Mideast proximity peace talks to start up again

 

By Ira Sharkansky

Ira Sharkansky

JERUSALEM–Here we go again. Maybe.

The stage is set for the beginning of indirect talks between Israel and the abbreviated Palestine National Authority (West Bank without Gaza). The Arab League has provided its endorsement. Palestinian leaders carried that decision on the basis of “assurances” received from the Americans. They are warning that the  building of one new apartment for Jews in East Jerusalem or the destruction of one Arab’s apartment can derail the process. The Arab League is insisting on its authority to monitor the talks, and to judge their progress before agreeing to a shift from indirect to direct talks.

Like other things we are hearing about these negotiations, the appropriate posture is, “Who knows?”

Israelis are participating in the doublespeak. The Prime Minister asserts there has been no concession with respect to building in Jerusalem, but the working people who actually do the planning and issue the permits indicate that things haven’t been moving. The Prime Minister may have given assurances to Americans that he will cool things, but the Interior Minister (SHAS) has ordered his underlings to do their work.

It’s way too early to celebrate a breakthrough, or to decide that essential Israeli or Palestinian interests will be preserved, bargained away, or compromised for the sake of peace.

The big picture includes these ingredients:

Palestinians at the top of their heap in the West Bank appear to be the most pragmatic and least inclined to violence that we have ever seen. Below them, however, are religious extremists and nationalist ideologues inclined to upset any hint of sacrificing their wildest dreams. Those people control Gaza, are well represented in the West Bank population, and can make trouble via their allies in Iran, Syria, and Lebanon.

The American President is more concerned than any of his predecessors. He continues to push despite the problems that he recognizes. He, and people claiming to speak for him, mention even greater involvement if the parties do not show signs of progress according to an American timetable.

As we saw in the health reform he wrung from Congress, President Obama gives higher priority to reaching an achievement than to the quality of its details. Israeli pessimists may be reading the headlines and hoping that reports of an old romance will turn into something real and embarrassing, that Greek, Portuguese, Spanish, or Irish finance, problems in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, or Somalia, or oil in the Gulf of Mexico will cause the White House to invest less energy in Israel-Palestine. Yet the President’s energy seems as expansive as his rhetoric. It is best to assume his continued involvement.
The Israeli government may be the most conservative with respect to issues of Palestine since the 1980s, and perhaps before then. Its composition features a Prime Minister who seems genetically right wing, major partners from the assertive segment of right wing Russian immigrants and religious parties holding the sensitive positions of Foreign Minister and Interior Minister, along with a Defense Minister from the right side of the Labor Party. Their power reflects the virtual disappearance of the Israeli left, which itself comes from frustration with Palestinian violence and rejectionism.

The violence that began in 2000, and that which came out of Gaza after the Israeli withdrawal, as well as the bluster of Hizbollah and the madness of Iran may cause Israel to dig in its heels against whatever may be the readiness of Palestinian moderates and the passions of the American White House.

Against this, however, we should remember that it was Menachem Begin, an iconic father of the Israeli right, who agreed to the complete withdrawal from the Sinai for the sake of agreement with Egypt.

It ain’t over until it’s over.
*
Sharkansky is professor emeritus of political science at Hebrew University

Jewish overreactions to accidental or intended slurs detract from more important issues

By Bruce S. Ticker

Bruce S. Ticker

PHILADELPHIA–New York City lost a talented, generous citizen when Ronan Tynan moved to Boston where he can patronize their businesses and pay their taxes instead. Adding the ultimate insult to injury, the Irish tenor donned a Red Sox jersey when he sang at a St. Patrick’s Day breakfast in his new hometown.

Tynan emigrated from Ireland to America in 1998, and since 2000 sang “God Bless America” during the seventh-inning stretch of important Yankee games. His 10-year stint with the Yankees ended abruptly last Oct. 16 after being accused of uttering an anti-Semitic remark, and this was followed by death threats, nasty e-mail messages and a threat from a surgeon that he would let him die on the operating table.

New Yorkers – a slight minority, we trust – called down the thunder upon Tynan because he made a vague joke about “two Jewish ladies”; the quip was perceived as anti-Semitic. Unlike others who made this kind of mistake, Tynan apologized and agreed to spend time on Anti-Defamation League endeavors. He even sang at the ADL’s annual dinner in Manhattan.

Tynan claimed in a New York Times piece that he was moving to Boston for a change and to be near friends and relatives. One must wonder if the Bronx Cheer he endured drove him out of town. An overreaction can produce that kind of reaction.

Perceived ethnic slurs can produce overreactions among all groups, and the pattern persisted in recent episodes involving the Jewish people. As Tynan adjusted to Boston life, South African Justice Richard Goldstone considered canceling his attendance at his grandson’s bar mitzvah because of an impending protest, and a Catholic bishop was fined by a German court for denying the occurrence of the Holocaust.

Goldstone in short order became an unwelcome household name among Jews for leading the United Nations commission that accuses both Israel and Hamas of committing war crimes during last year’s cross-border war in Gaza. Some Jews – members of the South African Zionist Federation – planned to demonstrate in front of a Johannesburg synagogue if Goldstone attended his grandson’s bar mitzvah there.

Even harsh critics of Goldstone were offended by the protest plans. U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman, a Democrat who represents portions of Queens and Long Island, stated in a letter to federation chairman Avrom Krengel that he was “appalled and utterly disgusted” by reports that Goldstone would not attend because of the protest threat, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported.

The backlash to the federation’s backlash worked. Krengel’s organization canceled the demonstration and will meet with Goldstone.

In Germany, Catholic Bishop Richard Williamson was found guilty on April 16 of Holocaust denial in a district court in Regensburg that upheld a $22,473 fine imposed in 2009. Holocaust denial is illegal in Germany.

The year before, the London bishop was initially fined in connection with an interview with the Swedish SVT broadcaster in which he decried as “lies, lies, lies” the murder of Jews in gas chambers during World War II, JTA reported. He also allegedly claimed that no Jews were killed in the gas chambers during World War II and said the number of murdered European Jews did not exceed 300,000.

Anyone with this attitude must be a reprehensible lunatic, but Williamson hurt nobody except our sensibilities. The First Amendment here allows Williamson to talk this way. We can appreciate Germany’s sensitivity to the Jewish people, but punishing a person for exercising his free speech is not necessary.

By all means, anyone against bigotry must call attention to Holocaust denial, a judge who might have unfairly criticized Israel or a celebrity who makes a questionable joke about a minority group, but the backlash in all these cases is an overreaction, excessively so. We are talking proportions here. Far more compelling concerns menace the Jewish community that are downplayed or ignored altogether.

Did critics of Williamson, Goldstone and Tynan express their fury for the sake of Pamela Waechter or Gilad Shalit? Sorry, most people may not readily recognize their names. Waechter was murdered in 2006 inside the Jewish Federation building in Seattle when she and other colleagues were shot by a man after he entered the building; Naveed Haq was found guilty for the shootings last December. Shalit is an Israeli soldier held in captivity by Hamas, presumably in Gaza, since June 25, 2006.

The murder of a Jew and the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier are compelling issues while less significant matters dominate our attention.

For those not familiar with Tynan’s situation, he told the Times that it began when a real estate agent innocuously referred to two women as “two Jewish ladies” as they were being shown a vacant apartment adjacent to his on the East Side of Manhattan. He spoke with them and determined that the “two Jewish ladies” might not like residing next to a loud tenor.

On Oct. 16, an associate of that agent told Tynan that the apartment was sold, adding, “Don’t worry, they’re not Red Sox fans.” He said his response – “As long as they are not the Jewish ladies” – was misinterpreted by a Jewish woman who was with the agent, and who subsequently complained to the Yankees and the media. Tynan explained that the term “Jewish ladies” was intended as a shorthand identification of the women he thought would not enjoy the apartment, not to malign their religion.

He was told by the Yankees not to appear that same night at Game 1 of the team’s playoff series against the Angels, and that was the end of his time with the Yankees.

He claimed that the Yankees would not meet with him to hear his side of the story, but he met with Abe Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League. That led to Tynan‘s involvement with the ADL. “He publicly apologized, and he wants to be a soldier in the struggle against bigotry. What else can you asked for?” Foxman said.

Foxman is right. Some of those offended by the incident needlessly got their Irish up.

*
Ticker is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia 

Another paradigm for historians: Jewish life on the West Coast

By Joellyn Zollman

Jews of the Pacific Coast: Reinventing Community on America’s Edge. Ellen Eisenberg, Ava F. Kahn, and William Toll. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2009, 309pp.

SAN DIEGO–The New York Jewish experience has long served as the template for understanding American Jewish history. In Jews of the Pacific Coast, historians Ellen Eisenberg, Ava F. Kahn and William Toll reinvent the template. Instead of assuming that all of American Jewish history is, at some level, patterned after or derivative of the New York Jewish experience, the authors approach the Pacific Coast as a blank slate. They explore how Pacific Coast reality and mentality influenced Jews, and how Jews, in turn, impacted the Pacific Coast.

The resulting book is a regional history of Jewish life in California, Oregon and Washington from the original Gold Rush era settlements through the 1980s. It is not a chronicle of events, individuals, or communities in these states, but rather a thoughtful analysis of the interplay between community and region.

Eisenberg, Kahn and Toll are well-suited to craft a regional history of Jews on the Pacific Coast. Each historian has made significant contributions to the scholarship on western Jewish history, with several books and articles to his/her credit. Collectively, they are a western Jewish history powerhouse. The choice to co-author the book is an intriguing, unusual move for historians working in Jewish studies. It would be much more typical to produce a collection of individually authored essays. In this case, three esteemed historians collaborating to (re)consider regional history adds weight to the resulting scholarship.

The choice to speak in one voice also establishes them as a voting block in the ongoing debate regarding regionalism in Jewish Studies. Scholarly opinions vary regarding the significance of place in American Jewish history, the correct definition and scope of regionalism, and its usefulness as a tool for analysis.

In his study of southern Jews, for example, Mark Bauman found that Jews living in that region had more in common with co-religionists in any other region, save the northeast, than they did with southern white Protestants.[1] Is there, then, a southern Jewish identity? Historian Deborah Dash Moore has suggested that more than north, south, east and west, American Jews are products of “urban regionalism.” It’s their city dwelling that defines them more than the position of that city on an American map.[2]

Eisenberg, Kahn and Toll assert that traditional, old school regionalism has and does play a determinative role in western American Jewish history: “We argue that the timing of the settlement, and the social, political, religious, ethnic, and economic climate of cities and towns profoundly influenced regional identities for Jews and other westerners”

However, they are also careful to point out that modern Jewish identity is multi-layered, and informed by a variety of factors including history, geography and culture. The authors do not place a limit on the number of hyphens in an individual’s identity: “Individuals could embrace their identities as western Jews while at the same time identifying as Russians, Oregonians, Zionists, merchants, and even former New Yorkers.”

Using regionalism as an interpretive lens allows Eisenberg, Kahn and Toll to explore different dimensions of western Jewish life. For example, their research demonstrates that from the very first Gold Rush era settlements, western Jews lived in communities that were racially, ethnically and religiously diverse. San Francisco, Seattle, Portland and Los Angeles were home to a wide variety of people, including, for example, Asians, Mexican Hispanics, American Hispanics, and Native Americans; Catholics, Mormons, and Buddhists. Historian D. Michael Quinn called the region “the inverted image of the Protestant mainstream”

The authors suggest that the remarkable distinctiveness of Pacific Coast Jewry can, in part, be attributed to its place in the western spectrum of race, ethnicity and religion. From the time that they settled in the western United States, Jews were considered part of the Anglo community. This is in contrast with their more fluid racial identity in the south and on the East Coast during the same period, the nineteenth century.[3] Along the Pacific Coast, Asians, Hispanics, and Native Americans were the deemed and demeaned “other.”

In such an environment, Jews were not only welcome to set up their own religious communities, but also to assume positions of civic leadership and responsibility in the larger community. Dozens of Jewish men held offices in local government, and Jewish women lead community-wide settlement work and philanthropy in Pacific Coast cities at the turn of the century. These trends, a predilection toward political office and a leadership role in secular philanthropy, continue to characterize western Jewry through the present day.

The swift integration of Jews into western communities did not stumble with the arrival of immigrants from Eastern Europe at the turn of the century. In fact, the authors suggest, that this gigantic wave of immigrants, who so profoundly altered American Jewish life on the East Coast, did not remake western Jewish communities. Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe came more gradually and in smaller numbers to the cities on the West Coast.

More influential in the west, particularly in Los Angeles and Seattle, was the smaller wave of Sephardic immigration that occurred in the early 20^th century. Again, the western Jewish experience has been characterized by diversity, this time within the Jewish community, that yields a unique historical reality. Diversity continues to characterize Pacific Coast cities. The authors point to the significant populations of Israeli, Persian, Russian and Latin American Jews as key to understanding contemporary western Jewish identity.

West Coast cities have been remarkably welcoming places for Jews to live, conclude Eisenberg, Kahn and Toll. At times, this enthusiasm for Pacific Coast residency resembles boosterism. This is particularly notable in the book’s treatment of anti-Semitism, which is often couched in oddly cheerful or defensive terms. In the introduction, the authors write, “While southern, eastern, and midwestern Jews faced heightened anti-Semitism beginning in the late nineteenth century, Jews of the West continued to celebrate their high level of inclusion and civic prominence. 

A few paragraphs later, they acknowledge an increase in anti-Semitism in California in the early 20^th century, which, they argue, can be traced to the large number of midwesterners with prejudiced attitudes who moved to the area, Later, more detailed, discussions of anti-Semitism in the body of the book follow the same pattern and tone: There is anti-Semitism here, but it’s not as bad as other parts of the country. When it does flare up, as in the interwar period or the postwar period, it can often be traced to “newcomers.” There is a disappointing reluctance to put aside the good news in favor of discussion and analysis of native anti-Semitic impulses.

Still, the research is both thoughtful and challenging, an engaging combination that leaves the reader wanting more. How, for example, did the actual western landscape shape the actual western Jewish landscape? In other words, how does material culture, including synagogues, camps, museums and ritual objects, look when viewed through the regional lens?

The book opens with a discussion of the famous stained glass window at Shearith Israel in San Francisco, which depicts Moses delivering the Ten Commandments from El Capitan. Did Bay Area churches or Buddhist centers feature variations on this theme? This is a provocative piece of material culture, deserving of closer analysis. The book would benefit from more considered examination of the physical landscape of western Jewish communities.

In addition, though the book includes the broad term “Pacific Coast” in its title, it is really the history of four major urban communities on the coast: San Francisco, Los Angeles, Portland, and Seattle. So, local readers looking to gain insight on the San Diego Jewish experience should approach the book with appropriate expectations. San Diego is a sidebar here. Still, it is an interesting exercise to read the book with San Diego in mind, testing the conclusions of the authors in the narrative of San Diego history.

Jewish history is never just one story. By considering Pacific Coast Jewish history as part of the larger narrative of western history, Eisenberg, Kahn, and Toll reveal important characteristics of western Jewish life. At the same time, the authors are aware of the larger narratives of American and Modern Jewish history that impact all American Jews. This does not mean that they always give adequate weight to each narrative. This is a book focused on regional identity, after all. As a result, though the tone sometimes resembles cheerleading, the book succeeds in making the case that regional realities have impacted Jewish identities on the Pacific Coast.

---

[1] Mark K. Bauman, The Southern as American: Jewish Style (Cincinnati: American Jewish Archives, 1996) 30.

[2] Deborah Dash Moore, William Ferris, et al. “Regionalism: The Significance of Place in American Jewish Life,” American Jewish History 93:2 (June 2007) 115-117.

[3] For a discussion of Jews and whiteness, see Eric L. Goldstein, The Price of Whiteness: Jews, Race, and American Identity. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2006.

**

Joellyn Wallen Zollman holds a Ph.D. in Jewish history from Brandeis University. She has taught courses in Modern Jewish History, American Jewish History, and Religious Material Culture at SDSU and UCSD.

Another ‘oy vey’ situation

By Carol Davis

Carol Davis

SAN DIEGO–I don’t know when the words “ Oy Vey” made it into mainstream vernacular. It really doesn’t matter. It is often said in so many matter of fact situations that unless you just landed from another planet you would know in essence, if not in fact what it means.

I was weaned on the phrase. From the time I could understand English, some Yiddish, it was a staple in my house like gefilte fish. It’s not unusual for me now to experience Oy Vey situations in almost every decision I have to make that’s unpleasant, hard to do or just plain a pain. Conversely silly, embarrassing and oft times funny times can and should be Oy Vey moments as well. In other words Oy Vey can be applied to anything or anyone you want it to.

It’s no surprise then, that Russian Director Evgeny Afineevsky would title his gay, romantic, film comedy Oy Vey! My Son is Gay! starring none other than the very typically Jewish Lainie Kazan as Shirley (the Mom) and Saul Rubinek as Martin (the Dad) when they learn son Nelson (Nelson?) announces to his parents that he is gay. You see what I mean by Oy Vey situations?

The story takes place in one of the wealthy Burroughs of Long Island. It seems that every Friday night, Shirley and Martin invite yet another Jewish girl to meet their son, who is still single, and look at her as a potential daughter in law. Needless to say Nelson is a bit fed up with the charade but doesn’t have the nerve to tell his parents that he is both gay and has a special someone.

And here comes another Oy Vey situation! When Nelson finally does tell his parents that he is seeing someone, they insist he invite ‘her’ to Shabbat dinner so they can meet ‘her’. Shirley, all ferklempt that their son has a special someone, now wonders if that someone is even Jewish, or white for that matter.

Needless to say the whole film is booby-trapped with OY Vey moments not just for the parents but for almost everyone they and their son’s come in contact with like Nelson’s gorgeous neighbor Sybil (Carmen Electra) who is the centerfold star of a porno magazine. When Shirley pays a surprise visit to Nelson’s apartment and finds Sybil there she assumes Sybil their son’s ‘special friend’. And when Sybil visits Martin at his work, oy vey!

To say that this is a journey for just Nelson (John Lloyd Young) and his boyfriend Angelo (Jai Rodriguez) would be an understatement. Shirley and Martin get themselves into some pretty bizarre situations by first trying to conceal the fact that their son is gay from their family and then by trying to see what the gay life is like with a visit by Martin to a gay bar. Far fetched? Very! But it scored some funny points.

But the parallel story is the real story of what acceptance looks like from both sets of parents’ points of view (and there are some funny and touching moments) as well as the for young men themselves coming to grips with their being an out couple in today’s world.

Its too bad Afineevsky muddied the waters with so much stereotypical goulash when the real facts can stand on their own. Family ties and love of children are strong bonds and even outing oneself doesn’t break that bond. Underneath all the frantic comings and goings is a good story.

To say the acting was award winning would be stretching a point. It was fun, some good points were made and it is certainly a beginning especially now that being gay, coming out and adopting children is just the tip of the iceberg. Next, repeal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and make marriage a legal state contract between consenting adults.  

OyVey! My Son is Gay! was the last entry in the Film Out Festival that went from April 16^th -22 at the North Park Birch Theatre.  It was a fun evening and according to all involved, a success.

See you at the theatre.

*
Critic Davis is based in San Diego

Adventures in San Diego Jewish History, April 30, 1954—Part IV

Compiled by Gail Umeham

J.W.V. Aux. News
Southwestern Jewish Press April 30, 1954 Page 6

Meetings have been changed for the San Diego Jewish War Veterans Auxiliary No. 185 to the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of each month.

New officers are:  Pres. Theresa Furst; Senior V. P. Ruth Hecht;  Jr. V.P. , Sophie Silberman; Rec. Sec., Frances Price; Corr. Sec., Nixie Kern; Treas., Angie Landeau; Chaplain, Henrietta Cohen, Conductress, Myra Shoenthal.  Trustees:  Ann Schloss, Ann Juster, Freda Hollandesky, Pearl Herzig; Patriotic Instructress, Paula Simmons; Historian Fannie Krone.

California Dept. Junior Vice President Jean Spatz was outstanding as Installing Officer and was ably assisted by Installing Conductress Jennie Turner.

The next meeting will be held April 21 at the War Memorial Bldg.  All members are urged to attend.

Under the supervision of Hostess Esther Frank, the Service boys are invited to the Beth Israel Synagogue every 1st and 3rd Friday of every month and every 2nd and 4th Friday at the Tifereth Israel Synagogue.

There will be a Child Welfare party with an Easter motive at the Sunshine School, April 26th, under the supervision of Mollie Ratner.

Under the supervision of Calif. Dept. Jr. Vice Pres. Jean Spatz every 2nd Wednesday is devoted to our hospital party at Naval Hospital.

B’nai B’rith Girls
Southwestern Jewish Press April 30, 1954 Page 6

S. D. B’nai B’rith Girls will hold their annual installation and services at Tifereth Isrel synagogue Friday, April 30th, at 8:00 p.m.  Rabbi Levens and four members of BBG’s will conduct the service.  The girls will be honoring outgoing advisers, Mrs. Tepper and Mrs. L. Lassman, and the incoming advisers, Mrs. R. Aved and Mrs. M. Stefel.

The incoming officers are:  Historian, Debbie Strauss; Sentinel, Diane Fogelman; Conductress, Sharlene Soloman; Treasurer Roberta Wyloge; Recording Sec, Barbara Borner; Corresponding Sec., Ros Steffel; Vice Pres., Bev Gendleman; President, Leani Leichtag.

Yo-Ma-Co News
Southwestern Jewish Press April 30, 1954 Page 6

The Yo-Ma-Co Club is working feverishly collecting rummage for the coming sale, to be held the 6th, 7th and 8th of May.  The entire proceeds of this sale will go to the Jewish Community Center and will be used for the benefit of the children’s summer camp.  There is a bus to be paid for and many other expenses.

Anyone having usable articles of clothing, shoes, dishes, pots and pans, discarded furniture, toys, etc. please call either AT-4-2798 or AT-1-7744. Help us to help your children, and your community.

Cottage of Israel
Southwestern Jewish Press April 30, 1954 Page 6

We regret very much that the annual lawn program for the celebration of Israel’s Independence Day will not be held this year.  This is due to the fact that every Sunday in the month of May had already been reserved by other Cottages though we made our request as early as possible.

However, there will be a citywide celebration of the sixth anniversary on May 15th which will substitute for our lawn program.

The Cottage has already undergone the first of planned improvements for this year in having the walls repainted.  This is just the beginning of ambitious plans for renovating and remodeling the Cottage interior.

Mrs. Maurice Schaffer is now permanent hostess for our Sunday afternoon Open House.  She is assisted by another member of our hostess committee every Sunday but assumes complete responsibility for the serving under the supervision of Mrs. Anna Peckarsky, Hostess chairman.

City of Hope Auxiliary Mothers’ Day Luncheon
Southwestern Jewish Press April 30, 1954 Page 6

The Don Room of the El Cortez Hotel is the setting of the Annual City of Hope Auxiliary Mothers‘ Day Luncheon, Thursday, MNay 13 at 12 noon.

Mrs. Robert Siegel is chairman of this affair, assisted by Mrs. Bill Schusterman.  On the committee are Mmes. Jennie Siner, David Schwartz, Harry Douglas, Jake Schwartz, Zel Camiel, Jeremiah Aronoff, Past President, and Mrs. Elias Berwin, President.

Proceeds from City of Hope Auxiliary go to the free, non-profit, non-sectarian, National Medical Center at Duarte, California.  One of the latest developments at the City of Hope Medical Center is the opening of the Children’s Leukemia Wing, a facility unique in American medicine—combining bed, laboiratory and parent participation in the care and treatment of children suffering from leukemia and related diseases.

Junior Charity League Distributes Funds
Southwestern Jewish Press April 30, 1954 Page 6

The Junior Charity League held its regular meeting on April 12 at the home of Mrs. Marcel Brust.  Mrs. Brust and Mrs. Paul Nestor were hostesses.  The club voted to furnish a radio with ear phones to a patient at Vauclain Home.  They also voted to send a check to the United Jewish fund and to send a check to the Red Cross for their drive.  The league raised $326.99 at its Valentine Card Party in Feb., all of which was turned over to the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, which will spend it to buy much needed items for San Diego patients.

Next meeting will be at the home of Bebe Goldhammer, Frances Goldman, co-hostess.

Hadassah Sabbath At Temple Beth Israel
Southwestern Jewish Press April 30, 1954 Page 6

This Friday evening, April 30, will be observed as Hadassah Sabbath.  Members of San Diego Chapter of Hadassah, women’s Zionist organization, will attend and participate in the worship services.

Mrs. Sidney Goldhammer and Mrs. Albert Krasnow will speak on “Zionism in the Jewish Tradition.” Mrs. Robert Strauss, retiring president, will greet the Congregation.  Mrs. Harry Felson, newly elected president, will present the speakers.

The community is invited to attend the service, which begins at 8 p.m.

Yiddish Lovers Invited
Southwestern Jewish Press April 30, 1954 Page 6

Lovers of Jewish Literature are cordially invited to the home of Mrs. Rose Brooker, 4320 Campus Ave. on Monday, May 3, 8:00 p.m.  Shlomo Hochberg, Executive Director of YIVO, will talk on “Yiddish Literature in America for the Past 50 Years.”

Yiddish stage artist, Isaac Rothbloom, will give several recitations.  This program is sponsored by the local YIVO Committee.  All are cordially invited.

Zionist Council Plans Celebration of 6th Anniversary of State of Israel
Southwestern Jewish Press April 30, 1954 Page 6

San Diego Jewry is preparing to take part in the world-wide celebration of the sixth anniversary of the creation of the State of Israel.  Under the auspices of the Zionist council, plans are being formulated to celebrate the event on Saturday evening, May 11th in the Synagogue proper of Tifereth Israel.

Fred Yaruss, general chairman for the evening, has invited the participation of all San Diego organizations.  Acting as chairman of arrangements is Sid Posin, with Frances Strauss as program and entertainment chairman.

An outstanding program is arranged with the world famous Gen. Elishu Ben Hur as guest speaker.  A native of Russia, Gen. Ben Hur went to Israel with his family in 1922.  At the age of fifteen he joined the Haganah and served brilliantly for all the years of its existence.

As an official with the British Army during World War I, Gen Ben Hur saw service in the Western Desert and in Italy.  He is in the United States now studying Industrial Engineering.  Gen. Ben Hur will tell of some of his experiences and relate events and happenings now taking place in Israel.

Entertaining will be Harold Zabrack, distinguished pianist and Jean (Mrs. David) Schreibman, whose repertoire of Yiddish folk-songs is a welcome addition to the program.

Refreshments will be served at the close of the celebration which will begin at 8:00 p.m.

Hebrew Home Aux. Elects New Officers
Southwestern Jewish Press April 30, 1954 Page 6

Elected at the last meeting of the S.D. Hebrew Home for the Aged Auxiliary were the following:  Pres., Mrs. William Moss; V.P., Mrs. Alex Newman; 2nd V.P., Mrs. Paul Cudney; 3rd V.P., Mrs. Morris Fried; Rec. Sec., Mrs. S. Frank; Fin. Sec., Mrs. S. Waldman; Treas., Mrs. S. Goldstein; Aud., Mrs. R. Shapery; Parl., Sue Gruenberg.

New board members are Mesdames Edward Addleson, Nathan Rubin, Sue Gruenberg, J.L. Lerner, M. Greenberg, H. Rabinowitz, A. J. Bard, Nathan Bard, Joe Gibson, Paul Berkowitz, Tom Levin, Rod Horrow, Betty Cohen, P. Shapery, Bella Price. 

Deceased
Southwestern Jewish Press April 30, 1954 Page 6

Sol Goodman, aged 66, passed away on April 21.  He had been a resident of San Diego for 30 years and was a member of Tifereth Israel Synagogue, B’nai B’rith, Labor Zionist Organization, and Histadrut Council.  He was also one of the first incorporators of the United Jewish Fund of San Diego.Services were conducted on April 22 by Rabbi Monroe Levens and Cantor Joseph Cysner in the Lewis Colonial Mortuary.

Surviving are his wife, Bessie, two sons, Jack and Nathan, and two grandchildren.

We are sorry to hear of the death of Mrs. Pauline Coblentz mother of Mrs. Edgar Levi.

*

Adventures in Jewish History” is sponsored by Inland Industries Group LP in memory of long-time San Diego Jewish community leader Marie (Mrs. Gabriel) Berg. Our indexed “Adventures in San Diego Jewish History” series will be a regular feature until we run out of history.

Two Wrongs make a right smart play

By Cynthia Citron

Cynthia Citron

HOLLYWOOD, California – If comedy consists of hilarious dialogue delivered with earnest sincerity and exquisite timing, then Scott Caan’s new play Two Wrongs is the pluperfect example of the genre. 

A beautiful blonde nut job and a darkly handsome neurotic “meet cute” in the waiting room of their psychotherapist’s office.  With their therapist’s “inappropriate and unethical” complicity, they get together, explore their parallel dysfunctions, and discover that they are soulmates. 

And that’s all of the plot I’m going to tell you, because after a few minutes you know exactly where it’s going—and getting there is all the fun! 

The gorgeous Bre Blair, recognizable from her many film and TV roles (The Back Up Plan, Brothers and Sisters, Grey’s Anatomy), makes her L.A. stage debut as Shelly, the girl who “likes to be alone.”  Aside from her impeccable deadpan timing, she delivers an unselfconscious parody of a woman in heat that is worth an Ovation Award (or a Tony) all by itself. 

Val Lauren plays Terry, her new boyfriend, an obsessive, commitment-phobic womanizer with loneliness issues and extravagant charm. 

And Larry Clarke, a beer-bellied Kelsey Grammer look-alike, plays Julian, their therapist.  Demonstrating professional reasonableness, he appears to be the embodiment of the perfect therapist until his “I’m only human” emotions unravel, transforming him into a modern-day Dr. Frankenstein. 

This delightful production of Two Wrongs is a world premiere, but not playwright Scott Caan’s first outing.  His previous plays, which include Almost Love and 911, have been staged at The Playhouse West Repertory Theater, where he has been a member of the company since 1996.  He has directed plays and films and, like his father, James Caan, is also an actor (most notably in the Oceans 11, 12 and 13 series). 

Missy Yager, who directs this three-actor play with alternating intensity and a light playful touch, is best known as a Broadway actress and TV regular.  She is a founding member of the Open Window Theater Company in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where she has directed both classic plays and original new works. 

Set Designer Jeff Robinson, who has created a brightly colorful and pleasant office environment, has also enhanced the pseudo-brick walls with his own fascinating paintings.  One, a floor-to-ceiling bookcase crammed with books piled flat on the shelves is actually a trompe l’oeil so meticulously rendered that you have to get inches away before you can believe that those aren’t real books. 

Sound Designer Steve Altman, erstwhile composer at Motown Records, recently directed the terrific John Lennon musical Just Imagine and Russell Boast, who provides the lighting design, is a South African who was awarded the Nelson Mandela Artists Award for his contributions to theater when he was just 21 years old. 

It’s an incredibly prestigious working ensemble.  But, as in all theatrical productions, the play’s the thing.  And this one is a lollapalooza, a hearty laugh-out-loud, feel-good comedy that will engage you throughout, just as it does the audience full of attractive 20 and 30-somethings that packs the house each weekend. 

Two Wrongs will continue at Lounge Theatre 2, 6201 Santa Monica Blvd. in Hollywood Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 and 7.  It is scheduled to run until May 9th, but call the theater at (323) 960-1057 because in response to popular demand, if the schedule can be worked out, it may be extended.

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Drama Critic Citron is Los Angeles bureau chief for San Diego Jewish World.

From the mountain to the valley: 200 km of heart-pumping effort

 

Start of a mountain to valley relay

By Ulla Hadar

Ulla Hadar

TIMRAT, Israel–Several weeks ago I attended a lecture performed by a man that had gone through several difficulties in his life but nevertheless had decided to participate in an Ironman competition, which involves a 180 kilometer bike ride, 42 kilometer run and 3.8 kilometer swim.

He was sharing his experiences with the audiences and his accomplishments, explaining that you can do anything as long as your mind is set to it. He finished the lecture by throwing the question to the listeners “So what is your Ironman???”

Well I think I found mine, I signed up for the 2nd annual Mountain to Valley, a 200 kilometer relay race. A competitive run that starts at Kalat Nimrod in the North, near Mount Hermon and finishes at the town of Timrat situated in the valley of Jezreel. The relay competition has 24 pieces each of a different length, ranging from 4 to 13 kilometers.

The participants run along dirt roads, cobblestones paths, ascending and descending, far from the lights of the city. Each and every runner passes to a team member at 23 exchange stations along the way a relay bracelet and a chip which records the time.

Gidon Gal and Shmuel Ruchin, the two main organizers of this event, brought the idea to Israel after participating in Vermont, USA, in a similar race known as the “Green Mountain Relay” a 320 kilometer race.

Two hundred sixty groups comprised of 1350 runners signed up for this competition, each group containing 2, 4, 6 or 8 runners. Several ultra runners did 120 kilometers on their own and one Brazilian runner Maoro Chasilev started from Kalat Nimrod and did the entire 200 kilometers on his own.

Based on the time estimation for each runner, the teams were sent off between 8 AM to 4 p.m in an attempt to spread out the crowd and ease the pressure on the 24 stations and enable everyone to arrive at Timrat at the same time more or less.

My stomach was turning upside down in the days leading up to the event. I kept asking myself, Why do I need this? What have I gotten myself into? And surely I will fail to finish this race. Among the four in our group I was the weakest link and I knew that before starting. As a lover of sport I need a new target to train towards, lest weekly running or biking training  get boring and not challenging enough.
You want  to prove to yourself how much power your body contains, what hurdles you can overcome and what you are able to push yourself through to reach the limits and even stretch them further on, to an unbelievable point.

On a nightly training run two weeks before the event I stumbled and strained my left ankle. I had to convince myself that it was nothing, just continue more or less as usual and it will pass.  This was in the midst of the BikeIsrael2010 and one day I rode 60 kilometer with a sprained ankle.
 

The night before the race, my team arrived at a small hostel at Nimrod close to the starting point.  Our team was a four member group two men and two women: Rafi Hadar (my husband), Atara Ron, Dubi Dover and myself, all of us 40+, some of us even 50+!!

Logistically we were very organized thanks to team member Atara Ron. Two cars driven by Dalit Dover (Dubi Dover’s wife) and Eliezer Shamir (Atara Ron’s husband) escorted us along the way, dropping off and collecting the runner from one station and driving the runner to his or her next assigned race leg.

The drivers also supplied runners with food and drink along the route as it is important that the body is nourished throughout the different relays. In the middle of the night you can become disorientated and distracted and can easily forget this important factor.

An hour before our start the air was electric, all runners very excited and everyone eager to start. For my part I had “saved” myself from running for a few days and the adrenalin and the need of endorphins was making my body scream out to start. My number in the chain was four so I still had a couple of hours to wait before it was my turn.

The sign to start went off and Dubi our first runner ran down the steep road going from Kalat Nimrod towards the Baniass. The escort car drove towards station number 3 where I was to wait for Rafi for my first relay shift. As a pilot project this year, 55 teams where provided with a GPS phone in case of an emergency, and we were among the teams receiving one.

Transferring monitoring devices at relay point

We all had 6 runs to finish; mine were of the following lengths: 9 km, 8.9 km, 7.4 km, 5.3 km, 6.4 km and 10.6 km for a total of 47.6 kilometers (approximately 29.5 miles).

At the beginning it was very hot. Descending from Carcum towards Kfar Nachum and the Kinneret I felt all my senses being intoxicated. It was just so beautiful I didn’t feel the heat, noticing the orange groves, the fields and the lake shining with sun beams gently touching the water. Two weeks ago I was at exactly the same spot with the bikers from BikeIsrael2010, but now I was crossing the fields not the roads.

The relays I was most worried about were the night runs. As a woman it is not the nicest experience to run on your own through fields and forests. Although there are other runners, most of the time you are by yourself.

Luckily a good friend of mine Ofra Gafni waited for me at station 12 for the start of my first nightrun (I had three in the dark) and she ran with me as a companion until we reached Timrat.

At one of the night runs we passed through the forest of Ramat Hashofet and again our senses were intoxicated by the smells, the sound of the Shofet stream tingling next to the path we were passing. At the same time, 5 a.m.,  the birds were starting to sing their morning tunes–sweet melody for the ears.

The last relay leading to Timrat was mine to run. One of my advantages was that each run I started I was sent off by my husband and he awarded me with a kiss on my lips which each time gave me a push to go forward.

Exuberance at the finish

The route was not easy; it was the hardest of all my relays. The path started winding up the hillside. Ofra kept  feeding me with optimistic words and joy. I had to walk some of the ascent because my body was just starting to say to me that it was tired and had just a bit too much by now. Once we reached the top of the hill and had another 2 kilometers to go towards the finish line suddenly my body filled with energy and I started to run as if it were the beginning of the race. I just raced towards the end, being greeted by people who shouted words of encouragement and compliments. All my teammates waited for me  at the last corner and we entered the finish line together everyone hugging and cheering.

It is an event  that I will never forget. The togetherness, the friendship. the patience and empathy everyone was showing  towards each other. If this could be copied throughout the world it would be a better place to live.

The adrenalin rush is still in my body. The excitement of the event and the feeling of achievement of finishing and conquering the problems on the way are impossible to describe. Perhaps only the people who experienced the event can fully understand what I am talking about.

The teams that shared the same moments, the volunteers that even at four o’clock in the morning had the power to smile to you, to encourage and cheer you filled my heart with joy and pleasure. I am glad that I decided to sign up for this although having been very hesitant before. This is something I will remember anda story to tell my grandchildren about. It was my “Iron man.”

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Hadar is the Sha’ar Hanegev, Israel, bureau chief for San Diego Jewish World

San Diego’s Historic Places: Veterans Memorial Museum hosts exhibit on Japanese-American members of the Armed Forces

Traveling exhibit of the Japanese American Historical Society of San Diego

By Donald H. Harrison

Donald H. Harrison

 

SAN DIEGO—Probably no event has seared into the consciousness of the Japanese-American community more painfully than their forced relocation from their homes on the West Coast of the United States to internment camps in the interior of the country during World War II.

This is the central portion of an exhibit at the Veterans Memorial Museum in Balboa Park that compellingly examines the 20th century history of Japanese American soldiers from San Diego.  The portable exhibit will remain through Memorial Day (May 31) and then be returned to the archives of the Japanese American Historical Society of San Diego.

Although the exhibit covers more than 100 years, conceptually it is book-ended by the experiences of Navy cook Sago Takata, who was one of 60 men killed in 1905 when the USS Bennington’s boilers exploded in San Diego Bay, and those of Lt. Cmdr. Craig Osaki, who at the end of the 20th century was an expert in the Iraq War on the use and repair of robots to remove enemy-planted explosive devices.

A few months after Japan’s military forces bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, notices were posted on telephone poles and on walls in San Diego neighborhoods where Japanese Americans were known to live. Families were given one week to pack their belongings and prepare for relocation to the interior. Initially most families from San Diego were taken to the Santa Anita Race Track, where horse stalls served as their temporary homes until an internment camp at Poston, Arizona, could be readied.

Poston was one of ten major internment camps built by the United States government. “From August 1942 until Poston closed in late 1945, the families attempted to live normal lives under circumstances that were anything but normal,” the narrative said.

San Diegan Tetsuzo Hirasaki had been a close friend of the city’s chief librarian Clara Breed. Using a sharpened bed spring, he carved for her from mesquite wood a nameplate that she proudly displayed on her desk at the San Diego Public Library. Instead of being sent to Poston with the rest of his family, Hirasaki’s father, Chiyomatsu, had been sent to camps in North Dakota and New Mexico. The family asked Breed, who wrote a column, to do what she could to help reunite them.

At first, the military was not interested in enlisting Japanese Americans, considering them too great a security risk. Although Mas Tsuida was a seafaring fisherman, the Navy had no desire for his skills. Eventually, however, the U.S. Army created a segregated unit, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, for Japanese Americans willing to fight in the European theatre against Nazi Germany.

After joining, Tsuida was sent to Fort Reilly, Kansas for his basic training. One day he and all the other Japanese-American soldiers were “herded into a single barracks surrounded by military police with machine guns at the ready,” the exhibit related. “President Franklin D. Roosevelt was visiting the base and the MPs were protecting him from those questionable U.S. soldiers.” Afterwards, Tsuida was sent to Naples, Italy, and would fight in Italy and France. He was injured in the October 1944 battle in which the 442nd was sent into the Vosges Mountains to rescue the “Lost Battalion,” which had been surrounded by the Germans. The 442nd was successful, but not without sustaining heavy casualties. At war’s end, Tsuida returned to his life as a fisherman.

Other Japanese-American soldiers had their basic training at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, where those from the mainland United States found themselves thrown in with Japanese from Hawaii, with whom a fierce rivalry initially developed. However, as an exhibit photograph of San Diegan Sam Yamaguchi wearing Hawaiian garb illustrates, the two groups were molded in a single unit.

Among San Diegans fighting in World War II were Yasuichi ‘Jimmy’ Kimura, who used to drive a truck on local vegetable farms before his family was relocated to the internment camp. In the Army, he drove trucks and performed maintenance on them in both the European and North African campaigns. He was awarded a purple heart with an oak leaf cluster for wounds sustained during the rescue of the “Lost Battalion.”

After the war, the services of Japanese-Americans were called upon as interpreters and in other capacities in the occupation of Japan and of Okinawa. San Diegan Francis Tanaka, who later would become a physician with Scripps Mercy Hospital, served as a medical interpreter on Okinawa in 1945 and 1946. Shizue Suwa, a lieutenant junior grade in the Navy nurse corps, was stationed in occupied Japan.

When the internment camps closed in late 1945, Japanese-Americans moved back to San Diego. Those whose family members had served in the military were eligible for veterans’ family housing. The exhibit extensively quotes from Grim The Battles, a 1954 memoir by Daisy Lee Worthington Worcester. Arriving at the Frontier Housing Project in the Midway District of San Diego, a group of Japanese-American families encountered the hostility of Anglo families already living there.

“The Japanese sat in chairs along the walls, heads cast down as if to avoid hostile glances but not enabling them to escape low murmured expressions of hatred. An emergency meeting of the tenant council was held that evening,” Worcester wrote. One woman who served as secretary of the tenant council threatened there would be “a dead Jap” before morning if any of them were placed in the unit where she lived. “The meeting lasted until midnight. There was not one person who did not take part in the discussion. I witnessed a miracle that night—the miracle of serious people thinking and feeling together, striving to be above all good Americans and decent human beings.” The upshot was that there was a complete turnaround, including by the woman who had made the ‘dead Jap’ threat. The tenants decided to oppose any discrimination on the basis of race or creed or color. Additionally, they formed a committee to welcome each Japanese-American family to the complex.

Although the war was over, the experience of the internment camps continued to have its influence on the Japanese-American community. The exhibit notes that the 1951 Korean conflict “brought a whole new generation of Japanese Americans into the military…. These Japanese American youths had spent their formative years in internment camps and most had watched their parents lose everything during World War II. Nevertheless, they served when called upon…”

Among San Diegans who went to Korea was Jim Yanagihara who served in a mobile hospital unit such as that made famous by the television series M*A*S*H. “As part of the multinational United Nations force, Yanagihara came into contact with soldiers from other countries and he had high praise especially for the Ethiopian soldiers. He recalls ‘I was really impressed by these soldiers. They never complained.’”

The comment can be juxtaposed with the forward to the exhibit on Japanese-American soldiers, which explained: “Two Japanese words provide a running theme for this exhibition and describe the motivations for Japanese-Americans to serve. One is giri meaning duty, and the other is gaman, which means to endure….”

These concepts were tested in the Vietnam War, when like other young men in the United States many questioned the justness of that war. However the Japanese Americans “did not find it easy to openly express their thoughts. Nearly all had an uncle, brother or father who had been interned and who had served with distinction during World War II and Korea…. Many of those who served in Vietnam were born in the U.S. internment camps.”

Alan Hayashi, who was born in the Poston, Arizona camp, was drafted into the Army in 1969 after graduation from San Diego State University. He “received the bronze star for actions to cut the supply chain known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail near Da Nang, as well as many other commendations from the United States and the Republic of Vietnam.” He commented that he was “raised with the value of loyalty to my country.”

Among the first San Diegans killed in the Vietnam War was Sgt. Shugi Julio Kaneko, whose family were Japanese Peruvians who, at the suggestion of the American government, were sent to an internment camp in Texas to possibly be traded for U.S. prisoners of war held by Japan. However, his family was not needed for such an exchange and they eventually settled in San Diego. Unlike the Japanese-Americans who eventually received a U.S. government apology and $20,000 as redress for their wrongful internment during World War II, the Japanese-Peruvians never were eligible for the award.

Although San Diegan Robert Ito didn’t serve in Vietnam—his draft number having never been called – he remembered vividly stories told to him by San Diegan David Uda “about the racism and the mean-spirited attitudes of his fellow U.S. soldiers,” according to the narration. “When U.S. helicopters flew over, he would dive in the brush for the cover because he (having Asian features) didn’t want to be mistaken for the enemy….”

Containing criticism as it does of the actions of the American government, the exhibit demonstrates that the Veterans Memorial Museum is not only a repository for the memoirs of San Diegans who served in the military but also is an institution willing to examine controversies affecting the military. This makes the museum an even more valuable resource in a city of proud military tradition. Elsewhere in the museum, there are exhibits about San Diegan experiences in different branches of the military, on different fronts and in different wars—providing a kaleidoscopic introduction to the U.S. military experience.

Speeches by veterans about their individual experiences often enliven visitors’ experiences at the museum.

Outside the museum, there are some permanent memorials, including monuments with the names of San Diegans who died in the Vietnam War. Moved from its original location in Old Town San Diego to the Veterans Memorial Museum, these plaques constituted what was considered the first-in-the-nation memorial to Vietnam Veterans, erected even while controversy about the war raged.

In a park leading to the museum’s front door, there is a sculpture by Robert Henderson of a B24 Liberator Bomber which as noted on a plaque had an impact both on the outcome of World War II and the development of San Diego’s industrial sector.

“The airplane was designed by Consolidated Aircraft Corporation where more than a third of all B24sx were build during World War II,” the plaque reports. “At the peak of production more than 45,000 San Diegans worked at Consolidated building the B24. Other San Diego manufacturers brought the number even higher. Subcontractors included Rohr Industries in Chula Vista, Ryan Aeronautical Company and Solar Corporation both in San Diego. The B24 Liberator was flown by all branches of the U.S. military and by every major ally during World War II. Altogether, 19,256 liberators of all types and models were built. The Consolidated B24 Liberator was the most mass produced American aircraft of all time.”

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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World.  This article previously was published on examiner.com

Illegal immigration is a global problem

Ira Sharkansky

By Ira Sharkansky

JERUSALEM–You want to look at a conundrum? (a problem without a solution)

Immigration reform is a good example.

A NYT article describes efforts at producing some kind of amnesty along with “tougher enforcement.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/01/us/politics/01immig.html?hp

Can any country control its borders, and also preserve its morality?

Tougher enforcement will mean random deportations while pressure in the source countries will keep the migrants flowing.

And as the NYT article indicates, the ideological desire of conservatives to guard the borders comes up against another ideological principle of the same people: no national identity cards.

It may be possible to cobble together what politicians will applaud as a reform. It might clean the books of some millions presently defined as illegal, and manage to keep a bit of the continuing flow south of the border or on the other side of the barriers in international ports. Then the next generation or half-generation of observers will notice that there are millions of others who have slipped through the safeguards.

Would anyone out there prefer remaining in Mexico, where some 22,000 people have been killed in an undeclared civil war over the last four years? The people most likely at risk if they stay in Mexico are those most likely to risk a great deal in order to reach someplace better. 

European countries are no better off. Their problems are not with Hispanics but with Muslims and other Africans. Perhaps they are a tad worse, insofar as at least some of the Muslims are nastier than Hispanics.

While Hispanics may turn the American White Protestant paradise into something else, the migrants to Europe may extend the Islamic conquest throughout what had been Christian Europe.

Israel’s problems are with Africans who come through the Sinai and over the border from Egypt. Occasionally Egyptian soldiers shoot migrants before they get to the border. It is not the best solution for Israeli moralists. 

Illegal immigrants to Israel aspire to sympathy by saying that they come from Dafur. Some few may actually be Sudanese, but most are  Nigerians, Eritreans, Ghanaians, and a scattering of other Africans.

As elsewhere, the problems are what to do with them? Humanitarians do not want to send them back. Often they cannot be sent back because they come without any documents that would indicate where they should be sent, or what countries should accept them. Some come from countries that have no diplomatic relations with Israel. 

Generally they are allowed to work. As in Europe and America, Israeli restaurants need dishwashers, hotels need maids, and the better neighborhoods need gardeners, house cleaners, and care providers for children and grandparents.

There are occasional sweeps by the immigration police, but random justice does not solve much of the problem. Often it puts individuals in confinement who cannot be sent any place. That keeps the unfortunate from working and supporting themselves, while it provides work for journalists and social activists who lament their treatment.

Illegal immigrants also have children, either with the help of one another or with proper Israelis. Kids born here have citizenship, and present the problem of confining or deporting a parent without the child.

Some illegal immigrants bring children with them. They retain their illegal status while going to school, learning Hebrew, and in some cases serving in the army. They identify as Israelis rather than with a place they do not remember. The messiness of the Law or Return produces situations where non-Jews who immigrated with a Jewish spouse find themselves subject to deportation after a divorce. 

Each of these oddities provides material for the media and problems for the authorities.

And let’s not forget the other significant class of illegal immigrants: Eastern European women.

Some claim to have been duped into thinking they would be waitresses or models. That excuse may have been valid for the first lot of girls leaving their villages in Moldavia or the Ukraine, but is not persuasive as the trade is well beyond its first decade.

Honesty requires one to admit that this migration is no less useful than that of African dishwashers, cleaners, gardeners, and care givers. Some  may claim that the ladies serve Arabs and sailors, but there is also a market among ultra-Orthodox men and other Jews, present company excluded. 

The NYT article suggests that immigration reform is a plaything of politicians trying to please inspired constituents. They want solutions now, without reckoning with next year, or what it might take to actually solve a problem that seems endless, with many Americans who benefit from the work done by the migrants.  

Better to enjoy those restaurant meals, neat gardens, clean houses, and well tended children and grandparents. 

No country that I know of has found an acceptable solution, and it ain’t gonna to come from the US Congress.

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Sharkansky is professor emeritus of political science at Hebrew University