Humor: Yom Kippur Mass Apology Form
Editor’s Note: Wondering how you can atone for your sins on Yom Kippur? Two comedians have devised alternate form letters that can be sent out right after Rosh Hashanah.
By David Jelenko and Steve Hofstetter
Dear [People on My Facebook Page/Friends],
With [two days off of work/Rosh Hashanah] over, it’s time to look forward to Yom Kippur. And as always, that means [apologizing for stuff that isn’t my fault/penance], because [God says I have to/it’s always good to take stock of where things stand with our loved ones]. So I am writing to set things right with [you jerks who crowd my space/my family and friends]. Since I [can’t be bothered to do this in person/couldn’t reach out to all of you in time], the mass communication method seems like the [best cop-out/most practical way to go].
To that end, please fill out the following form and send it back to me [never/before Kol Nidre], so I [won’t have to deal with this again/can apologize properly].
1) Name: ________________
2) How I know you: ___________
3) How long I’ve known you: _______________
4) What I allegedly did wrong:
A) _______________
B) ________________
C) ________________
D-Z)_______________________________
5) Are you sure [THING I DID] was really my fault? [YES/NO]
5a) Are you lying? [YES/NO]
6) Was [THING I DID] so bad that if Jews believed in hell, I would go there? [YES/NO] (If “YES,” please describe)
7) Would money/food/other gifts help paper over [THING I DID]? [YES/NO]
8) Are you going to let [THING I DID] go if I apologize? [YES/NO]
Note: If answer to #8 is “NO,” skip question #10.
If applicable: 8a) Will an apology get you to drop any pending lawsuits related to [THING I DID]? [YES/NO]
9) Is [THING I DID] forgivable? [YES/NO]
10) How I can make [THING I DID] up to you: __________________________
11) Will you still forgive [THING I DID] when invariably I don’t perform #10? [YES/NO]
And remember that for whatever I’ve done wrong over the last year, I am truly [without fault/sorry].
One-man show for the weatherman who is funnier in person
By Cynthia Citron
Cynthia Citron
NORTH HOLLYWOOD, California — Fritz Coleman, KNBC TV’s intrepid weatherman feels like he’s putting something over on his fellow Angelenos. “I get paid for working for two minutes three times a day,” he says gleefully. “I love my job!” (Which also includes forecasting the weather over KNSD for San Diego and the North County.)
What’s more, he’s not a meteorologist. But that’s okay, he says, because “Los Angeles is a city that has no weather!” So he provides his weather wisdom “for people who are too lazy to look out the window.”
And to fill up the remaining 1,434 minutes in the day, he pursues his other successful career as a stand-up comic.
This month he brought his latest hilarious monologue “On The Fritz—An Evening with Fritz Coleman” to the stage of North Hollywood’s El Portal Theater and an appreciative audience that included the loyal crew from his 1988 late-night TV variety show “It’s Fritz.”
And as a delicious surprise, Coleman’s friend Laurence Juber, former lead guitar in Paul McCartney’s group “Wings,” and a man who plays acoustic guitar with all 20 fingers, opened for him. Juber, a Grammy Award-winning fingerstyle guitarist, played his own special arrangements on his own specially designed acoustic guitar and brought down the house.
When Coleman came on, he plunged right into the confession that he doesn’t have a degree in meteorology. That fact doesn’t bother him, though, because “I’m thin and I wear glasses, so I look like a weatherman.” If he didn’t forecast weather on TV, he says, “I’d have to do it door to door. I’d be a Jehovah’s meteorologist.”
He cautions people on “how to drive in drizzle: Always steer into the sprinkles…”
As a single man (he is divorced) he prefers women his own age, he says. (He is 62—“older than I’ve ever been.”) He dates women from “Dregs List”—women with low self-esteem, and deplores surgical enhancements and Botox. “Is it necessary for your body parts to last longer than you do?” he asks.
This is Coleman’s third one-man show. His first, “It’s Me! Dad!” explored the angst of trying to explain your history to your children (he has three of his own). This was followed by “The Reception,” in which he skewered the twice-married bride and thrice-married groom and the various guests at their wedding. He accompanied his commentary with slides in order to “attach a face to a neurosis.”
The Pennsylvania-born Coleman attended Salem College in West Virginia for a couple of years and then, sensing that he was going to be drafted, he enlisted in the Navy. Sent by the Navy to radio school, he was assigned to the Armed Forces Radio & TV Service and spent 3½ years on an aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean. When he got out, he went back to school (Temple University) then spent the next 15 years in radio doing every job you can think of. These years included serving as an MC at a jazz nightclub in Buffalo, which he augmented by doing stand-up comedy on Monday nights, when the club would ordinarily be closed. He also did a radio broadcast on a 50,000-watt radio station during afternoon drive time in Buffalo.
In 1980 he left this burgeoning career to come out to California, “the Mecca of stand-up comedy,” to hone his skills at the Comedy Store, The Improv, The Laugh Factory, The Ice House in Pasadena, and the Hermosa Beach Playhouse. Then, practically as a fluke, he was invited by News Director Steve Antoniottti of KNBC to fill in for Kevin O’Connell, the regular weatherman, while O’Connell took a longed-for vacation.
In 1984 Coleman succeeded to the top spot in weather—the daily slot at 5, 6, and 11, which he has now held for 27 years. In addition, he has received four Los Angeles-area Emmy awards for his comedy specials and series: “What A Week,” “It’s Fritz,” “Fritz and Friends,” and “The Perils of Parenting.”
And finally, he fills his “spare time” with community projects, entertaining at fundraisers, and lighting the village Christmas tree in Toluca Lake, where he has been honorary mayor for the past 15 years.
Coleman’s latest show “On The Fritz,” presented by Weddington Street Productions, runs from the 19th of August through the 22nd, with the performance on the 22nd being an afternoon benefit for the International Myeloma Foundation.
The El Portal Theatre, with its 360-seat Main Stage, is located at 5269 Lankershim Blvd. in North Hollywood.
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Citron is Los Angeles bureau chief for San Diego Jewish World
Adventures in San Diego Jewish History, January 21, 1955, Part 2
Compiled by San Diego Jewish World staff
Linda Solof Betrothed to Bruce O. Witte
Southwestern Jewish Press, January 21, 1955, Page 2
Linda Solof
Mr. and Mrs. A. Louis Solof announce the engagement of their daughter Linda Harriet to Bruce O. Witte, son of Mr. and Mrs. Henry O. Witte.
Linda, a student at U.C.L.A. passed the traditional box of candy at the Sigma Delta Tau Sorority. She is a native San Diegan and a graduate of San Diego High School. For five years Linda was a columnist for the Jewish Press, keeping the community up-to-date on teenage activities. (“Linda’s Lookout”.)
Bruce, a graduate of S.D. State College, was one of the organizers and first President of the Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity on the college campus. He was also graduated from Hoover High School. Bruce served I the Air Force and is now a Lt. in the Reserve.
An early Spring wedding has been planned.
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Personals
Southwestern Jewish Press, January 21, 1955, Page 2
In celebration of his Bar Mitzvah on January 14th, Michael Bennett will entertain friends Saturday evening at a Dinner-Dance, to be held at the San Diego Hotel.
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Mrs. Ann Peckarsky is busy these days showing off San Diego to her sister, Mrs. Pearl Ginsberg of Milwaukee. Mrs. Ginsberg will be a house guest at the home of her niece and nephew Ruth and Bill Colt.
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The Press received a friendly letter from Miss Kay Sylvia Bergman, renewing her subscription for two years. She sends her regards to all her San Diego friends and would like to hear from some of them. Her present address is 5815 S. Vicente Blvd, Los Angeles 19.
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Pearl and George Martin left, via train, to attend the Convention of the National Association of Home Builers in Chicago. They went East last Thursday and plan to be away at least ten days.
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The family of Harry Cohn wish to thank their many friends for the thoughtfulness shown to them during their recent bereavement.
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The Sam Cohens and the Irving Kahns have promised to make another attempt to go East in the near future. The Press is sorry that bad weather prevented their making the trip we sent them in a recent edition.
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Sid Fleischman, son of Mr. and Mrs. Fleischman, has been legally adopted by Hollywood. He has just signed a seven year contract with the producing company of Bat-Jac and at the present time he is working on the script of “Goodbye My Lady”, starring Lauren Bacall. Sid an his family will make their new home in Santa Monica.
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Today Dr. and Mrs. David Miller will also leave for a Convention. They will attend the American College of Surgeons’ Convention, to be held in Palm Springs, on January 22nd. By the way, we hope you didn’t miss Dr. Miller when he appeared on TV as one of the Board of experts.
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Dr. and Mrs. Werner Lehmann entertained friends at a cocktail party held on January 14th, at the Admiral Kidd Officers Club.
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Burton Nestor, who is recuperating from a recent appendectomy, wishes to thank his friends for their good wishes.
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Returning to make their home in San Diego are Dr. and Mrs. Albert Klug (Shirley Berenson) and their young son.
Dr. Klug has opened offices for the practice of medicine in San Diego.
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Mr. and Mrs. Sol Stone wish to thank their many friends for the kindness shown them during Mrs. Stone’s recent illness.
Arthur Neumann Wedding Announced
Southwestern Jewish Press, January 21, 1955, Page 2
Al and Rose Neumann announce the marriage of their son, Arthur, to Marilyn Fladdel, daughter of MR. and Mrs. Jack Fladdel, of Brooklyn. The wedding was held on December 25 in Brooklyn, N.Y.
The young couple will make their home in San Diego. Arthur will continue his studies at State College.
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Starr-Fern Wedding
Southwestern Jewish Press, January 21, 1955, Page 2
Announcement has been made of the wedding of Rachel Fern, daughter of Mr and Mrs. Jos. Fern of Elizabeth, N.J., to Marshall Starr, son of the late Isadore Starr and Mrs. I. Starr of San Diego. The weding will be held on January 23rd, at 7 p.m. in the Avon Mansion, in Newark, N.J. Rabbi Abraham Zigelman will officiate.
Attendants will be Helen Josen, maid of honor and Phyllis Fern, bridesmaid. Ushers will be Bob and Hyman Grossman, Robert and Michael Hecht, Irving Ditchik and William Fern.
Marshall Starr attended San Diego State College and is now in business for himself. The couple will reside in San Diego.
San Diegans who will attend the wedding in New Jersey are Mrs. Isidore Starr and Mrs. Jos. Silverman.
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Richard Miller Bar Mitzvah
Southwestern Jewish Press, January 21, 1955, Page 2
Dr. and Mrs. David Miller announce the Bar Mitzvah of their son, Richard Elihu, on Saturday, January 29th, 9:30 a.m., at Tifereth Israel Synagogue. Kiddush will follow the service. Members of the family extend an invitation to friends to join them on this happy occasion. (Invitations are not being mailed.)
On January 28th, Richard will conduct the Friday evening service. His parents will hostess the Oneg Shabbot.
Grandparents Dr. and Mrs. Louis Victor and Mr. and Mrs. M. Miller of Boston, are planning to attend the Bar Mitzvah.
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Cradle
Southwestern Jewish Press, January 21, 1955, Page 2
Friends who phoned the Irving Stones on Sunday, Jan. 9th, to congratulate them on their Wedding Anniversary, learned that the family was celebrating the “Happy Birthday” of Leonard Paul, who had arrived at 2:33 p.m. that day.
Red haired, blue eyed, Lenny tipped the scales at 8 lbs, 10 ozs. His teen-age sisters, Joan and Martha, are eager baby sitters.
Maternal grandmother is MRs. Martha M. Taylor of San Diego, paternal grandmother is Mrs. G. Stone of New York City.
The Bris was held on Sunday, Jan. 1`6th, with Rabbi Morton J. Cohn officiating.
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Bar Mitzvah
Southwestern Jewish Press, January 21, 1955, Page 2
Mr. and MRs. Reuben Aved are proud to announce the Bar Mitzvah of their son, Donald, at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 22nd, at Tifereth Israel Synagogue. Chaplain E.H. Rickel will officiate.
Kiddush and a reception will follow the services. All their friends are cordially invited to attend.
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Classified
Southwestern Jewish Press, January 21, 1955, Page 2
Secretary Wanted – Knowledge of Bookkeeping, Interesting Position. Apply Jewish Social Service Ageny, 333 Plaza. BE 2-5172.
Women Wanted—Make extra money. Address, mail postcards, spare time every week. BICO, 143, Belmont, Mas.
Man Available—For gardening… trucking service…Pick up and Delivery… Call after 5 p.m. BE 9-5788.
Art Teacher – B.A. desires work in Art, Nursery or related fields. – Tel AC-3-7394.
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Calendar
Southwestern Jewish Press, January 21, 1955, Page 2
January
23rd—Sun.,m “Monte Carlo Nite,” Tifereth Israel Center. Starts at 2 p.m.
24th—Mon, 7:15 p.m. Boys Club presents Al Kaye, sportscaster, Community Center.
24th—Mon, 6:00 p.m. AZA Dinner, S.D. Hotel
25th—Tues, 8 p.m., Fox Lodge installation, Beth Jacob Center.
26th—Wed. eve., “Mr. Hadassah” Night. Dinner and Fashion Show, Mission Valley Club.
30th—Sun., Pioneer Women Annual Bazaar. Beth Jacob Center
February
4th—Fri, 7:30 p.m., Temple Beth Israel Dedication Services
6th—Sun, from 3:30 p.m. to midnight – “Country Fair.” Beth Israel Sisterhood—American Legion Hall.
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A.Z.A. To Hold Installation Jan 24
Southwestern Jewish Press, January 21, 1955, Page 2
On Monday, Jan. 24th, at 6 p.m. at the San Diego Hotel, the A.Z.A. boys will hold a pre-Installation Dinner for their incoming officers. Later that evening, 8:30 p.m., at the regular meeting of Lasker Lodge at Temple Center, they will hold their formal installation.
Those to be installed are Pres., Steve Goldfab; Vice Pres – Alvin Cohen; Recording Secy’y, Allan Friedman; Corresponding Sec’y, Jack Sharpe; Treasurer, Ronnie Doctor; Reporter, Pete Colt, Sgt. At Arms, Mark Ulansky; Asst Sgt at Arms, Stan Ornstein; Pledge Master, Eddie Naiman; Chaplain, Stan Breitbard.
The public is cordially invited to attend.
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Bloch’s “Shelomo” To Be Played By Piatigorsky
Southwestern Jewish Press, January 21, 1955, Page 3
A performance by Gregor Piatigorsky of Ernest Bloch’s best known work, the “Schelomo” Rhapsody for cello and orchestra, will highlight the program when the world famed cellist appears as guest soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Sunday evening, at 8:30 in Russ Auditorium.
Piatigorsky’s local engagement is one of his first since his return to the concert stage following an extensive European tour. During this tour, when he boarded a plane to leave Israel, the entire Israel Philharmonic Orchestra went to the airport to bid him farewell. The cellist had played 17 concerts in Israel including several with the orchestra, and he turned all of his fees into the pension fund for the orchestra. As a gesture of gratitude the musicians filled the airplane cabin with flowers.
Wallenstein, who will be on the podium Sunday night, has also programmed Barber’s “Overture To The School for Scandal,” Borodin’s “Polovtsian Dancers” from “Prionce Igor,” Berlioz’ “Symphanie Fantastique” and Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 7.”
The orchestra’s Sunday concert is the second in its current series. Tickets are available at Palmer Box Office, 640 Broadway.
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Solomon To Play At Russ Jan. 28
Southwestern Jewish Press, January 21, 1955, Page 3
Although he first visited America in 1926, the eminent British pianist, Solomon, who returns to San Diego for the first time in two years on Friday evening, January 28th, in Russ Auditorium, was not introduced to California concert-goers until 1951 when he was brought to Los Angeles by Moss and Hayman.
Enthusiastic response was immediate and Solomon returned to California, playing to sold-out houses in 1952 and again in 1953. The key to the deep enjoyment he gives his audiences may be found in the statement of one reviewer. “He plays with the ecstasy of a man who hugely loves what he is doing.”
Solomon’s 1955 concert tour in California is again under the Moss and Hayman management.
Tickets are on sale at the Palmer Box Office, 640 Broadway. Phone Belmont 9-4700.
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First Auto Show Set For S.D. Feb. 2-6
Southwestern Jewish Press, January 21, 1955, Page 3
The first Auto Show in 22 years will open in San Diego at the Electric Bldg on Feb. 2-6, according to the Motor Car Dealers’ Association.
The International Show will have more than 100 cars including many experimental models coasting as high as $25,000. Entertainment will be provided from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. nightly.
Tickets will be available at the Electric Building, Balboa Park.
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Palmer Box Office
Southwestern Jewish Press, January 21, 1955, Page 3
Palmer Box Office has opened auxiliary box offices at Taylors, 1146 Orange Ave., Coronado, HE 4-5361, and Coles, 7871 Ivanhoe Ave., La Jolla, GL 4-4766. Main office is still at 640 Broadway.
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(Prejudice)
Southwestern Jewish Press, January 21, 1955, Page 3
Prejudice has always been the greatest obstacle to progress.
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Worth Reading
Southwestern Jewish Press, January 21, 1955, Page 4
“In our tradition, it is neither ruler nor politician, neither soldier nor merchant who represents the ideal. The ideal is represented by the teacher – that is to say, the person who is able through his work and his employ, to reach the intellectual, moral and artistic life of his people.
“This involves a definite renunciation of what is commonly called materialism. The idea is that human beings can attain a worthy and harmonious life only if they are able to rid themselves, within the limits of human nature, of the striving for wish-fulfillments of the material kind. The goal is to raise the spiritual level of society.” – Albert Einstein
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Hadassah To Hold Rummage Sale
Southwestern Jewish Press, January 21, 1955, Page 4
Mrs. Alfred Solomon, Rummage Sale Chairman, has an active committee composed of Hadassah members serving as her Co-Chairman for the gigantic Rummage Sale to be held on February 1st through 4th at 2870 National Avenue with working hours from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Co-Chairmen include Mmes. Leonard Pearl, Jack Brisker, Sydney Segal and Leon Solomon.
Do you have rummage? If so, call Mrs. Solomon at Academy 3-8512 or Mrs. Pearl at Atwater 1-3289 and a fast delivery car will pick it up for you. Clean out your attic! Clean out your garage. There’s money in them thar discards for Hadassah.
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Attention! Blue Jean and Pinafore Set
Southwestern Jewish Press, January 21, 1955, Page 4
Superman—George Reeves – motion picture and T.V. Star has taken over National Sponsorshnip of the Children’s Crusade for the Leukemia Wing at the City of Hope.
Superman urges all of you children who would like to become members of his club to have your parents and grandparents send donations of $1.00 or more to:
Superman
City of Hope
Duarte, California
You will then receive a special Superman Button to wear and a membership card signed by Superman.
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Jewish Community Center Use Increased
Southwestern Jewish Press, January 21, 1955, Page 4
Mr. Edward A. Breitbard, president of the Jewish Community Center noted the increased Center activities during the past year of 1954 in his annual report given to the Center membership.
1. In 1954 an average of 54 different activity groups per month used the Center as compared to 34 in 1953, an increase of more than 50 percent. The number of sessions jumped to 1582 in 1954 from 952 in 1953. The attendance was raised to 36,507 from 28,701 of 1953.
2. 232 campers participated in 5300 camper days during the summer day Camp Jaycee. It may be noted that 27 youngsters received a total of 595 free camper days.
3. An original musical play was put on by the teen-agers, the young married couples organized a very successful Community Center Couples Club and the women organized a Center Women’s League which sparked outstanding social, cultural and fund-raising Center activities.
4. More than 100 volunteers participated in a Center self-study which highlighted the need for adequate Center facilities and indicated that 90 percent of the Jewish population were ready to assist in the Center development.
5. $105,000 was raised in two building fund dinner meetings.
6. In concluding, Mr. Breitbard thanked all who helped improve the center program and indicated with such team work, an adequate Center facility with an outstanding program could be developed within a short period of time.
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“Adventures in San Diego Jewish History” is sponsored by Inland Industries Group LP in memory of long-time San Diego Jewish community leader Marie (Mrs. Gabriel) Berg. Our “Adventures in San Diego Jewish History” series will be a regular feature until we run out of history. To find stories on specific individuals or organizations, type their names in our search box.
Intimidation persuades many Arabs to never cross the party line
By Bruce S. Ticker
Bruce S. Ticker
PHILADELPHIA — Heartwarming words from Sarah Shiha, a student at Ain Shams University in Cairo: “Apart from the political issues, we are humans. I respect your religion, you respect mine.”
Her next comment, on Israel, sounded more robotic than humane: “What we see is that we had a land, and that people came and took this land. Now they want to stay here, and every day they are killing more and more of our siblings.”
Shiha is among 20 students from Egypt, Iraq and Lebanon who participated in a five-week program sponsored by the U.S. State Department to learn how religious pluralism is among America’s great strengths, according to an article in The Jewish Exponent of Philadelphia.
It seems that Shiha and her associates could have been a tad more diplomatic, especially since her inflammatory comment might be read by thousands of American Jews. She could have easily sidestepped the question by insisting she needed to learn more about the Israeli/Arabic conflict, couldn’t she? She might have faced more than verbal disdain back home. She might be murdered by her own people.
In the Middle East, free speech can carry a fatal price. Arabs have murdered their own who were suspected of collaborating with Israel, and Arab leaders who suggested or acted upon peaceful existence with Israel. Remember Anwar el-Sadat?
Yasser Arafat indicated that he feared a comparable fate if he assented to the peace plan offered during the Camp David summit 10 years ago. In his book “The Missing Peace,” Dennis Ross (then President Clinton’s Middle East envoy) relates a conversation in which Arafat asked then secretary of state Madeleine Albright if she wanted to attend his funeral. This comment came out of left field, but why else would he say this?
Arafat’s comment could invite some sarcastic responses – such as, his funeral was long overdue. I think his top motive for rejecting the plan was fear that other Arabs would kill him because they refused to accept any peace settlement.
It is clear that many Arabs keep silent because they fear retaliation. Of course, it is impossible to determine how many Arabs really loathe Israel and those who follow the script to protect themselves and their families.
Examples do abound. Before returning to his current prime minister post, Benjamin Netanyahu was asked by a television interviewer to identify Arab businesspeople with whom he communicates; he refused because, he said, it would jeopardize their lives. I recently read a report of an Arab man who saved Jews during World War II and told them to say nothing about his help. Israeli leaders claim that Arabs who sold land to Jews denied doing so because they could be harmed.
Some months ago, a native Iranian on a German sports team refused to play against an Israeli team. He did not offer this as a reason, but he still had family in Iran who could be endangered by his participation in that game.
The Arab and Muslim world is tightly controlled in parts. Putting Israel aside, ordinary Arabs and Muslims must worry about violent feuds between families and tribes, honor killings of women and conflicts with the ruling class. On Aug. 8, an Iranian attorney fled to Norway after he defended a woman who faced being stoned to death because she allegedly committed adultery. An Afghan couple were stoned to death, on Taliban orders, because they allegedly cheated on his wife and her family-chosen fiance.
Those familiar with the Middle East attest that roughly half of Turkish and Iranian citizens are sensible people who yearn for more moderate leaders. Egyptian businesspersons worked well with their Israeli counterparts, and Turks in the military oppose their ultra-religious regime.
Tom Friedman of The New York Times reported on a Gazan woman whose son’s life was saved by a Jewish physician at an Israeli hospital. Now she wants her son to blow up…er, grow up…to become a suicide bomber. Consider that she must return home to face not only her neighbors but also Hamas, which has the power to make life miserable for her.
It is most annoying that American Muslims readily complain of bigotry, yet are less consistent in condemning Islamic-related violence – especially when Israelis are victimized. Muslim society in America appears to be closeted and hard to figure out.
Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the driving force behind the proposed mosque near Ground Zero, dodged a radio reporter’s question as to whether he concurred with the State Department’s designation of Hamas as a terrorist group, The New York Jewish Week reported.
Said Rauf: “I’m not a politician. I try to avoid the issues. The issue of terrorism is a very complex question…I’m a bridge builder. I define my work as a bridge builder…I will not allow anybody to put me in a position where I am seen by any party in the world as an adversary or as an enemy.”
Far from an exercise in clarity.
It is strange that free speech exists on two levels in our own country – one standard for most of us and a self-imposed standard for a stifled and bewildering minority.
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Ticker is the Philadelphia bureau chief for San Diego Jewish World
He may be contacted via bticker@comcast.net
Direct peace talks will share Israeli dinner conversations with those about IDF, extremist rabbis and errant academics
Ira Sharkansky
JERUSALEM–While the big news of the day is the impending start of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, to open with a blessing by Barack Obama, the news that has held Israel in its grip for two weeks is a document purported to influence the selection of the next commander of the IDF.
Both the IDF and the national police are led by a collection of Alpha Males with the talent and the elbows to get where they have gotten, and who aspire to go further.
The American invitation on Friday to the Israelis and Palestinians to start direct peace talks in two weeks in Washington was immediately accepted by both governments. But just below the surface there was an almost audible shrug. There is little confidence — close to none — on either side that the Obama administration’s goal of reaching a comprehensive deal in one year can be met.
Just to mention a few of the knottiest of issues: Palestinian adherence to the pre-1967 armistice lines and the rights of refugees, along with their extremists who insist that those are illegitimate concessions, against Israelis who are not sure about what to do with 50,000 Jews scattered throughout the West Bank, intense distrust of Palestinians, and insistence that any Palestinian state be de-militarized and that Israel control the Jordan Valley.
Sharkansky is professor emeritus of political science at Hebrew University.
Has Everyone Weighed in on the Mosque Mess? Have You?
By Jeanette Friedman
Jeanette Friedman
NEW YORK — It seems that there isn’t a spin doctor, media pundit, columnist, politician or Jew who hasn’t offered an opinion about the Park51 Cordoba Community Center under development two blocks from Ground Zero in Manhattan.
In 2009, when the proposal was put forth, there was little or no objection to what is now called “The Mosque at Ground Zero.” There are already many mosques in the city, and a few of them are even in that same neighborhood, with no objections. The location was chosen almost as a matter of chance, after another site on 23rd Street fell through.
So why is this “mosque” different than all other New York mosques? The heat began in May, 2010, and to explain how an interfaith community center morphed into a terrorist center, Howard Kurtz did an admirable job in The Washington Post, as he traced the evolution of a local zoning issue into a national political and constitutional tinderbox.
The match that lit the fires was struck by right winger Pamela Geller on her blog, Atlas Shrugged, which was then picked up by Andrea Peyser in The New York Post, and off went the right wing, into that special land where constitutional rights have no meaning.
Geller says Steve Emerson, Executive Director of The Investigative Project on Terrorism, claims he has tapes of Imam Feisal Rauf, interim program manager of Park51 and the leader behind Cordoba House—the center for multifaith dialogue and engagement within Park51’s broader range of programs and activities—that will reveal Rauf defending Wahhabism, calling for a one-nation state, meaning no more Jewish State, and defending Bin Laden’s violence.
The Hudson Institute, a right wing think tank, posted The Mosque at Ground Zero: Who Is Behind It? by Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury on July 30, in which he implies that there is trouble ahead, and essentially pours gasoline on an open flame.
The issue, a local zoning issue, was then picked up by conservative Republican Party members and Tea Party types in Congress, who ratcheted the fear factor up another few notches. These were the same congressmen who voted against providing health care to first responders who have been suffering since 9/11.
Then cable news shows picked it up, and milked it for all it was worth, never identifying the fact that those opposed to the mosque also opposed helping 9/11 families. The fear factor was so great by then, Fox News pundit Dick Morris said they were building a terrorist training center on the site. President Obama himself stepped in to remind everyone that this is still America, and that we embrace freedom of religion as part of our Bill of Rights. The following day he questioned the wisdom of choosing that particular site for Park51, but still upheld the US Constitution, as he had sworn to do on the day he took office.
After watching all the news clips and finding some unexpected useful footage from days of yore, Jon Stewart then summed up the situation in his own wacky way, last Thursday night, by making a very serious point.
On Friday, Governor David Paterson offered to step in to see if there could be a resolution to the problem and ask if he could help with finding an alternative site. The developers of Park51 said that they had no plans to meet with him.
And what did the Jews have to say about all of this? There were some who said we should stay out of it and let others fight this battle because we ourselves have been in places where it took major battles to get Jewish places of worship approved by zoning boards with agendas of their own.
Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, head of the interdenominational New York Board of Rabbis, a key interfaith leader in New York City who works with the Police and Fire Departments, lost many friends on 9/11. In a telephone interview he said that he had spoken with leaders at the Archdiocese of New York and the Council of Churches.
“We suggest that the faith communities of New York use this crisis as an opportunity to elevate the conversation among the parties, without staking out positions. We should all gather together in one room and have a serious and substantive discussion that will result in one of two things: either there will be a compromise [accepting Governor Paterson’s suggestions] or the mosque will go forward as planned. Whatever decision will be made, we will know that we will have tried as diligently as possible to have people talk to each other instead of against each other.
“The religious community,” he continued, “has a responsibility to use the best of religion to promote discourse and a workable decision. That also means that probing questions must be asked and answered—and not avoided—by either side.”
Rabbi Ben Rosenberg of Congregation Beth El in Edison, NJ, spent most of last week talking to media about the rash of swastika graffiti that has plagued his community. As a son of Holocaust survivors and a naturalized American citizen, he says, “The Muslims legally have every right to build a community center at that location, but the wisdom of doing so, in light of being considered insensitive, is questionable. It would make sense to accept Governor Paterson’s offer.”
The Jewish Standard, the weekly that serves Bergen and Rockland counties, major bedroom communities that many in Jewish leadership call home (Abraham Foxman of the ADL, Rabbi Shmuel Goldin, co-founder of EDAH and Shvil Hazahav; Rabbi Shmuley Boteach; Michael Miller of the Jewish Community Relations Council and Rabbi Jack Bemporad of the Center for Interreligious Understanding, are only a few of the leaders who live there.) Many of them had much to say and laid it out for the editors in this past weekend’s edition.
Bemporad had just returned from bringing eight imams to Auschwitz when it all hit the fan. In his opinion calling Rauf a terrorist is a great travesty of justice.
Everyone has an opinion, all agree there are constitutional issues that must be considered, and many, besides Rabbi Potasnik, want real answers to hard questions.
And finally, there is this article in The Washington Post by Jason Horowitz that pretty much tells the rest of America what New Yorkers think of this whole mosque mess. Basically, whether they for or against, they are telling outsiders to mind their own business.
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Jeanette Friedman is New York bureau chief for San Diego Jewish World and co-author with David Gold of Why Should I Care? Lessons from the Holocaust.
Please explain where your true sympathies are, Mr. President
By Rabbi Ben Kamin
Rabbi Ben Kamin
SAN DIEGO — Muslims themselves should not take too much solace in President Obama’s recent avowal of support for the Cordoba House and mosque project at the cusp of ground zero. Spoken in the midst of a Ramadan gathering at the White House, the president‘s jaw driven outward in a now trademark signal of thrust conviction, his eyes staring upward rather than at the audience he is actually addressing, he nonetheless began to disavow his guttural outburst almost immediately.
I didn’t actually say I was in favor of that mosque, what I meant was even though I do feel Muslim Americans should build a mosque wherever they e pluribus unum, I probably was thinking more generally though I may or may not have had the ground zero mosque, er, community center in my mind. Or maybe not.
Jews should mark the occasion with a great deal of interest and concern. We heard from the president’s soul when he was so uncharacteristically “incautious” at the White House. We heard from his political advisers when he cynically back-pedaled on his revelatory burst so expediently.
In Holland, for so long wrongfully considered a benevolent place via its exported Anne Frank / anti-fascist mythology, Muslims account now for 10% of the population and the bulk of its harrowing wave of anti-Semitic harassment, hate-mongering, and personal violence. A lot of extremist Muslims, including those building a nuclear weapon in Iran, will see the ground zero mosque as nothing less than Koranic affirmation of their unhinged war against Judeao-Christian civilization.
We see stark evidence of radical Islamic brutality via the systematic mutilation of women’s faces, breasts, and reproductive organs—not to mention stoning to death. Blackberry units, You Tube, and rock music are shut down, from northern Africa to Saudi Arabia. Our efforts to save Afghanistan from its Taliban essence (Mr. Obama’s benighted and/or naïve strategy at the expense of American lives) are doomed, even as we share goals with the country’s thoroughly corrupt and ungrateful presidential-despot.
No, President Obama is not a Muslim, and these charges about his background are ignorant and devilish. That whole discussion is steeped in bigotry and contempt. But if he is deeply sympathetic to a highly questionable and hurtful project that insults American sensibilities and memories, that gives the radical Muslims who want us all vaporized or veiled a stunning triumph at the expense of our 9/11 grief, let him just say so.
Who are you, Mr. President? We want to know more than whom you are not.
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Rabbi Kamin is a freelance writer based in San Diego
Ner Tamid hosts 8-part lecture series on Israel
POWAY, California (Press Release) — An 8-part lecture series by Jim Freedman, a student of the Middle East conflict, will be presented at Ner Tamid Synagogue, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Thursdays starting October 7 and continuing through December 2, excepting Thanksgiving.
Freedman will discuss Israel’s history, threats from Islamic terrorism, allies among American Christians, media attitudes toward Israel, refugees, the “myth of occupied territories,” U.S.-Israel relations, current events and what Americans can do to help Israel.
Attendees of the free lecture series are encouraged to bring a dairy lunch to eat in the classroom at the Conservative synagogue. More information is available from Freedman at (858) 395-4427.
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Preceding based on material provided by Jim Freedman
Peace talks 10 years ago led to an Intifada
By Shoshana Bryen
Shoshana Bryen
WASHINGTON, D.C. –The announcement has been made that Prime Minister Netanyahu and Abu Mazen will come to Washington for “face to face negotiations.” It is worth remembering that precisely 10 years ago President Clinton invited then-Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Yasser Arafat to a summit at Camp David.
Mr. Barak was bringing a very far-reaching proposal – so much so that in fact that he wasn’t sure he could sell to the Israeli public if Arafat accepted it. But after what appeared to be an ill-planned and hasty IDF departure from the Lebanese “Security Zone,” he hoped to bring home an agreement with the Palestinians.
In a moment of wisdom, or at least of extreme practicality, Yasser Arafat tried mightily to get out of attending. It wasn’t the right time, he said. He objected to holding a meeting of the principals (Clinton, Barak and himself) when there was no guarantee of success. The time to hold a summit, he opined, was when everything had already been done, and it hadn’t been done. And he was, for once, right.
The crucial issues in 2000 were:
Jerusalem; The Palestinian demand for a “right of return” for refugees and their descendants to places in Israel from which the original refugees claim to have come; Territorial compromise, and; Agreement on the legitimacy of Israel’s sovereignty in the region, which was also called an “end to the war” and termination of future claims.
The result of the failure at Camp David was the so-called “second intifada,” the Palestinian war against Israel. For the next three years, Israelis were subjected to suicide bombings in buses and in cafes and other acts of violence, including the shooting of an infant in her father’s arms, the massacre of patrons in a Jerusalem pizza parlor, the murder of two toddlers in their beds, the death of a pregnant woman who had been the only child of Holocaust survivors, and a car bombing that killed worshippers at a Passover Seder. Israeli children ride public buses to school; many parents sent siblings on separate buses. More than 1,000 Israelis died (the equivalent of 42,000 Americans) and thousands more were maimed both physically and psychologically.
Israel ended the Palestinian war by going to the sources of terrorist organization and operation – by entering Palestinian cities and retaking security control of the West Bank (it is worth remembering that the war promulgated not from Gaza by Hamas, but by the “relatively moderate” PLO). The IDF took the war to the Palestinian Authority, closed the Orient House in Jerusalem, and built the security fence.
Terrorism emanating from the West Bank dropped precipitously, not because the Palestinians stopped trying, but because the Israelis got better at prevention. Only after that, after Arafat’s death, and after the bloody Palestinian civil war that evicted Fatah leadership from Gaza, did Israelis and Palestinians on the West Bank come to a relatively constructive modus vivendi based on Fatah’s fear of Hamas and Israel’s belief that economic progress for the Palestinians would lower the appeal of radicalism.
In accepting President Obama’s summons, Prime Minister Netanyahu and Abu Mazen know they will, necessarily, be discussing the same four issues that were on the table in 2000. So, as President Obama pushes Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Abu Mazen, the questions are:
If Yasser Arafat could not accept any compromise then, why would President Obama think Abu Mazen, whose legitimate term of office ended in January 2009 and who controls far less territory and far fewer Palestinians, can compromise?
What will the President do if the talks fail and increased violence is again the result?
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Bryen is senior director for security policy for the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs. Since Sept. 21, 2008, Waxie Sanitary Supply has sponsored her column in San Diego Jewish World in memory of Morris Wax, who had been a national board member of JINSA.
Will Ground Zero mosque promote reconciliation or disharmony?
By Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal
Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal
SAN DIEGO — Is the question “Do Moslems have the right to build a new Islamic Center and Mosque next to Ground Zero?” or “Should Moslems build a new Islamic Center and Mosque next to Ground Zero?”
If the question is one of “right,” there is no question at all. The United States Constitution guarantees freedom of religion and that the government will not unduly interfere with religion. While government agencies may be able to deny the construction of religious institutions based on zoning, traffic, etc., they cannot withhold permission simply because people do not like a particular religion.
Forbidding the construction of a mosque at Ground Zero would be similar to preventing a synagogue building next to a church because the Christian Bible says that Jews called for the execution of Jesus.
Furthermore, all Moslems are not terrorists. It would be morally reprehensible to hold all Moslems accountable for the murders of 9/11. As the Torah reminds us this week: “Parents shall not be put to death for children, nor children be put to death for parents: a person shall be put to death only for his own crime.” (Deut. 24:16) It would be unfair and unjust to punish all Moslems for the acts of a few.
Whether building such a Mosque is wise or the right thing to do, however, is another question.
Iman Feisal Abdul Rauf of the Cordoba Initiative, the group that wants to build the Center, stated: “We believe that Park 51 will become a landmark in New York City’s cultural, social and educational life, a community center to promote the American values we all aspire toward and to realize a better city for all.”
Cordoba Spokesperson Oz Sultan said: “We will continue going forward with the project. It’s a project that will build bridges.” He added that the Cordoba Institute is “committed to promoting positive interaction between the Muslim world and the West.”
It seems to me that if a structure that is intended to foster reconciliation between Moslems and non-Moslems and build bridges in the community is, instead, having the opposite effect, its planners should voluntarily change their location.
Although not all Moslems are terrorists, almost all terrorists are Moslems and have acted in the name of their religion.
Furthermore, it seems to me that the majority of peaceful Moslems have not done enough to condemn their coreligionists who do commit murder and mayhem against those who disagree with them. One rarely hears the Moslem world condemning acts of terror against Israelis, for example.
The pain and anguish of 9/11 are still very fresh for survivors and those who lost loved ones in the attack on the Twin Towers. If a new Islamic Center and Mosque built close to the center of their sacred ground renews their pain and anguish, the leaders of the Cordoba Initiative should respond with the same sensitivity they seek from others. They should build their Center and Mosque somewhere else.
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Rabbi Rosenthal is spiritual leader of Tifereth Israel Synagogue
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