVE
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 2
9 a.m. – 1 p.m.
at Temple Israel
Sponsored by the Charles Schusterman
Jewish Community Center
GIVE THE “GIFT OF LIFE”
The Tulsa Jewish community, led by the Jewish Federation of Tulsa, Congregation B’nai Emunah, and Temple Israel, will once again be sponsoring a
“Hebrew Marathon” this October. The Hebrew Marathon, an internationally
renowned program prepared by Rabbi Noah Golinkin, was developed in
order to provide adult learners with the tools necessary to become Hebrew
readers in just eight hours! The Hebrew Marathon has become a frequent
event in the Tulsa Jewish community and has been an inspirational success
for many people.
The Hebrew Marathon will take place throughout two Sundays, October
23, from 1-5 p.m., and October 30, from 1-5 p.m., at Congregation B’nai
Emunah.
Registration for the program is $45 for affiliated members (Congregation
B’nai Emunah, Temple Israel, Congregation Beth Torah, Charles Schusterman Jewish Community Center) and $115 for unaffiliated, and includes the
cost of all program materials, textbooks, administration, refreshments, as
well as a special recognition award upon completion of the program.
The program will be led by Helen Winoker, education director of Congregation B’nai Emunah, a gentle, patient, and exceptionally skilled teacher.
Receipt of your payment for $45 or $115 will fully enroll you in the Hebrew
Marathon. Please send your payment no later than October 17 to:
The Charles Schusterman Jewish Community Center
Hebrew Marathon
2021 East 71st Street
Tulsa OK 74136
Questions? Call 495-1111
TO REGISTER CALL MINDY
AT 495-1111
... in the Review
Community Relations: Robert Cohen ............................................p.2
Fall Schedule of Holocaust Activities.............................................p.2
What’s Nu? ...................................................................................p.3
Are We Listening?: Rabbi Charles P. Sherman ..............................p.3
Engliyada 2005 Session in Israel: Vivian White ............................p.4
Jewish Fighter in “Cinderella Man” mischaracterized....................p.4
Jewish Boy Scouts Find their Own Identity ...................................p.5
Pro-Israel Campus Activists Achieving Quiet Successes ...............p.5
What’s Happening at the JCC.................................................pp.6,7
Jenks High School Grad a Finalist in Holocaust Essay Content ......p.8
Heritage Academy News ...............................................................p.9
Tulsa Physician Participates in P2K Exchange with Israel.............p.9
Community Calendar ................................................................p.11
Israel and Iran Cooperating in Advanced Science Project............p.12
2 TULSA JEWISH REVIEW SEPT. 1, 2005
COMMUNITY RELATIONS
Deeds, Not Words
BY ROBERT COHEN
COMMUNITY RELATIONS DIRECTOR
ASSISTANT EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
JEWISH FEDERATION OF TULSA
arlier this summer, the Fiqh
Council of North America, a
loose group of almost 20
Islamic scholars, issued a fatwa – a
religious edict by Muslim clerics –
against terrorism. This seemed to fit
what many of us have been waiting
for: a condemnation of terrorism by
leaders of the Islamic community.
More than 100 Muslim American
organizations then endorsed the
fatwa. A week before that, the Muslim American Society announced it
was launching a national campaign
to combat terrorism, “Faith over
Fear and Justice for All.”
You may recall reading in this
space my assertions that the failure
of American Muslim leaders to
clearly and unambiguously condemn terrorism left a gaping hole in
their credibility. Without such a condemnation, how could we trust them
as partners in the war against terror
and in support of democracy?
So now that religious and secular
Muslim groups have stood up to be
counted, does that put to rest my
concerns? No, or at least, not yet.
As observers far more knowledgeable on Islam than I, such as Middle
East studies professor Walid Phares
at Florida Atlantic University, have
written, the fatwa is hardly one in
the traditional sense of the word. It
is unconventional in style, makes no
connection between the issue of terrorism and the Koranic verses cited,
was not issued in Arabic so it could
be read and discussed by Muslims
around the world, and uses language and concepts with gaps large
enough for Bin Laden to drive a
bomb-laden truck through.
Equally troublesome: the organizations that endorsed the fatwa have
shown many times that they are
committed to denouncing terrorism
in name only. The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) has
defended Hamas suicide bombings
against Israeli civilians. The Islamic
Society North America hosted the
Imam of the Grand Mosque in
E
Makkah, Saudi Arabia, after he
described Jews as “the scum of the
human race, the rats of the world,
the killers of prophets and the
grandsons of monkeys and pigs.”
Cleveland Imam Fawaz Damra,
famous for urging donations to the
Palestinian Islamic Jihad and
asserting that Muslim countries
would not regain their glory until all
guns were aimed at the Jews, whom
he described as “sons of pigs and
monkeys,” also endorsed the fatwa.
The new Muslim American Society
(“MAS”) anti-terror campaign is
equally suspect, despite its endorsement by such reputable organizations as the Interfaith Alliance. The
problem isn’t the content of the campaign; it’s the main sponsor. Extraordinary investigative reporting by
the Chicago Tribune and other credible sources has unmasked the MAS
as a United States front for the Muslim Brotherhood, a decades-old
global terrorist organization founded
in Egypt. Despite its public denials,
extensive evidence shows the Society
with an agenda for replacing the
U.S. Constitution with an Islamic
legal and political regime.
All of which leaves us in a
quandary. American Jewish Congress President Paul Miller has
noted that because radicals play so
dominant a role in the leadership of
the Muslim community, those people with perfectly clean hands will
not be taken seriously by other Muslims. Dare we work with a tiger who
we hope lost its stripes?
One Muslim activist I know tells
me that much is happening in the
American Muslim community below
the radar, and moderate Muslims
are making progress asserting themselves. For example, recalls of
Korans with Wahhabi mistranslations are said to be underway across
the country.
Let us hope that Muslim and Arab
advocacy organizations will purge
themselves of at least their leaders
with the most egregious personal
histories. And let us look for those
organizations to take more meaningful, concrete steps to demonstrate
and implement their unqualified
rejection of terrorism.
BUSY FALL SCHEDULE
OF HOLOCAUST ACTIVITIES
Special to the Review
The Council for Holocaust Education has set an ambitious
schedule for the fall school term.
Just before the start of school,
some 40 teachers attended the
Holocaust Educators’ Back-toSchool Briefing on August 9 in
the lobby of the Sherwin Miler
Museum of Jewish Art. This
annual event enables the members of the northeast Oklahoma
Holocaust educators network to
renew professional acquaintances, recharge their batteries
over bagels and coffee, and share
their creative ideas.
The program featured presentations by teachers who, with the
financial support of the Community Relations Committee of the
Jewish Federation of Tulsa, participated in summer workshops.
Three
Union
Intermediate
High School teachers, Rhonda
Johnson, Judy Rowell, and Bill
Polson, attended Vladka Meed’s
seminar, “The Holocaust and
THE EDUCATORS IN THE PHOTO ABOVE Jewish Resistance,” in Poland,
ARE SHOWN AT THE GATE OF AUSCHWITZ. the Czech Republic, and WashHigh
School
(l-r): Bill Polson, Judy Rowell and Rhonda ington. Jenks
Johnson are all teachers of U.S. or American
History at Union Intermediate High School in
Broken Arrow.
Photo by Bill Polson
Jewish Genealogical Society
Forming
TULSA, — An initial organizational
meeting of the Jewish Genealogical
Society of Tulsa will be held on Sunday, September 11, at 1 p.m., in the
Barbara and Dave Sylvan Auditorium
at the Charles Schusterman Jewish
Community Center. This new society
will be affiliated with the Sherwin
Miller Museum of Jewish Art.
Plan to be a part of this exciting,
stimulating, and rewarding new
organization as you discover your
own roots, develop a sense of
We are embarking on a new
path which has many risks,
but also a ray of hope
for all of us.
in the story of Israel, and a central
chapter in the story of your lives as
pioneers, as realizers of a dream, and
as those who bore the security and
settlement burden for all of us.
Your pain and your tears are an
inseparable part of the history of this
country. Whatever disagreements we
have, we will not abandon you, and
following the evacuation, we will do
everything in our power to rebuild
your lives and communities.
I wish to tell the soldiers of the IDF,
the police officers of the Israel Police
and Border Police: it’s not an enemy
you face, rather your brothers and
sisters. I want you to know: the
entire nation stands behind you and
is proud of you.
Citizens of Israel, The responsibility
for the future of Israel rests on my
shoulders. I initiated the Plan
because I concluded that this action
is vital for Israel. Believe me, the
extent of pain that I feel at this act is
equal only to the measure of resolved
recognition that it was something
that had to be done.
We are embarking on a new path
which has many risks, but also a ray
of hope for all of us. With the help of
God, may this path be one of unity
and not division, of mutual respect,
and not animosity between brothers,
of unconditional love, and not baseless hatred.
I will do my utmost to ensure that it
will be so. The world awaits the Palestinian
response — a hand offered in peace
or continued terrorist fire. To a hand
offered in peace, we will respond with
an olive branch. But if they choose
fire, we will respond with fire, more
severe than ever.
The Disengagement will allow us to
look inward. Our national agenda
will change. In our economic policy
we will be free to turn to closing the
social gaps and engaging in a genuine struggle against poverty. We will
advance education and increase the
personal security of every citizen in
the country.
The disagreement over the Disengagement Plan has caused severe
wounds, bitter hatred between
brothers, and severe statements and
actions. I understand the feelings,
the pain and the cries of those who
object. However, we are one nation
even when fighting and arguing.
See more about the Gaza Withdrawal on
Residents of the Gaza Strip, today
marks the end of a glorious chapter page 10.
history, embrace our rich heritage,
and learn to research all of it. The
research will not be limited to families of Jewish origin.
For any questions or if you would
like to volunteer and serve on a committee, please call the Sherwin Miller
Museum office at 492-1818, or
e-mail [email protected]
Organizers look forward to sharing
the adventure as we discover our
personal histories.
TULSA JEWISH REVIEW
The Newspaper of the Tulsa Jewish Community
THE TULSA JEWISH REVIEW (ISSN # 1521-5482) is published monthly
by the Jewish Federation of Tulsa, 2021 E. 71st St.,Tulsa, OK 74136.
Periodicals Postage Paid at Tulsa, OK
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to:
The Jewish Federation of Tulsa, 2021 E. 71st St., Tulsa, OK 74136.
ISRAEL P. M. SHARON SPEECH TO HIS NATION
REGARDING GAZA, CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
meet the full force of the IDF and the
security forces.
Now the Palestinians bear the burden of proof. They must fight terror
organizations, dismantle its infrastructure, and show sincere intentions of peace in order to sit with us
at the negotiating table.
SEE HOLOCAUST
ACTIVITIES, PAGE 10
Perry K. Simons, executive director
Terry Marcum, chair
Ed Ulrich, editor; design and production
Debbie Mann, advertising representative
PHONE: (918) 495-1100
FAX: (918) 495-1220
www.JEWISHTULSA.org
E-MAIL: [email protected]
AUTHORIZED MEDIUM FOR THE COMMUNITY'S JEWISH AGENCIES
Rita Moskowitz, chair
JEWISH FEDERATION OF TULSA
CHARLES SCHUSTERMAN
JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER
BBYO F-R AZA CHAPTER # 276
Perry K. Simons, executive director
John Clayman, president
AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE
Trevor Langston, president
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF JEWISH WOMEN
Denise Landgarten, president
BBYO N.B.S. BBG CHAPTER # 243
Becca Zemel, president
SHERWIN MILLER MUSEUM
OF JEWISH ART
Louis Davidson, president
B'NAI B'RITH, TULSA LODGE #798
Aaron Maissell, president
TULSA HEBREW SCHOOL
David Charney, president
B'NAI EMUNAH MEN'S CLUB
Jeff Darby, president
B'NAI EMUNAH SISTERHOOD
TEMPLE ISRAEL BROTHERHOOD
Jeff Chasen, president
Randee Charney, president
CHABAD HOUSE
TEMPLE ISRAEL
Rabbi Yehuda B. Weg
Yohanan Zomer, M.D., president
Rabbi Charles P. Sherman
Ginny Katz, president
CONGREGATION B'NAI EMUNAH
TEMPLE ISRAEL SISTERHOOD
Lillie Land, president
Rabbi Marc Boone Fitzerman
James Cash, M.D., president
HERITAGE ACADEMY
Richard Borg, president
Helen Hightower, director
DEADLINES
FOR
TULSA JEWISH RETIREMENT
AND HEALTH CARE CENTER
Andrew Wolov, president
James M. Jakubovitz, executive director
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TULSA JEWISH REVIEW
SEPT. 1, 2005
FALL 2005
INSTITUTE OF
ADULT JEWISH STUDIES
What’s Nu?
Last month George Bush signed into law
an energy bill that extends daylight-saving
time – with some Jewish input. The bill was
originally to have extended daylight-saving
time by two months, but the U.S. House of
Representatives and the Senate compromised at the last moment and settled on a
one-month extension: three weeks in
March and a week in November, because
Jewish groups had joined with others,
including farmers and parents groups, to
oppose longer extensions. Observant
Jews were particularly concerned that, with
8:30 a.m. sunrises, they would be late for
work if they said morning prayers. The
changes take place in 2007.
The world’s oldest married couple is Jewish. Philadelphia residents Herbert and
Magda Brown, 105 and 100, respectively,
have been recognized as the “oldest living
married couple, aggregate age,” by the
Guinness Book of World Records. Magda
attributes her long time with Herbert to
communication. “He is very easy-going; I
am the strong one,” she told Reuters in an
interview. “We never argued; we just had
discussions.” The couple married in
Magda’s native Hungary in 1930 and then
moved to Austria, Herbert’s homeland,
where he was arrested by the nazis and
sent to Dachau. He was released in
exchange for all of the family’s possessions, and he, Magda, and their only
daughter fled to London, later making their
way to the United States.
Trade between Poland and Israel is
growing rapidly, new data suggests. Compared to the first half of 2004, the total
import of goods from Poland to Israel
increased by 23 percent, and Israeli
exports to Poland rose by 40 percent,
according to the Israeli Ministry of Industry,
Trade, and Labor. On the Israeli side, the
biggest import is Polish transport equipment, while the largest import items for
Poland are Israeli fruits and vegetables,
transport equipment, and hi-tech products.
Israel has recently received hundreds of
French immigrants. Two El Al planes bearing 300 Jews from Paris and Marseille
landed at Ben-Gurion Airport in July as part
of a Jewish Agency for Israel operation
to encourage French immigration. The
director general of the agency’s Immigration and Absorption Department, Mike
Rosenberg, said that in the first half of
2005 there was a 30 percent rise in immigration from France, compared to the
same period last year. Also, French
tourism to Israel is at an all-time high.
Israeli officials have announced that
134,200 people entered the country from
French airports between January and June
2005, an increase of 28 percent over the
same time last year. Seventy percent of
French tourists head for Tel Aviv, officials
said, with Netanya and Eilat in second and
third place. But the French Jewish community has not necessarily felt fairly treated by
the Israeli tourism industry. In June, the
French Jewish newsweekly Actualite Juive
claimed French tourists were treated like
“milk cows,” to be drained of all their
money. “They don’t speak French to us
until it’s time to pay the bills,” the editor of
Actualite Juive, Serge Benattar, told JTA.
The Israeli minister of tourism responded
by ordering a boycott of the newsweekly
but did say that, “We are aware of the
problem, and we are studying several solutions.” He also announced that several
new airlines will soon be authorized to fly
between France and Israel.
Intel is planning to build a plant in Israel.
Reuters has reported that Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon told Cabinet ministers that the
computer company’s chairman, Craig
Barrett, said the company would build the
plant in Kiryat Gat, in southern Israel, for
some $4 billion. Sharon also said the government would provide Intel with a grant of
some $525 million to support the facility’s
construction.
Recently discovered documents in
Belarus appear to confirm rumors that the
son of Chabad’s founder converted to
Catholicism. According to a recent Ha’aretz
report, Hebrew University Professor Shaul
Stempfer discovered documents in the
national historical archives in Minsk that
chronicle the conversion of Moshe
Zalmanovitch, the youngest son of Rabbi
Shneur Zalman of Liadi, about 180 years
ago. The files, which once belonged to the
Catholic Church, contain a letter written by
Moshe in 1820, in which he professes his
Roman Catholic faith. According to the documents, Moshe was mentally unstable, and
after a stint as advisor to the czar, ended
his life in a mental hospital in St. Petersburg. Chabad historian Yosef Kaminetzky
responded to the Ha’aretz story by saying
the Minsk documents are forgeries, and
Catholic authorities in Minsk tried to convert
Zalmanovitch against his will.
Seven Consecutive Mondays –
November 7 - December 19
Classes will be held at Congregation
B’nai Emunah
Watch your mail for more information
or call 495-1111
Israeli athletes won the largest number of
medals at the recent 17th Maccabiah
Games in Israel. Athletes representing the
Jewish state won 381 medals, including 146
golds, in the open competition at the
games, which ended July 21. The U.S.
team finished with 156 medals. Russia finished third with 48 medals, and Canada
fourth with 28.
Cosponsored by
The Charles Schusterman
Jewish Community Center,
Congregation B’nai Emunah,
Jewish Federation of Tulsa, Temple Israel
Jews are no longer the majority group in
Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza Strip combined, a new study has found. According to
data supplied last month by the daily
Ha'aretz before the Israeli “disengagement” from Gaza, Jews constituted slightly
more than 49.3 percent of the population in
these areas. The figures were supplied by
Israel and the Palestinian Authority's statistics bureaus. The paper included as nonJews some 185,000 foreign workers in
Israel and almost 300,000 immigrants who
are not Jewish under Orthodox law. Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon has said that the
present Gaza withdrawal would help Israel
demographically by ridding it of responsibility for 1.4 million Palestinians. According
to Ha'aretz, demographers say that after
the Gaza withdrawal, the percentage of
Jews within Israel's borders will be around
56 percent, a majority that should last for
around 20 years.
The U.S. government has changed regulations to allow part-time federal employees
to use comp time to take off for Sabbath and
other Jewish observances. Observant
employees had been allowed to bank comp
time instead of earning overtime wages in
order to take off time for holidays, but the
Office of Personnel Management recently
changed the policy. Agudath Israel of America lobbied the government, saying full- and
part-time employees should be offered the
same opportunities for religious worship.
COURSE OFFERINGS
*Indicates new class
CLASS
INSTRUCTOR(S)
HOUR I : 7:15-8:15 p.m.
* Men Of Mystery: Elijah & Elisha
Rabbi Marc Fitzerman
& Rabbi Charles P. Sherman
* Living with Loss, Healing with Hope Dr. Cathy Kass
* Nu? What’s Happening in the World M. Shiela Mudd
Today?
* Jews in Psychology &
Dr. Melanie Rich
the Psychology in Judaism
Hebrew
Beginning Hebrew: Part I
Intermediate Hebrew: Part I
Alin Torianyk
Helen Winoker
HOUR II 8:30-9:30 p.m.
Introduction to Judaism
* Beyond Never Again
* The Music of the Jews,
Part I: The Love of Chazzanut
* The History of Eretz Israel
* U.S. Jews & World Report
* Hebrew Blessings & Prayers
for Non-Hebrew Readers
Rabbi Charles P. Sherman
& Rabbi Marc B. Fitzerman
Rabbi Yehuda Weg
Cantor Kari Siegel-Eglash
Itai Lavi
Robert Cohen
Jackie Lasky
SUNSHINE SESSIONS
at Zarrow Manor on Tuesdays
Zarrow Manor-Rainbow Room-First Floor
Tuesdays from 11-noon
A school board in Louisiana has settled a
church-state separation case with a Jewish
family. The settlement reached last month
ends a case launched in April 2004, when
the family complained about a Nativity
scene in the school library during the
Christmas season and a group called
‘Stallions for Christ’ that met at recess. The
settlement clarifies that religious expression is allowed, but outlines a grievance
process if children feel pressure for religious reasons. The family has since
moved out of state.
SEPTEMBER 6, 13, 20, 27 — “Fall Festivals”
Instructor: Rabbi Yehuda Weg, Chabad House
If timing is everything, then it’s time to explore and prepare for the
High Holydays and beyond; Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, and
Simchat Torah.
FUTURE “SUNSHINE SESSIONS
MONTH
INSTRUCTOR
October 2005
No classes
November 2005
Cantor Kari Siegel-Eglash
December 2005
Helen Winoker
January 2006
Rabbi Charles P. Sherman
February 2006
Rabbi Marc B. Fitzerman
Call Amy Terkel at 495-1111 for more information
CONTINUED ON PAGE 10
Are We Listening?
BY CHARLES P. SHERMAN, D.D.
RABBI
TEMPLE ISRAEL
his year (5765) is a leap year, so we added an
entire month to our calendar before Purim.
That is why Elul, the preparatory month before
the High Holydays, doesn’t begin until the eve of September 4. Therefore, our Holydays are later than they
usually come on the secular calendar. (Holidays are
always on time – not early, not late; it is just in comparison to the secular calendar that they seem to be
later this year.) It is appropriate that Elul begins with
Labor Day because we are supposed to begin the work
of teshuvah during Elul, not wait for the Holydays to
arrive. Preparing to turn around our lives, to redirect
our steps, to change direction requires effort.
I delivered a sermon this past year in response to the
terrible tsunami tragedy indicating that I did not think
God was in a tsunami, and I don’t think God was in the
recent spate of hurricanes; God is not in earthquakes or
tornadoes either. For me, God is in the still small voice
of conscience, and one of the efforts I believe we all have
to make in order to change, grow, improve, make the
new year a different year because we are different and
make it a better year because we are better, is to learn to
listen to that still small voice of God. A wonderful story
will help us remember this lesson.
A young, successful executive was traveling down a
neighborhood street, going a bit too fast in his new
Jaguar. He was watching for kids darting in and out
from between parked cars and slowed down when he
thought he saw something. As his car passed, no children appeared. Instead, a brick smashed into the Jag’s
side door.
T
The executive slammed on the brakes and spun the
Jag back to the spot from where the brick had been
thrown. He jumped out of the car, grabbed a kid, and
pushed him up against a parked car shouting, “What
was that all about, and who are you? Just what the
heck are you doing?” Building up a head of steam, he
went on. “That’s a new car and that brick you threw is
going to cost a lot of money. Why did you do it?”
“Please, mister, please. I’m sorry. I didn’t know what
else to do,” pleaded the youngster. “I threw the brick
because no one else would stop ...” Tears were dripping
down the boy’s chin as he pointed around the parked
car. “It’s my brother; he rolled off the curb and fell out
of his wheelchair, and I can’t lift him up.” Sobbing, the
boy asked the executive, “Would you please help me get
him back into his wheelchair? He’s hurt and he’s too
heavy for me.”
Moved beyond words, the driver tried to swallow the
rapidly swelling lump in his throat. He lifted the young
man back into his wheelchair and took out his handkerchief and wiped the scrapes and cuts, checking to see
that everything was going to be okay. “Thank you and
may God bless you,” the grateful child said to him.
The man then watched the little boy push his brother
down the sidewalk toward their home. It was a long
walk back to his Jaguar ... a long, slow walk. He never
did repair the side door. He kept the dent to remind him
not to go through life so fast that someone has to throw
a brick at you to get your attention.
I believe God whispers to us, speaking to our conscience, our soul, our heart. Sometimes, however, when
we don’t take the time to listen, God has to throw a
brick at us. But it is always our choice – should we listen to the whisper or wait for the brick?
This month let’s sharpen our listening skills. It is one
of the best ways I know to prepare for a new year.
3
4 TULSA JEWISH REVIEW SEPT. 1, 2005
“A Taste of Yeshiva” Held
at the Tulsa Garden Center
Engliyada 2005 Session Held in Israel
Tulsans help teach Conversational
English to 97 Israelis
VIVIAN WHITE
CHAIRPERSON
TULSA PARTNERSHIP 2000
BY
ngliyada is a Partnership 2000
program developed by Dr. Mel
Resnick of Tulsa to teach
Conversational English to adults
from the Sovev Kinneret Region of
Israel. Most Israelis have studied
English grammar but do not have
experience speaking. The Engliyada
program is designed to help them
overcome their fear of oral conversation. The goals of the program are to
develop a closer relationship with
Israel and to help Israelis procure
employment and promotions by
improving their English skills.
A program of the Jewish Federation
of Tulsa, Engliyada began in 1999
and has been taught at least once or
twice each year since. During my
years of involvement, more than 30
Tulsans have helped 500 Israelis to
speak English.
Engliyada 2005 officially began on
May 15 with the arrival of the first
group of very enthusiastic volunteers
from Tulsa and our sister cities, Milwaukee and St. Paul. Most of us had
arrived in Tiberias from other locations we were visiting in Israel in
time to begin our Engliyada experience by
spending a
wonderful
Shabbat with our Israeli host families.
The projects and goals of Partnership 2000 to help the people of Eretz
Israel are being recognized and discussed throughout northern Israel.
Engliyada student enrollment more
than doubled this year! The Israeli
staff closed enrollment with 97 students, and many students were
placed on a waiting list in case someone dropped out. But very few students dropped, and we were not able
to accommodate everyone. Three
Engliyada volunteers were from
Tulsa, nine from St. Paul, and two
from Milwaukee. The 97 students live
or work in the Sovev Kinneret Region.
Classes were held Sunday through
Thursday, from 5 p.m., until 8 p.m.,
with a 30-minute teachers’ meeting
after class. The Partnership offered
many exciting educational tours of
the region during the day.
Engliyada 2005 was a four-week
course divided into two sessions,
each lasting for two weeks. Classes
were divided into five levels, consisting of an average of about 19
students per class. The students
came from all walks of life: IDF soldiers who were living at the absorption center where we taught,
E
MORE THAN 25 MEN AND WOMEN participated in the recent Chabad House program “A Taste of Yeshiva.” The event, held at the Tulsa Garden Center, gave participants a chance to experience the stimulating level of Torah study available
in a yeshiva. The topic of study for the day was “Stem Cell Research in Contemporary Jewish Law.”
Jewish fighter given short shrift in
Ron Howard’s ‘Cinderella Man’
BY TOM TUGEND
LOS ANGELES, (JTA) — “Cinderella
Man” chronicles the fall and rise of
Depression-era heavyweight champion James Braddock, but the movie
also revives the memory of another
title holder, Max Baer.
In the climactic scene, the movie
depicts the 15-round fight between
Braddock (Russell Crowe), the victorious underdog, and a menacing,
beady-eyed Baer (Craig Bierko).
But Baer’s greatest fight was in
June 1933, when he faced a heavily
favored German, Max Schmeling.
Hitler had come to power a few
months earlier, and the nazis were
busy smearing Stars of David on
Jewish-owned stores.
When Baer strutted into the Yankee
Stadium ring, his trunks sported a
prominent Star of David, and he then
proceeded to demolish Schmeling,
knocking him out in the 10th round.
This pugilistic victory, coming in
the depth of the Great Depression
and amid rising anti-Semitism in
Europe and the United States, lifted
the spirits of Jews throughout the
world, regardless of Baer’s actual
Jewishness.
Under Ron Howard’s direction and
in
the
screenplay
by
Cliff
Hollingsworth and Akiva Goldsman,
Baer is portrayed as the designated
bad guy to deepen the contrast to the
gutsy, family-loving, Irish-American
Braddock. The movie essentially is
the story of a man overcoming defeat
and poverty through his own courage
and the devotion of a loving wife.
Except for ardent fans of the sport,
the most wrenching scenes are of
Depression-ridden America, with
men clawing for a few hours of work
and cops demolishing the Hooverville
shantytown in New York’s Central
Park.
Russell Crowe, complete with New
Jersey accent, is at his best as a
poor, hungry down-but-not-outer,
whose comeback made him the idol
of working class and jobless Americans and earned him the “Cinderella
Man” sobriquet from writer Damon
Runyon.
As Braddock’s wife, Mae, Renee
Zellweger has little to do but look
noble and supportive as she tries to
raise three kids while her husband is
reduced to asking for handouts from
the government and old pals.
The most impressive performance
is delivered by Paul Giamatti (“Sideways”) as Braddock’s loyal Jewish
manager, Joe Gould.
Bierko has the muscle and face to
play Baer, but the character comes
across as a playboy and a clown,
which Baer frequently was, and as
mean-spirited, which he was not.
Baer, who always carried the burden
of having caused the deaths of two
opponents with his lethal straight
right, is depicted telling Mae
Braddock, just before the fight with
her husband, “You’re too pretty to be
a widow.” When Mae shows her shock
and indignation, the screen Baer follows up leeringly with, “Maybe I can
comfort you afterwards.” But according to sports historians and Baer’s
son, this kind of cruelty was not
characteristic of the champion.
SEE “CINDERELLA MAN,”
PAGE 12
A TULSA DINING TRADITION
the police commander of northern
Israel, doctors from Poryia Hospital,
agriculturists, and at least four
well-known area artists, including
Vladimer and Sofi Azbel, the artists-in-residence who spent three weeks
in Tulsa sharing their knowledge
and talent with Tulsa youth at
Camp Shalom.
The IDF students in my class were
not officially enrolled and not
included in the 97 enrolled students
but
were
allowed to
drop in and
study when
they could,
often giving
up
their
dinners to
be in class.
In
fact,
most of our
students
came
to
class after work and without dinner.
One doctor who lives in Haifa left
home to go to the hospital at 4:30
a.m. He had to wait for two hours
after work to come to class, but he
missed only two classes in four
weeks!
One notable (and enjoyable) success story: One student employed by
the Golan Heights Winery invited his
class to the winery and conducted
the entire two-hour tour in English!
Thanks to volunteer Engliyada
teacher Robert Roseboro, a Tulsa
police officer, second-session volunteers were treated to lunch and a
rare tour of the Tiberias Police
Department. Volunteers were able to
learn a lot about emergency issues
the Israeli police are dealing with.
Engliyada officially ended on June
9, with a lot of singing, dancing, gift
giving, and most importantly, Certificates of Completion, as well as several awards for perfect attendance.
Staff, students, and volunteers all
agreed that Engliyada 2005 was a
complete success.
After tearful good-byes and promises to keep in touch, most volunteers extended their visit in Israel by
at least a few days to visit
Jerusalem, Eliat, and the Negev, etc.
Tulsa volunteers Jeffrey Bonam,
Robert Roseboro, and I were trained
by Dr. Resnick. He and I had earlier
traveled to St. Paul on April 16, and
conducted an intensive ten-hour
training class for St. Paul and Milwaukee volunteers. Participating in
the class were nine volunteers from
St. Paul and one volunteer from
Milwaukee.
If you would like more information
about the Engliyada experience,
please contact me at 918-627-0991,
918-760-4112, or at vwhite8331
@aol.com, or to any member of Partnership 2000 for more information.
You will not be disappointed.
Located in beautiful south Tulsa,
The FOUNTAINS offers superb cuisine
for both lunch and dinner.
Fresh Seafood
Veal
Desserts
Imported and domestic wines
FOR AN ENERGETIC
HIGH-PRODUCING
SALES ASSOCIATE
CALL
SARA RICH
693-1284
A Tulsa landmark for over 30 years.
SEPT. 1, 2005
Jewish Boy Scouts
find a tent of their own
Jewish values mesh with Scout ideals
in ‘Shul’ Tent at National Scout Jamboree
BY ALIZA KARP
BOWLING GREEN, Va., (JTA) —
When Boy Scout Troop 711 from
Alaska lost four of its leaders in a
freak electrical accident on the first
day of the recent National Scout
Jamboree here, the one Jewish
scout in the Alaska contingent was
left in a quandary.
On the Sunday morning of the
gathering, when jamboree activities
were suspended for a few hours, all
of Noah Magen’s troop mates were
headed to religious services for their
respective faiths. But what does a
Jewish scout do on Sunday?
For Noah, the answer was the Shul
Tent, where daily services and special programming were provided for
Jewish scouts.
The Boy Scout Jamboree, which is
held every four years at Fort A.P.
Hill, near Fredericksburg, brought
together more than 35,000 Boy
Scouts and another 8,000 volunteer
staff for the July 25 to August 3
gathering — the largest jamboree
since 1964.
For the fourth time, Tzivos
Hashem, a Jewish children’s organization within the Chabad-Lubavitch
movement, provided special programming for the estimated 1,000
Jewish scouts who attended this
year’s jamboree. In addition to hundreds of scouts who are members of
nonsectarian troops, there were also
scouts from all-Jewish troops at the
10-day event.
Some 100 observant scouts and
leaders of the Shomer Shabbat, or
Sabbath observant, contingent —
made up of Jewish scouts from
across North America — prayed
together daily.
Although all the scouts may not
belong to Shomer Shabbat troops in
their hometowns, the Shomer Shabbat contingent allows Jewish scouts
at the jamboree to be as observant
SEE JEWISH
as they choose, providing kosher
food and scheduling daily prayers
and Sabbath services. On the jamboree’s Friday night, the Shul Tent
and the adjacent Chapel Tent were
overflowing with 500 scouts for
Shabbat services.
Scout Patrick Matson, the sole Jew
in Troop 271 from Ocean Springs,
Miss., wanted to attend the Friday
night services. In order to abide by
the buddy system required at the
camp, he brought a Catholic friend
with him.
Matson found the service, filled with
Hebrew songs and English prayers,
spirited and fun. “My friend said the
service was amazing,” he said.
After the services, a non-Jewish
scout in his late teens went to Rabbi
Pinny Gniwisch, the chaplain for the
Northwest Region of the Boy Scouts
of America, and told him in a strong
Southern accent, “I don’t think I
ever met a Jew before, but if it is
always like this, sign me up!”
Each jamboree participant was
required to visit the Religious Relationships Booth representing his
particular religion. The Jewish booth
was a constant buzz of activity. Ben
Shreibman of Troop 41 from Cleveland put on tefillin for the first time
in his life.
“It felt weird,” he admitted. Andrew
Foster of Troop 1704 from Dallas
was with a Jewish friend, who put
on tefillin. “I never saw anything like
it before,” Foster said. “It’s pretty
cool.”
Six Jewish Boy Scouts were called
to the pulpit in the Shul Tent to
recite blessings over the Torah for
the first time in their lives, stimulating interest by the local Fredericksburg, Va., newspaper, the Free
Lance-Star, which featured a full
page of pictures from the mini bar
mitzvah ceremonies in its July 29
edition.
BOY SCOUTS, PAGE 8
TULSA JEWISH REVIEW 5
Pro-Israel college activists
quietly successful on campus
Writers argue much being accomplished
by new approaches and techniques
BY BARRY SILVERMAN
AND RANDALL KAPLAN
WASHINGTON, (JTA) — Parents
are frightened, defense organizations
are sounding the alarm, and community-based activists are in a state
of near apoplexy over the alleged
dominance of anti-Israel forces on
American college campuses.
In the past few years, however,
there has been a quiet revolution in
pro-Israel campus advocacy — supported by such mainstream organizations as AIPAC, Hillel, and the
Israel on Campus Coalition — and
savvy pro-Israel students have made
stunning inroads at colleges and universities across the country, including those frequently pointed to as the
most hostile to Israel.
Some have come to believe that
today’s pro-Israel students are silent,
apathetic, even fearful. From our
experience, nothing could be further
from the truth. This generation constitutes the most confident and competent community of pro-Israel student leaders America has ever seen.
What accounts for this staggering
discrepancy in perception? The problem may be an outmoded system of
metrics ill-equipped to gauge inroads
made by sophisticated advocates in a
radically transformed campus environment.
Today’s college students grew up in
an era defined not by ‘60s-style
street theatrics but by the entrepreneurial ethos of the start-up phenomenon. They spent their teenage
years watching small innovative
firms undermine giant industry
monopolies through a mastery of
new technology, strategic use of
resources, and a devout commitment
to quality and efficiency. College students are the leading purveyors of
these new approaches. They have
found faster, more economical ways
of getting a job done.
Consequently, college students’
approach to problem-solving and
goal attainment tends to be more
streamlined, agile, and imaginative
than that of their parents and grandparents.
Pro-Israel student activists are
smart, focused, and intensely
results-oriented. They realize that
“standing up” to Israel’s detractors
through zero-sum confrontations on
the quad is more likely to alienate
potential allies than engage them,
more effective at securing short-term
publicity than long-term impact, and
subsequently constitutes a poor use
of time and talent. The sharpest proIsrael activists prefer to identify key
sources of power and influence that
will determine the strength of the
U.S.-Israel relationship for years to
come, and then invest the bulk of
their advocacy in influencing those
strategic targets.
Acutely aware of the accelerating
pace of history, today’s pro-Israel
student activists bring to their
activism the start-up principles of
ingenuity and effective impact.
While Israel’s detractors at the University of California at Berkeley make
fellow students late for class by
erecting mock Israeli checkpoints on
the main campus drag, pro-Israel
activists recruit student government
officials and other mainstream
campus leaders to sign petitions
SEE PRO-ISRAEL CAMPUS
ACTIVISTS, PAGE 9
6 TULSA JEWISH REVIEW SEPT. 1, 2005
W h a t ' s Ha p p e n i n g a t t h e
CAMP SHALOM 2005
HUGE SUCCESS
THE DANCE ACADEMY
AT CSJCC
Announces Expanded Programming
By the time this issue of the Tulsa Jewish Review reaches your home,
Camp Shalom will have concluded a record-breaking year with over 320
campers in the 11 weeks of summer. Camp Shalom’s second three-week
session was a huge success. Campers learned about Israel and Jewish culture from the Israeli Scouts in Israeli Fun, made different types of arts
and crafts, and enjoyed two weeks of Israeli art from our artistic guests
from Israel.
Campers six and older enjoyed an overnight experience at Camp WahShah-She, while campers five years and younger had a camp-out during
the day at the Charles Schusterman Jewish Community Center. Camp
ended with two weeks of specialty camps when campers could choose from
different camps, such as picture this, tee time, wet and wild, arts and
crafts, to name a few.
The Harlem Globetrotter Basketball Camp brought over 180 campers
into the CSJCC. The Globetrotters camp had three players, Herb Lang,
Brad Bridgewater, and Anthony Blakes, all current players. Each day
campers would learn about a new letter from the CHEER program. CHEER
stands for cooperation, honesty, effort, enthusiasm, respect, and responsibility. On the last day of basketball camp, the Globetrotters put on their
famous red, white, and blue uniforms and played against the campers.
See related photos on pages 1 and 11.
IT’S BACK TO SCHOOL
AT THE CSJCC!
CSJCC UNIVERSITY
Monday, September 19, 7-8 P.M.
Throughout the year the CSJCC will be bringing you informative, educational, and cultural evening classes. Just like a college campus, the classes
will be stimulating, interesting, and varied. The first in this new series:
“What Is Your Plan For Long Term Care?”
Learn the Options
Presented by Deborah Lederman and Carolyn Schultz
Both Ms. Schultz and Ms. Lederman are certified Long Term Care (LTC)
specialists. Ms. Lederman has a general practice and works primarily with
business owners and individuals in several lines of insurance, while Ms.
Schultz limits her practice solely to LTC plans.
The premise of the title is that each of us is responsible for choosing how
our long term care needs are handled. During the presentation, which will
include plenty of time for Q/A, the following options will be discussed:
(1) Medicaid: Qualify by spending down assets
(2) Utilize your assets and savings: Which asset will you spend first?
(3) Long Term Care Insurance: What types of policies are available?
(4) Repositioning an asset to fit your personal circumstance
Cost: CSJCC Members: FREE; Non-Members: $5
To enroll, call 495-1111
Please help us plan ahead by enrolling no later
than Friday, September 16
Now in its 15th season at the Charles Schusterman Jewish Community Center, THE DANCE ACADEMY AT CSJCC continues to expand its programming.
This season The Dance Academy is proud to announce that it will be
offering tap as part of its curriculum. This is due to the generosity of the
Jewish Federation of Tulsa and the CSJCC Center Committee, which
approved the renovation of the upper level of the Wellness and Recreation
wing creating a second studio. “This new space will not only allow us to create a terrific tap program and other future programming, but it will also
give other user groups at the JCC the opportunity to expand their programs
as well,” said Matthew Bridwell, director of The Dance Academy.
The Dance Academy will also be adding a late afternoon creative movement class for 3-4 year olds and a character class for its more serious students. Also new this season will be a music/vocal class. This class will offer
students the opportunity to learn more about this art form including reading music and learning to sing. “This could not have happened at a better
time, as this season is our performance year in our own theatre at the JCC,
no less!” added Bridwell.
If you have ever considered wanting to learn to dance – especially from
some of the very best – please consider what you have in your own back yard
– your own Jewish Community Center!
For more information about The Dance Academy At CSJCC, please contact Matthew Bridwell at 749-2180.
SEPT. 1, 2005 TULSA JEWISH REVIEW
W h a t ' s Ha p p e n i n g a t t h e
Get up! Get dressed! Get out to the
2005-2006
THE CHARLES SCHUSTERMAN JEWISH COMMUNITY
JCC Cinema Film Series!
CENTER PROUDLY PRESENTS
The JCC Cinema Film Series gives you another
take on the world with a stellar lineup of films.
September 15
Avalon
October
20
Sunshine
November
17
Judgment at Nuremberg
December
15
Barton Fink
January
19
Gloomy Sunday
February
16
Rosenstrasse
March
16
Monsieur Ibrahim
NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK FAIR MONTH AUTHOR
New York Times and Radio
and T.V. Reporter and Columnist
STEVEN ROBERTS
SUNDAY NIGHT,
OCTOBER 30,
7:30 P.M.
AT
CONGREGATION
B’NAI EMUNAH
AVALON — Director Barry Levinson’s coming-of-age-in-America film is
the first in our 2005-2006 JCC Cinema Film Series. Beginning Thursday,
September 15, and continuing every third Thursday for seven consecutive
months, all films are free and begin at 7 p.m., in the Barbara and Dave
Sylvan Auditorium at the Charles Schusterman Jewish Community Center.
If you don’t receive the new brochure in the mail, please call 495-1111 and
we’ll be happy to mail you one.
Chai Riders First Bike’nbreakfast Ride.
Sunday, September 11 from 9:30-11:30 a.m.
Grab your Harley, your Beemer, your Ducati, or
Goldwing.
Grab your biker babe or beau, your helmet, and
your leather jacket.
Meet at the CSJCC at 9:30 a.m.
We’re going for a ride! And because we are Jewish
motorcycle riders, we’ll stop for a nosh.
Call 495-1111 to sign up no later than Thursday,
September 8. We must have a minimum of three
bikers to do this ride. In case of inclement
weather, the ride will be cancelled.
It’s a Party!
Monday, September, September 5
12:00-6:00 P.M.
Meet Itai Lavi, our new Shaliach, and his family at the JCC Membership
Appreciation and Labor Day Pool Party.
On Sunday night, October 30,
New York Times, radio and T.V.
reporter, and columnist Steven
Roberts will be speaking about his
latest book, “My Fathers Houses,
Memoir of a Family.”
Before Mr. Robert’s presentation, from 6:30-7:30 p.m., at Congregation B’nai Emunah, you may
also pre-register for any of the Fall classes of the Institute of Adult
Jewish Studies. Then stay and enjoy Mr. Robert’s presentation. Barnes &
Noble will have Mr. Robert’s books available for signing and purchase (It’s
not too early to think about that perfect Hanukkah gift for the book lover
on your list).
There is no charge to attend.
Look for more details about the Fall classes of the Institute of Adult
Jewish Studies in the IAJS brochure (in the mail soon), in the October
Tulsa Jewish Review, call 495-1111, or go to www.CSJCC.ORG
1-2 P.M. Lunch
Hot dogs, Chips, Fruit, Lemonade,
Cookies, and Cake
2:30-3:30 P.M.
Attention Retired Men’s Club!
Fasten your seat belts and put your tray tables in their up-right and
Pool Games with prizes for the kids!
locked
positions!
Cool off with a Sno Cone!
We’re going to Broken Arrow to tour the Flight
Safety International aviaSEPTEMBER 1 — OCTOBER 2, 2005
tion
training
YOUR CSJCC CALENDAR OF EVENTS AND PROGRAMS
facility. Join
us for this very
special Retired
Men’s Club outing.
We will not meet as usual at the
JCC for lunch. Instead, we’ll meet at
FlightSafety International, located
at 2700 N. Hemlock Circle in Broken
Arrow at 4:15 p.m., on Wednesday,
September 28. Reservations are
limited to 20 people, so call now at
495-1111. Directions to FlightSafety
will be sent to you when you make
your reservation.
FlightSafety International is the
world’s premier aviation training
organization. Over 75,000 pilots,
technicians, and other aviation professionals train at FlightSafety
facilities each year. The company
designs and manufactures full-flight
simulators for civil and military aircraft programs and operates the
world’s largest fleet of advanced
full-flight simulators at over 40
training locations.
Learn more about FlightSafety at
www.flightsafety.com.
CHECK OUR ONLINE CALENDAR FOR UPDATED INFORMATION. WWW.CSJCC.ORG
7
8 TULSA JEWISH REVIEW SEPT. 1, 2005
RECENT JENKS HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATE ONE
OF 10 FINALISTS IN NATIONAL HOLOCAUST ESSAY CONTEST
Lauren Smith
Lauren Smith, a recent graduate of
Jenks High School, was one of 10
national first-place winners of the
Holland & Knight Charitable Foundation’s 2005 Holocaust Remembrance Project Essay Contest. Ms.
Smith and the other finalists joined
seven high school teachers dedicated
to teaching about the Holocaust and
seven Holocaust survivors for a sixday, all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C., on July 24-29.
This marks the eleventh consecutive
year
the
international
commercial law firm Holland &
Knight has sponsored the essay
contest, created to encourage and
promote the study of the Holocaust.
During the trip, Ms. Smith and the
other students spent time at the U.S.
Holocaust Memorial Museum and
learned first-hand from the survivors
about their experiences during the
Holocaust. The students also heard
from various speakers including
Vivien Spitz, the youngest court
reporter to cover the Nuremburg trials, and Frank Smyth, a freelance
journalist held prisoner during the
first Gulf War.
On July 28, Lauren Smith and the
nine other first-place winners were
awarded scholarships up to $5,000
at an awards dinner featuring a
keynote address by Daniel Schorr,
senior news analyst with National
Public Radio, with former FBI Director Judge William S. Sessions serving as the master of ceremonies.
About the Holocaust Remembrance
Project: The Holocaust Remembrance Project is a national essay
contest for high school students
designed to encourage and promote
the study of the Holocaust. Since its
inception in 1995, the Holocaust
Remembrance Project has awarded
more than $500,000 in scholarships, cash, and prizes.
Empathy and Inspiration
According to Nancy Pettus, a longtime Holocaust educator in the Jenks
school system, and Ms. Smith’s high
school teacher, Lauren Smith’s interest in the Holocaust was sparked
when her sixth-grade language arts
teacher at Jenks East Middle School
took her class on a tour of the
"museum" that the eighth-grade language arts classes had created in
response to the six-week unit on the
Holocaust that they had just completed. With wide-eyed wonder she
moved from exhibit
to exhibit, horrified at the images she
witnessed, questioning how human
beings could treat other human
beings with such hatred and indifference. Thus, her quest to answer
some of the questions raised by this
experience began. With great anticipation she looked forward to the day
when she, too, could be a part of the
learning that she saw displayed in
the projects that the eighth graders
created. Unfortunately, the unit was
discontinued her eighth grade year,
but this did not stop her study.
Finally, in eleventh grade, she
enrolled in the semester-long Holocaust Studies class at Jenks High
School and became Nancy Pettus’
star pupil. Still not content with her
knowledge of the Holocaust, as a
senior Lauren Smith enrolled once
again in the Holocaust Studies class,
this time as an independent study
student. One of her projects was to
enter the Holland and Knight essay
contest. And the rest is history.
Having her writing chosen as one of
10 out of 3,000 essays submitted
was an honor that Lauren Smith
greatly appreciated. However, her
greatest pride came from the
responses of the survivors who, after
reading her essay, sought her out at
the banquet honoring the 10 finalists to thank her for her powerful
words. With tears in their eyes they
marveled at the depth of maturity
and compassion exemplified in Lauren's words.
To read Lauren Smith’s essay, as
well as the other winning entries,
visit holocaust.hklaw.com. Long Term Care
What Will You Do
When Your Health Changes?
A Chronic Illness Can Wipe Out
Your Hard-Earned Assets!
Call 747-0369 or Toll Free: 866-747-0369
Dr. Ira N. Spector, CLU, CSA
JEWISH BOY SCOUTS,
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5
The Tzivos Hashem program in the
Shul Tent drew close to 1,000 Boy
scouts. The event, which opened
with brief greetings from Boy Scout
dignitaries, included a play staged by
the Shomer Shabbat contingent, a
juggling display, and a lively audience-participation singing session
led by Rabbi Shmuly Gutnick from
the Crown Heights area of Brooklyn.
The jamboree Web site dubbed him
“The Reggae Rabbi.”
The scouts then went to various
booths in the Shul Tent, where they
crafted their own shofars, braided
their own Havdalah candles, had
their pictures taken in front of a
panorama display of the Western
Wall in Jerusalem while wearing
tefillin, and wrote private letters to
God that would be mailed to Israel to
be placed in the Kotel, the Western
Wall.
Participating in these activities
allowed many of the scouts to complete the requirements for the Jewish Boy Scout award, the Ner Tamid
Award.
When he ran out of the patches
given for this award, Bruce Baker,
the vice chairman of the Connecticut
Yankee Council of the Jewish Committee on scouting, saw it as a good
sign.
“That says so much that Jewish
scouting is alive and well,” he said.
Jay Lenrow, the chairman of the
National Jewish Committee on
Scouting, attended his first jamboree
in 1964 with his father, who was also
his scoutmaster. When he returned
in 2001, Lenrow was a scoutmaster
and his son was a scout.
“What we want to do is create a
strong Jewish connection to link the
generations by combining the love of
the outdoors and camping achievements, coupled with growth and
development of Jewish knowledge
and observance,” Lenrow said.
“Scouting can do that.”
Howard Spielman of Sharon,
Mass., is the modest, soft-spoken,
powerhouse who initiated the current surge in programming that
allows Orthodox youth to benefit
from the Boy Scouts.
Spielman brought a small Shomer
Shabbat contingent to the jamboree
in 1993. At that time, he brought his
own 20-by-20 tent and an extension
cord so he could have two light bulbs
shining for evening services.
In 1997, he brought a 20-by-40
tent to house his growing contingent.
By 2001, Boy Scouts officials provided an even larger tent. And this
year, the Shomer Shabbat contingent was supplied with one 44-by-66
tent; one 20-by-40 side tent; five 20amp circuits, and 32 outlets.
“What is most satisfying,” Spielman
said, “is seeing the impact on the
Shomer Shabbat boys and the other
Jewish Scouts who come to jamboree. They benefit from the opportunity to grow in their Jewishness
through scouting programs.”
On Sunday afternoon, the Shul
Tent hosted a meeting of Chabad
rabbis from Virginia and Maryland
and officials from the Boy Scouts of
America.
“We stand ready to support any
organization that shares scout values’’ said David Richardson, the
national director of Religious Relationships of the Boy Scouts.
SEPT. 1, 2005 HERITAGE ACADEMY NEWS
Heritage Begins 31st Year
HERITAGE
ACADEMY
DIRECTOR
HELEN HIGHTOWER
is shown accepting
another
generous
donation from B’nai
B’rith Lodge #798
representative Marvin
Mencher. Last year’s
donation
provided
new math textbooks
and materials for the
entire school. This
year’s donation will
be used for science
and social studies
videos.
Heritage Academy began its 31st year
with an enrollment of several new students. New Gan students include Zoe
Athens (Michael and Casey Athens),
Hannah Dow (Steven Dow and Stacy
Schusterman-Dow), Benjamin Levy
(Robert Levy and Lisa Anderson-Levy),
Max Sharpneck (Jerry and Raeshelle
Sharpneck), Carter Smith (James and
Malissa Smith), Maayan Stafford
(Steven and Esther Stafford), Brandon
Sweet (Carol Sweet), Allison Wenger
(Peter and Jill Wenger); new Dalet student Aaron Wenger (Peter and Jill
Wenger), and new Hay student Peleg
Lavi (Itai and Miki Lavi).
The teachers and staff worked
throughout the summer to prepare for
the new school year. Amy Pellegrin
attended a two-week session of Literacy
First for the primary grades. Pat O’Dea
and Linda Spiegelberg attended a oneweek session of Literacy First for the
upper grades. Maura Pollak toured
Israel with the RAVSAK Jewish Educators. Orly Nissim had the opportunity to
enjoy Israel as she celebrated her son’s
Bar Mitzvah there with family and
friends. All of these wonderful opportunities will enrich our students’ learning
experiences throughout the year.
Our PTO is currently working on this
year’s fundraiser, Second City, set for
Saturday October 15, at the Van Trease
Performing Arts Center. Tickets can be
purchased by calling the Heritage office
at 494-0953.
Partnership 2000 Enables
Tulsa Physician to Share Expertise
with Israeli Colleagues
BY DEBORAH LOWEN, MD
I
n the beginning of June I had the
opportunity to participate in the
physician’s exchange project
through Partnership 2000, a program
of the Jewish Federation of Tulsa.
The community of Tulsa and I had
been at the receiving end of a physician’s exchange last fall, when
Dr. Nessia Lang, social worker Vivi
Talmor, and
nurse Ora Zilberman came
here to learn
about
the
services provided to victims of child
abuse
and
neglect.
Dr.
Lang and her
colleagues
had started a
sexual assault treatment pro- gram
at Poriya Hospital and were pursuing
additional training in the field. I am a
pediatrician specializing in child
abuse and neglect, working at the
Children’s Justice Center – a
national and international model for
the evaluation of these cases.
At the conclusion of their whirlwind
visit here, Dr. Lang invited me to
come to Poriya to learn from their
program and help teach others in
northern Israel about our child
abuse services. I met with Dr. Yaacov
Farbstein, the head of Poriya Hospital, during his visit to Tulsa in January, and when he approved, the trip
was on. My husband and eight-yearold son came along, not wanting to
miss a wonderful opportunity.
We had a truly memorable nine
days in Israel in June. Dr. Lang and
her colleagues put together a
detailed agenda not just for me but
also for the family. I gave lectures to
her staff at Poriya Hospital and to
those involved with abuse issues at
Afula hospital, explaining our program in Tulsa. I also lectured to
social workers, psychologists, and
physicians at the hospital in Tzefat
regarding the long-term effects of
abuse. The pediatric department at
Poriya heard a lecture about the
manifestations of child abuse. I had
many one-on-one conversations with
physicians, social workers, therapists, and investigators, who taught
me about the differences between the
U.S. and Israeli justice systems and
the status of the child abuse field in
Israel. We were also able to commiserate about many of the same issues
we face when dealing with these
cases on a daily basis.
We spent seven days in the Kinneret Region, staying on the grounds
at Poriya Hospital but traveling
throughout the region, both for work
and for sight-seeing. Dr. Lang, Vivi,
several volunteers in her sexual
assault program, and all their husbands welcomed us with open arms,
feeding us in their homes and serving as personal tour guides. This
immersion into Israeli culture was
enlightening and invaluable, as well
as being one of the highlights of the
trip for all three of us. We also had
lunch with Levana Caro-Regev and
Hagit
Aslack
of
the
Jewish
Agency/Partnership 2000 Sovev Kinneret, along with Tulsans Vivian
White and Josh Simons.
Our last two days were in
Jerusalem. Thanks to the foresight
and connections of Sandy Cardin, I
was taken to Beit Lynn, the child
abuse center in Jerusalem modeled
after the Children’s Justice Center
where I work and funded in part by
the Charles and Lynn Schusterman
Family Foundation. I met with their
physician, center director, and several investigators to discuss difficulties and possible solutions in dealing
with complicated cases of child
abuse. At this meeting I gained further understanding of the cultural
issues and barriers regarding child
abuse in Israel.
From both a work and a tourist
perspective, our trip was a great success. Cali Cohen, our shaliach, was a
big help with the arrangements – we
will miss him and his wife,
Perach, as they return to Israel.
In addition to greater understanding of the child abuse issues in
Israel, we returned to Tulsa with over
300 pictures, continued cravings for
Israeli food, new friends in the Kinneret region, wonderful memories,
and plans to go back.
SEE PRO-ISRAEL
TULSA JEWISH REVIEW 9
CAMPUS ACTIVISTS
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5
expressing support for the U.S.Israel relationship. When Israel’s
detractors disaffect the politically
moderate majority of students by
accusing the U.S. and Israeli governments of “neo-colonialism” and
“imperialist aggression,” pro-Israel
activists at Rutgers University
engage the College Democrats and
College Republicans, volunteer on
political campaigns, organize student
lobbying missions, and build enduring relationships with members of
Congress.
While Israel’s detractors at the University of Florida sponsor propagandistic
“Palestinian
Awareness
Weeks,’’ pro-Israel activists work
with campus political leaders to compel the university to remove barriers
to studying abroad in Israel. When
Israel’s detractors indulge in simplistic and distorted sloganeering about
the security barrier, pro-Israel
activists at the University of Colorado
set up coffee dates with the editors of
the campus newspaper for extended
conversations about how the barrier
saves lives and facilitates peace.
Pro-Israel students spend months
— even years — cultivating personal
relationships with influential people,
both on campus and beyond. They
bring Jewish and non-Jewish campus leaders into the pro-Israel movement by inviting them to participate
in such national and international
gatherings as the AIPAC Policy Conference — which this year in May
hosted more than 800 students from
250 campuses in all 50 states,
including over 100 student government presidents — as well as the
Hillel-AIPAC Advanced Advocacy
Mission to Israel and the birthright
israel program. As a result of these
relationships, pro-Israel students are
spectacularly positioned for success
if large-scale mobilization is determined to be a strategic objective.
When an anti-Israel divestment
resolution was presented to the
University of Michigan’s student
assembly, pro-Israel students rallied
hundreds of supporters from all
walks of campus life to express their
opposition publicly. They organized
conservatives and progressives,
blacks and whites, Jews and Christians to stand with Israel, and relied
on their friend and ally, the student
assembly president, whose systematic deconstruction of the case for
divestment ultimately torpedoed the
resolution.
Pro-Israel students at Washington
University in St. Louis recently
turned out 600 people for an Israeli
hip-hop concert by securing the cosponsorship of 50 distinct student
organizations with which they had
established ties, including the
African American, Latino-American,
and Christian students’ associations.
Activists at the University of Iowa
engaged campus political leaders
beyond their traditional base by
organizing a pro-Israel conference
featuring two members of Congress,
and which was attended by College
Democrats, College Republicans,
and student government officials
from more than a dozen Iowa universities with little or no Jewish infrastructure.
These examples are not exceptional
but reflect a national trend of more
sophisticated pro-Israel campus
activism. If members of our community have missed this phenomenon,
it is because much of today’s most
significant and effective advocacy
takes place under the media’s radar
at countless student government
meetings, campus political forums,
and quiet conversations at Starbucks.
If pro-Israel students aren’t marching anymore, it’s because they’ve
found a more effective way of getting
the job done.
Barry Silverman is chairman of AIPAC’s
leadership development committee and
a member of Hillel’s scholars council,
and Randall Kaplan is chairman of the
board of directors of Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, and a member of AIPAC’s board of directors JUST CATERING
By Orr Nalp
10 TULSA JEWISH REVIEW SEPT. 1, 2005
BUSY FALL SCHEDULE
OF HOLOCAUST ACTIVITIES
CONTINUED FROM PAGE
2
teacher Nancy Pettus and Bixby Middle School teacher Jean Bundy also
participated in the Max Kaplan Summer Institute for Educators at the Holocaust Museum in Houston; then Ms. Pettus went to Washington to take part
in the Mandel Teacher Fellowship Program. A maximum of 15 teachers are
selected for this all-expense-paid prestigious program each summer, and we
can be proud that one of our own was included this year. And Carver Middle
School teacher Debbie Givens traveled to Centenary College in Shreveport,
Louisiana, for the Teacher Institute for Advanced Study, “The Holocaust – A
Visual Culture.”
The Briefing also reviewed the upcoming scheduled Holocaust education
events:
September 18 through December 18 – Special exhibit, “Anne Frank: A
Private Photo Album” at the Miller Museum.
September 20 – Documentary film, “Anne Frank Remembered,” at Circle
Cinema.
September 22 - Tulsa World-sponsored Teachers’ Workshop on the Anne
Frank exhibit.
October 22 – Concert, Dmitiri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 13, “Babi Yar,
“and reading by Yevgeny Yevtushenko of his poem “Babi Yar” at Tulsa
Performing Arts Center.
For more information on these events, call 492-1818.
The Back-to-School Briefing also included the announcement that Circle
Cinema is making its collection of 75 Holocaust films available for teachers
at no cost. The films can be borrowed for use in the classroom, or teachers
can bring their classes to Circle Cinema for a theatrical viewing.
The Council for Holocaust Education is a partnership of the Jewish Federation of Tulsa and the Sherwin Miller Museum of Jewish Art.
DISENGAGEMENT FROM GAZA
BY THE NUMBERS
BY DAN BARON
JERUSALEM, (JTA) — In addition to the human dimensions, this summer’s disengagement plan can be measured by the numbers:
*
100 — percent of the Gaza Strip evacuated and handed over to the
Palestinian Authority
*
300 — square miles of the West Bank evacuated
*
21 — Israeli settlements uprooted in the Gaza Strip
*
4 — Israeli settlements uprooted in the West Bank
* 9,000 — Approximate number of Israelis evacuated
* 45,000 — Israeli soldiers and police participated in the Gaza
withdrawal
* $1.74 billion — approximate cost of
the withdrawal to the Israeli government.
* $360,000 — average compensation
the Israeli government expects to pay
each relocated family.
* $870 million — approximate cost to
resettle former West Bank and Gaza
residents elsewhere in the country.
* $2.2 billion — amount of special
assistance Israel plans to request
from the United States
Figures provided by The Israel Project,
culled from various sources, with some
modifications.
Of blessed memory...
Former Tulsan Dr. Jed Edwin
Goldberg died July 24, 2005. An obstetrician and gynecologist, Dr. Goldberg
was a longtime member of Temple Israel.
He is survived by his wife, Arlene; daughter, Barbara; three sons, Michael, Steve,
and Bill; sister, Arlette; and seven grandchildren.
What’s Nu?
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3
The Jewish community of Livorno, Italy, is
mourning the death of its chief rabbi, just
10 months after he assumed the post.
Rabbi Jehuda Leon Kalon died in July of
cancer at age 38. He was installed as the
city’s chief rabbi in September 2004. Italy’s
president, as well as the mayor and bishop
of Livorno, sent messages of condolence,
praising Kalon, in particular, for his efforts
to foster dialogue among the city’s various
religious communities. In a similar tragic
story, Rabbi Joshua Simon, who tried to
revitalize a synagogue near Broadway in
New York City, died last month at age 44
from brain cancer. A former magazine editor and rock musician, Simon took the pulpit in 2002 at the Actors Temple, a synagogue where stars had once worshipped,
which was struggling with a dwindling congregation in recent years. Simon led services with an electric guitar and increased
the synagogue's membership. But the congregation continued to struggle, and Simon
left in June, his wife told The New York
Times. He had just completed a CD of liturgical music before he died.
The Jewish community of Mumbai was
hard hit during recent flooding in western
India. The flooding, which killed more than
1,000 people and destroyed at least 10,000
homes, forced many Jews to relocate to
neighbors’ houses and caused widespread
power outages. Reports “indicate that there
was considerable water damage to homes
and buildings, including water-damaged
Torah scrolls and prayer books in low-lying
areas, including the synagogue in Thane
and in Panvel,” the Joint Distribution Committee said. In one response, Israel has
sent a $50,000 airlift of medical aid to victims of the flooding.
Almost one in four Israelis lives below the
poverty line, the Israeli government has
said. According to the National Insurance
Institute report published last month, 1.5
million Israelis were defined as poor in
2004, a rise from the previous year. Analysts attributed the trend to governmentwelfare cuts, a move the Israeli Finance
Ministry has said is designed to encourage
employment. The findings came soon after
the Central Bureau of Statistics reported an
unprecedented polarization of wage differences in Israel.
A book that refutes a notorious antiSemitic tract has been translated into Arabic. The Simon Wiesenthal Center has
translated “Dismantling the Big Lie: The
Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” exposing a
19th-century anti-Semitic forgery that
purports to spell out a Jewish plot to
take control of the world. The translation
is available online at www.wiesenthal.com/
Arabic/translation.
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need --with ease!
Three Jewish baseball players took the
field for the Boston Red Sox at the same
time on August 8. Gabe Kapler, Kevin
Youkilis, and Adam Stern all played the
ninth inning for the Red Sox in their 11-6
Mazel Tov!
Herman and Nina Fishman
recently celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary in Atlanta, Ga.
Mrs. Fishman grew up in Tulsa and
is the daughter of the late Tulsans
Jennie and Dave Block. Rabbi
Arthur D. Kahn officiated at the
couple’s 1950 wedding.
James J. Jakubovitz, executive
director of the Tulsa Jewish Retirement and Health Care Center, has
been appointed by Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry to the recently
created Oklahoma State Board of
Examiners for Nursing Home
Administrators.
Here and There
Willie Burger
746-4614
Shirley Burger
746-4672
Sharna Magoon
Bovasso
The Burger Team
746-8134
at McGraw Davisson Stewart Realtors
http//:newhome.mcgrawok.com * [email protected]
[email protected]
The Zarrow Manor chapter of
AARP meets on the second Monday
of every month. Kelly Burley,
AARP's associate state director of
information, will speak on social
security at the September 12 meeting to be held in the Zarrow Manor
Sanditen activity room beginning at
2:30 p.m. Visitors are welcome.
Membership is open to all national
members. For more information call
494-7086.
victory over the Texas Rangers. The event
will be recorded on a card in the second
edition of a Jewish baseball card set, slated
to be ready for Chanukah 2005. More information about the Jewish card set will be
available later at Jewishmajorleaguers.org.
The 1946 New York Giants had five Jewish
players on its roster, though it's not known
whether all played together on the field at
the same time. In other sports news, Benny
Friedman, who played quarterback in the
early years of the NFL, has been inducted
into Pro Football’s Hall of Fame.
A Yiddish theater in New York City has
received a $1.5 million grant from the city.
The money given to the Folksbiene Yiddish
Theater will help it find a permanent home,
the New York Jewish Week reported. The
theater is in its 90th consecutive season.
Israel holds some 1,000 pieces of real
estate owned by Jews who perished in the
Holocaust, Israel's custodian general said.
The Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz reported
that Israel also has some 500 other assets
and 3,500 bank accounts of Holocaust victims. Government officials are discussing a
bill that seeks to create a public corporation
or a government authority to coordinate
restitution to the properties' legal heirs.
Singer Harry Belafonte has retracted his
recent statement that Jews were “high up
in the Third Reich.” But the singer and political activist told the Jerusalem Post that
Jews had contributed to nazism. “Was it
rampant? Absolutely not,” Belafonte told
the Post. “But these things happen, and
people are not exempt from their behavior.”
To support his contention, Belafonte
referred to “Hitler's Jewish Soldiers,” a
book that detailed how some Germans of
partial Jewish descent served in the nazi
army during World War II.
Most Israeli adults use computers, a government study found. According to figures
released last month by the Central Bureau
of Statistics, 51 percent of the Jewish
state's population uses computers on a
regular basis. Of these, 80 percent have email accounts and surf the Internet. While
their rate of computer use is lower than the
national average, many senior citizens and
unemployed people in Israel also use computers, the bureau said.
The decline in the birthrate of British
Jews has stopped. According to a community umbrella group, the same number of
births 2,665 were recorded in 2002 and
2003, the latest year for which figures are
available. Although births have dropped 9
percent since 1993, “the downward trend in
births recorded by the community for more
than a decade appears to have ended,” the
report noted. The number of Jewish marriages rose by 2.5 percent, with a 9 percent
fall in deaths. Average life expectancy in
the community is 80 for men and 84 for
women. (JTA)
B’nai B’rith
2006 Directory
in Preparation
Add E-mail On-Line
The B’nai B’rith Tulsa Jewish
Community 2006 Directory is in
preparation for distribution at the
end of the year.
Community members may add
e-mail addresses to the Directory
listings by visiting www.burkhartsop.com/brith.htm.
B’nai B’rith will also be mailing
name, address, and telephone number change requests for the 2006
Directory in early September.
Questions? Call Marvin Mencher,
627-9565.
SEPT. 1, 2005 TULSA JEWISH REVIEW 11
COMMUNITY CALENDAR
READ
THE
T U L S A J E W I S H R E V I E W O N -L I N E
ShalomFest: It’s about
Jewish food, culture, and fun!
Annual Celebration of Jewish Culture
Set for September 18
Now in its twelfth year, ShalomFest continues its family-friendly hospitality, beginning at noon until 7:00 p.m., Sunday, September 18, at Temple Israel. This unique and free event offers special sights, sounds, and flavors of Israel and Jewish culture not usually found in the Midwest.
Flavors of the Middle East and the East Coast
Have a snack or stay for lunch and dinner. A variety of tasty treats will be
available throughout the day, served a la carte.
Enjoy New York-style pastrami sandwich plate, Sephardic spiced beef,
cabbage rolls, borekas, and kosher franks.
Baked goods will also be plentiful ... try the bialys, hamantashen, and
black & white cookies.
Music and Entertainment
Throughout the day, there will be a joyous traditional and contemporary
music program. It will include Temple Israel’s cantor, Kari Siegel-Eglash,
the popular klezmer musicians, and Temple Israel’s Rock n’ Soul Choir
with the Levites Band. The blowing of the shofar will also be demonstrated.
Children’s activities include a Jupiter Jump, face painting, and kids’
crafts.
Cultural Heritage
Guided tours and model ceremonies offer rare looks into the rich heritage
that is uniquely Jewish. Ceremonies include a Bat Mitzvah, a Jewish wedding, and Simchat Torah. Tours of Temple Israel will provide visitors with
a look at Jewish heritage.
Arts, Jewelry, Music, and Books
For those wishing to find items for the home or as gifts, there will be
plenty of Judaica jewelry from Israel, arts and crafts, and literature and
music on display and for sale during the event.
Visit ShalomFest 2005 at www.shalomfest.com
“Anne Frank: A Private Photo Album”
Set for Miller Museum in September
In an exclusive Midwest showing,
the Sherwin Miller Museum of Jewish Art will present the exhibit “Anne
Frank: A Private Photo Album”
beginning in September.
Presenting sponsors are Cox Communications and the Charles and
Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation, and the exhibit will feature more
than 70 photographs shown for the
first time by the Anne Frank Center
USA in New York City from the Anne
Frank House in Amsterdam.
In this new perspective on Anne
Frank and her family, the Holocaust
is humanized and personalized. Here
is a family, not unlike your own family; here are many photos. Nowhere in
Otto Frank’s photos of his young
family is there any hint of the horrors
to come – not the slightest indication
of the threat of National-Socialism
and its consequences for the Jews.
Exhibit Schedule:
Friday, September 16, 2-4 p.m,
Member Preview.
Sunday, September 18, 1-5 p.m,
Public Opening.
Tuesday, September 20, Circle Cinema’s presentation of documentary
“Anne Frank Remembered.” Museum
members receive Circle Cinema
members ticket discount.
Thursday, September 22, Tulsa
World/Newspapers in Education
teachers’ workshop.
Reserve tours by calling Suzy
Smith at 492-1818. Supreme Court Round-Up
at the Synagogue on September 16
AT
WWW.JEWISHTULSA.ORG
Mindy Coretz to Celebrate
Her Bat Mitzvah
indy Rebecca Coretz, daughter of Kim and Rob Coretz,
will become a Bat Mitzvah at
Temple Israel on Saturday, September 10, 2005, at 11:00 a.m.
A seventh-grade student at Holland
Hall, Mindy enjoys riding horses, playing cards, reading, and swimming.
Celebrating with Mindy will be her
brothers, Adam, Tyler, and Ryan; sister, Amy; and grandparents, Irene and
Stan Burnstein, and Mollie and Irving
Coretz. Joining Mindy on this occasion are aunts, uncles, cousins and
friends.
The community is invited to join
Mindy and her family for services and
the Kiddush luncheon to follow.
M
Mindy Coretz
CONGREGATIONS TO HOLD SELICHOT
SERVICES ON SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24
Selichot at the
Synagogue
Congregation B’nai Emunah invites
the whole community to attend Selichot Services on September 24.
Following a brief Mincha service
at 6:15 p.m., the evening will continue with a se’udah shelishit at
6:30 p.m. Following the meal at
7:45 p.m., the Synagogue will present a special dinner theater concert
of solo performances featuring
Cantor Rafi Dworsky and special
guests Isrella Taxon, Jon Glazer,
and Susan Herndon.
At 8:45 p.m., the evening will continue with Selichot. This year the
Selichot service will again feature
Klay Kodesh. The service will conclude with the blowing of the shofar
by volunteer shofar blowers trained
at the Synagogue.
Make meal reservations by calling
Suzanne
at 583-7121, or at
[email protected].
The
cost is modest. Child care arrangements can be made at the time of
your reservation for no additional
charge.
Temple Selichot
Service
The Selichot Service at Temple
Israel on September 24, will begin
with a dessert reception at 8 p.m.,
followed by Havdalah. The Selichot
Service will begin at 9 p.m., concluding by 10 p.m.
Coming nine days before Rosh
Hashanah, Selichot is an introduction to the prayer, themes, and
musical motifs of the Yamim
Noraim – the holiest days of the
Jewish year. In the stillness of the
late evening, as a community of
worshipers, we Jews try to break
the silence of our own apathy. We
hope that our Selichot worship will
harness our words to our thoughts
that they may soar high and ring
with the sincerity of our convictions, so that the utterances of our
lips and the meditations of our
hearts will prove acceptable to God,
Shomea Tefilah, the hearer of
prayer.
All are welcome to attend this
moving service. Jeanette Altman Frieden Sports Complex
on the Zarrow Campus Enjoyed
by the Campers of Camp Shalom
Each year, the Supreme Court delivers decisions that affect the shape of
American law and society in momentous ways.
The high court is the subject of a special Sabbath evening service at Congregation B’nai Emunah on Friday, September 16. Led by Professor Janet K.
Levit, faculty members of the University of Tulsa Law School, including Professor Lynn Entzeroth, will review the most important decisions of the court.
Members and friends may choose to come at the beginning of Evening Services at 7:30 p.m., or participate in Sabbath dinner beforehand. Dinner will
begin at 6:30 p.m., and the cost for adults is $10 per person, and $5 for children 12 and under. Babysitting is available free to those who call in reservations at least two days in advance. Services will feature the instrumental
music of Klay Kodesh, and high-end coffee and baked goods for the entire
community will follow services.
Dinner and babysitting reservations may be made by calling the Synagogue at 583-7121, or by e-mail to [email protected].
Synagogue Picnic and Auction
Set for September 11
The B’nai Emunah Men’s Club
invites members and friends to its
annual Religious School Picnic at
noon on September 11, in the Synagogue Sukkah. All are welcome to
attend at no cost.
The picnic is a traditional gift from
the CBE Men’s Club to mark the
opening of the Synagogue’s Religious
School year. The Synagogue also
invites the community to its annual
B’nai Emunah High-End Baked
Goods Auction beginning at 12:30
p.m. Members and friends of the
congregation will bring boxes and
baskets of home-baked cakes, tarts,
breads, cookies, and bars. The result
is a very substantial charitable gift
from the congregation to MAZON, the
national Jewish hunger relief organization.
Can’t come to the picnic, but would
still like to help?. Drop off your contribution at the Synagogue on either
September 9, or 11. If you would like
to bid, but cannot be present, call
Brian Brouse at 742-3301 to appoint
him as your proxy.
SOME OF THE RECORD-BREAKING NUMBER OF CAMPERS ATTENDING CAMP
SHALOM this summer take an opportunity for a group photo before going to
play soccer on the Jeanette Altman Frieden Sports Complex. For more photos
and information about this year’s Camp Shalom sessions, see pages 1 and 6.
Send your
COMMUNITY
CALENDAR
Announcements to:
Tulsa Jewish
Review
2021 E. 71st St.
Tulsa, OK 74136
[email protected]
12 TULSA JEWISH REVIEW SEPT. 1, 2005
Israel and Iran Cooperating
on Advanced Science Project
Little-known ‘SESAME’ effort
to create a synchrotron accelerator
SESAME — THE SYNCHROTRON-LIGHT FOR EXPERIMENTAL SCIENCE AND
APPLICATIONS IN THE MIDDLE EAST scientific project, a cooperative project of
Israel, Iran, and other Arab countries is shown under construction in Alaan, Jordan.
BY GIL SEDAN
PETRA, Jordan, (JTA) — Here’s
some good news from the Middle
East: Iran and Israel, bitter enemies,
need no “Open Sesame” magic to be
able to cooperate on an advanced
scientific project.
In Alaan, a town just north of
Amman — and at a comfortable
remove from the spotlight thrown by
political conflicts — representatives
of the two countries are involved in
developing SESAME, an acronym for
Synchrotron-light for Experimental
Science and Applications in the Middle East.
It’s a rare and possibly unique
example of scientific cooperation
between Israel, Iran, and other countries with which Israel has no ties,
such as Pakistan, Bahrain, and the
United Arab Emirates.
Other members are Jordan, Egypt,
the Palestinian Authority, and
Turkey. Libya is expected to join
soon as an observer.
“The political importance of the
project cannot be underestimated,”
professor Khaled Toukan, Jordan’s
minister of education and the project’s acting director, told JTA.
“Scientists in the region work
together in a spirit of cooperation for
the sake of developing the Middle
East,” Toukan said.
SESAME, the Middle East’s first
major international research center,
is a synchrotron accelerator. It uses
magnets to create a circular path for
electrons traveling at nearly the
speed of light, producing a beam of
bright ultraviolet and X-ray light,
about the diameter of a human hair,
that is directed down beam lines to
end stations.
“These beam lines are so much
stronger than the known X-rays that
they open up new options for scientific research,” professor Moshe
Deutsch, chairman of Israel’s
national council for synchrotron
radiation and one of two Israeli participants in SESAME, told JTA.
SESAME is expected to contribute to
a wide range of scientific research,
including structural molecular biology, molecular environmental science,
X-ray imaging, archeological microanalysis, materials characterization,
and clinical medical applications.
The annual budget is anticipated to
be between $4 million and $8 million.
Synchrotron radiation is widely
used in materials science and biomedical
applications,
including
lithography for computer chips,
absorption and scattering measurements, and high-pressure applications to create artificial diamonds
and other substances.
An international synchrotron-light
source in the Middle East was first
proposed in 1997, when peace
seemed to be on the way. European
and Middle Eastern scientists
worked together, and with the
contribution of an old German
synchrotron, SESAME got underway.
The model for SESAME was the
CERN Laboratory, near Geneva. It
was founded as a multinational consortium after World War II in an
effort to bring former enemy countries in Europe closer, and now functions under the auspices of
UNESCO.
One Israeli newspaper recently
came out with a headline that Israeli
scientists were helping with Iran’s
and Egypt’s nuclear programs. “This
is absolutely false,” Deutsch said.
“The synchrotron can have no military use.”
But it can have immense political
implications. All scientists — including the Iranians — were empowered
by their governments; in fact, they
are their governments’ official representatives on the council, which
meets in the region every few
months. In other words, it’s not
merely an occasional collaboration
between scientists, but rather official
cooperation between the countries
concerned, regardless of political
animosities.
How is that possible? “All participants deal only with common scientific ground and nothing else,”
Deutsch said.
Israel’s other representative to the
council, Eliezer Rabinovici of Hebrew
University, is a theoretical physicist
in a field that doesn’t overlap with
synchrotrons, so his own research
won’t derive any direct benefit from
SESAME. Nevertheless, Rabinovici is
an enthusiastic partner.
Rabinovici said that as a physicist
he believed in the “parallel universe”
theory, which posits a hypothetical
universe that exists separately from
our own. Some theories of physics
postulate the existence of many parallel universes, possibly an infinite
number.
“Meeting the other scientists was a
way of satisfying curiosity about the
‘parallel universe,’” he said. But, he
noted, “we leave the political discussions for coffee breaks.”
Why did Iran chose to participate in
the project along with Israel? “Iran
used to be considered a villain in the
world
scientific
community,”
Deutsch said. “For Iran, this is a way
of getting out of isolation, but the scientific benefits of the project per se
are a good enough reason.”
Deutsch’s comments were affirmed
by his Iranian colleague, Reza
Mansouri, vice minister for research
at Iran’s Ministry of Science,
Research, and Technology.
Contacted via e-mail, Mansouri told
JTA that “international and regional
scientific collaboration is one of the
recommendations of science policy in
Iran. It is then too natural to collaborate in this project.”
Asked if Iran’s participation
together with Israel had any political
significance, Mansouri replied with a
brief but decisive “No!’’ JEWISH FIGHTER ‘VILLAIN’
IN RON HOWARD’S ‘CINDERELLA MAN’
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4
Except for fleeting glimpses of the Star of
David on Baer’s trunks, which the boxer
displayed in every fight after the victory
over Schmeling, the movie does not touch
on his ethnic background.
His genealogy has been frequently
debated and misconstrued, but was
clarified by the fighter’s son, Max Baer Jr.,
better known to 1960s TV audiences as
Jethro in “The Beverly Hillbillies.”
Speaking from Las Vegas, the younger
Baer said the champ’s father, Jacob Baer,
was a German Jewish immigrant, who
worked as a butcher, cattle dealer, and
rancher in Colorado and California.
Jacob Baer married a Catholic woman,
and their children were raised in her faith,
though the household wasn’t particularly
religious. The idea of wearing a Star of
David for the Schmeling fight, said Baer,
Max Baer
“came from my father’s Jewish manager. At
that time, the great boxers were Italian, Irish, or Jewish, and there was a lot
of ethnic pride and rivalry among the fans, especially in New York. I think it
all started as a publicity ploy, but over time my father might have convinced
himself that he was defending the Jewish people.”
The younger Baer described his late father as cocky, “sort of like Muhammad Ali,” who liked to clown around and would rather party than train. But
Baer trained hard for the Schmeling match.
After watching that fight, the legendary Jack Dempsey observed that Baer
was so good that night he could have beaten anybody in the world.
Whatever could be said against Baer, he was never petty or mean-spirited,
contrary to the movie depiction, said his son. “My father hardly ever bore a
grudge, and after he and another fighter would beat each other to a pulp,
my father would go to the other guy’s dressing room and invite him to a
party,” said the junior Baer.
“After he lost the world championship to Braddock, my father said he was
glad that the title went to a guy who had to support a large family.’’