JTA: The Global News Service of the Jewish People

Still a single Jewish people?

By Uriel Heilman · December 3, 2008

Commentary on the Israeli media’s coverage of last month’s G.A.—or lack thereof—elicited a storm of responses from readers.

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Secular, but Jewish

By Uriel Heilman · December 1, 2008

What Americans don’t get about Israeli Jews.

6 Comments | Share This | Israel-Diaspora

Talansky the man

By Uriel Heilman · July 24, 2008

A few pieces in the Israeli press this week provide an insider’s view of Morris Talansky.

Ehud Olmert’s lawyers screened a video in Jerusalem district court of Talansky talking about how Yitzhak Rabin, too, allegedly took money from American Jews.

“You think Rabin didn’t do it? I did it to Rabin!” Talansky says on the video, swearing “on my children!”

He also says Rabin was a wicked good tennis player – so good that Talansky wagered $100,000 on a game he and Rabin played against another team. Rabin and Talansky won, he says.

Meanwhile, Talanksy’s former nephew, Joseph Cedar – incidentally, the director of the Israeli film Beaufort – pens a defense of his ex-uncle in a Ha’aretz column in which he calls Talansky “one of the most interesting, charismatic and generous people I have ever met:”

When my former uncle’s name was raised in connection to the scandal involving the prime minister, I assumed the media would home in on his colorful personality. I never thought that the prime minister, through his representatives, would try to prove his innocence by cruelly and offensively slandering a man who spent years helping him and donating to him, and became his close friend.

I’m no expert on the nature of the financial relationship between Talansky and the prime minister, and I don’t pretend to understand the legal significance of their relationship, if any. But the various media reports about Talansky’s cross-examination make it difficult to avoid concluding that even if our prime minister is not a criminal, he is at least an ingrate.

1 Comment | Share This | Israel, Israel-Diaspora

Hanging with Bush in Israel

By Ami Eden · May 12, 2008

President Bush’s approval may be low, but he sure has a pretty big honorary entourage for his trip to Israel:

Statement by the Press Secretary

President George W. Bush today announced the designation of an U.S. Honorary Delegation to attend celebrations in honor of the 60th Anniversary of the State of Israel on May 14-15, 2008 in Jerusalem, Israel.

Members of the Honorary Delegation:

Dr. Miriam Adelson, Chairperson, Dr. Miriam & Sheldon G. Adelson Clinic for Drug Abuse Treatment and Research
Mr. Sheldon G. Adelson, Chairman of the Board, Las Vegas Sands Corporation
Mr. Moshe Aflalo, CEO of Aflalo Equities
Mr. Neil Z. Auerbach, Managing Partner, Hudson Clean Energy Partners
Mr. Kenneth Bialkin, Partner, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLC
Mr. Elliott B. Broidy, Chairman and CEO of Broidy Capital Management
Mr. Matthew H. Brooks, Executive Director, Republican Jewish Coalition
Mr. Alan I. Casden, Chairman and CEO of Casden Properties LLC
Mr. Stanley M. Chesley, President of the National Jewish Fund
Mr. William C. Daroff, Vice President for Public Policy and Director of the Washington Office United Jewish Communities
Mr. Nathan J. Diament, Director, Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations
Rabbi David H. Ellenson, Ph.D., President of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
Mr. Michael David Epstein, President of Sensormatic Security Corporation
Mr. Donald Etra, Attorney, Law Offices of Donald Etra
Ms. Nancy E. Falchuk, National President, Hadassah
Ms. Selma J. Fisch, Founder, Fisch Properties
Mr. David M. Flaum, Chairman, Republican Jewish Coalition
Ms. Marilyn Fox, Chairman of the Fox Family Foundation and Former President of the St. Louis Jewish Community Center
The Honorable Sam Fox, U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium
Mr. Abraham H. Foxman, National Director, Anti-Defamation League
Mr. Howard E. Friedman, President, AIPAC
Mr. Tony B. Gelbart, Chairman and Co-Founder of Nefesh B’Nefesh
Mr. Sander R. Gerber, Chairman and CEO, Hudson Bay Capital Management LP
Mr. Marc S. Goldman, Farmland Dairies
The Honorable Phil Gordon, Mayor of the City of Phoenix, Arizona
Mr. Richard S. Gordon, President, American Jewish Congress
Dr. Jeffrey Gunter, President, Beverly Capital Management LLC
Mr. David Hager, President, Hager Pacific
Ms. Cheryl Halpern, Member, CPB Board of Directors
Mr. Uri Harkham, CEO, Jonathan Martin Fashion Group
Rabbi Marvin Hier, Founder and Dean, Simon Wiesenthal Center and Museum of Tolerance
Mr. Malcolm I. Hoenlein, Executive Vice Chairman, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations
Mr. Murray A. Huberfeld, Chairman, Centurion Credit Management LP
Rebbetizin Esther Jungreis, Founder and President of Hineni
Dr. Henry Kissinger, Chairman of Kissinger Associates, Inc.
Dr. Richard Land, President, Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission
Mr. Ronald Lauder, President, World Jewish Congress and Chairman, Jewish National Fund
Mr. Eliot Lauer, Senior Partner, Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle
Ms. Linda S. Law, Founder, Law and Associates
Mr. Michael I. Lebovitz, Senior Vice President, CBL & Associates Properties, Inc.
The Honorable Jay P. Lefkowitz, Special Envoy on Human Rights in North Korea
Rabbi David H. Lincoln, Senior Rabbi, Park Avenue Synagogue, New York City
The Honorable Linda Lingle, Governor of the State of Hawaii
The Honorable Earle I. Mack, Senior Partner, the Mack Company
Rabbi Isaac Neuman, Rabbi Emeritus of Sinai Temple, Champaign, Illinois
Mr. Michael B. Oren, Senior Fellow, Shalem Center, Jerusalem; Professor Georgetown University
Mr. Ronald Plotkin, Former COO, Monster.com Directional Marketing
Steve L. Poizner, Insurance Commissioner, State of California
Mr. Bruce M. Ramer, Attorney and Partner, Gang, Tyre, Ramer & Brown
Mr. J. Philip Rosen, Attorney, Partner, Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP
Mr. William Safire, Chairman, Dana Foundation
Mr. Lee C. Samson, President and CEO, SNF Management
Mr. Lenny Sands, Chairman, Alchemy Worldwide
Mr. Richard H. Schneider, Managing Member, Bunker Capital LLC
Mr. Fred Schwartz, Founder, The Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation
The Honorable Melvin F. Sembler, Chairman of the Board of The Sembler Company
Mr. Dan Senor, Founding Partner, Rosemont Capital
Mr. Joe Shapira, Managing Partner, Java Equities LLC
Ms. Florence Shapiro, Co-Chair of the Education Policy Taskforce for the National Council of State Government
Rabbi Levi Shemtov, Director, Washington Office of American Friends of Lubavitch
Dr. Robert J. Shillman, Ph.D., Founder, Chairman and CEO of Cognex Corporation
Mr. Richard J. Sideman, President, American Jewish Committee
Mr. Mark S. Siegel, President of ReMY Investors & Consultants, Inc.
Rabbi Michael S. Siegel, Norman Asher Rabbinic Chairman and Senior Rabbi
The Honorable Ned L. Siegel, U.S. Ambassador to the Commonwealth of The Bahamas
Mr. Ron Silver, President Emeritus, Actors’ Equity Association; Board of Directors, U.S. Institute of Peace
The Honorable Martin J. Silverstein, Private Investor and Senior Counsel, Greenberg Traurig
Mr. Paul E. Singer, General Partner, Elliott Associates, LP
The Honorable Clifford M. Sobel, U.S. Ambassador to Brazil
Mr. Jaime Sohacheski, Chairman, Crown Realty and Development Corporation
Mr. Ronald G. Steinhart, Retired CEO, Commercial Banking, Bank One Corporation
Rabbi Mordechai Suchard, Founder and Director, Gateways Organization
Mr. Stephen J. Trachtenberg, President Emeritus, University Professor of Public Service, George Washington University
Ms. June R. Walker, Chairperson, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations
Mr. Leslie H. Wexner, Chairman of the Board and CEO, Limited Brands
Mr. Elie Wiesel, University Professor; Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities; Professor of Philosophy and Religion in the College of Arts and Sciences; President, The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity
Mr. Fred S. Zeidman, Chairman, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
Mr. Mark Zucker, Managing Member, Dorchester Capital
Mr. Mort B. Zuckerman, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of U.S. News & World Report; Publisher of New York Daily News; Co-Founder and Chairman of Boston Properties Inc.

3 Comments | Share This | Israel, Israel-Diaspora

Keep your money

By Ami Eden · May 12, 2008

Gideon Levy of Ha’aretz uses the Olmert-Talansky scandal to raise concerns about the role of Diaspora money in Israel:

Revealing the identity of the primary witness, Morris Talansky, in the lastest Ehud Olmert affair raises questions that go beyond the prime minister. Serious questions need to be asked about the relationship between American Jewry and Israel.

Granted, Talansky is a mere individual, but he is not the only one. Jerusalem is full of wheeler-dealers, functionaries, lobbyists, donors and philanthropists. There are rich men and middlemen, envoys and delegations, many of them with good intentions, but some without.

They wheedle and schnorr and contribute to various causes. It’s the kind of schnorring that begins with Shaare Zedek Medical Center and could end in court. The question here is why did Talansky, or any other Jewish American, invest, allegedly, in Olmert? What do they receive in exchange for this pot stirring?

His conclusion:

No thank you, we’re doing all right. No thank you, some of you are causing us great damage. If you want to wield influence, do it in your own country. You have a lot of power and influence there. Perhaps too much; it’s none of our business. You are American, not Israeli citizens, and no amount of money can or should change this fact. War and peace, social justice and government, education and religion in Israel are a matter for its citizens alone.

2 Comments | Share This | Israel, Israel-Diaspora

The prime minister’s defeat

By Uriel Heilman · May 9, 2008

In his Ehud Olmert analysis today, Ha’aretz writer Yossi Verter cites an Israeli government minister as saying the Israeli prime minister’s handwriting in recent days betrays that of a ”battered, haunted man.”

But you don’t need to read the prime minister’s notes to see that Olmert appears weighed down by defeat. In video greetings to New York’s Israel 60 celebration Wednesday night at Radio City Music Hall, Olmert looked lost and confused, staring vapidly at the camera and muttering something about a Jewish state for the Jewish people. Looking gaunt and sitting somewhat slumped over, Olmert seemed to be speaking without notes – or deliberation – and the video editing made clear that the prime minister couldn’t even get it all in one take.  It was painful to watch.

By contrast, in the video greeting President Bush sent to the Radio City event, he managed – despite a host of problems and historically low poll numbers – to look like he did a decade ago, albeit with more gray hair. He had an impish grin, spoke of the similarities between Israel and America and the importance of the U.S.-Israel relationship, and concluded his little speech with a hearty “Mazal toff!” Audience members burst into applause several times during Bush’s recorded greeting.

0 Comments | Share This | Israel, Israel-Diaspora

Cincinnati is right on time (if not ahead)!

By Ami Eden · May 8, 2008

Mark Twain (or whomever really deserves credit) was pretty much on the money when he quipped: “When the end of the world comes, I want to be in Cincinnati because it’s always twenty years behind the times.”

But there’s always an exception to the rule.

Today it would be a cool day to be in Cincinnati because the Jewish community there is right on time – and offering up an interesting multi-cultural take on celebrating Israel’s 60th birthday.

Here’s the full press release:

Cincinnati Hosts Ground Breaking Events Marketing Israel’s 60th Year of Independence

April 20, 2008 (Cincinnati, OH) – On May 8, while Jewish communities around the world will be celebrating Israel’s 60th birthday, Cincinnati’s celebration will stand alone. The Jewish Federation of Cincinnati will bring Israel’s most in-demand performance group to Fountain Square to headline an unprecedented, free, city-wide multi-cultural extravaganza: “Celebrate As One.”

The festival, inspired by Israel’s 60th, is a celebration of the ethnic and cultural diversity in Cincinnati. The festival’s headline performance group: The Idan Raichel Project – is a stunning, versatile Israeli performing collective comprised of musicians of Ethiopian, Caribbean, and Middle Eastern origins.  Their message is one of love, hope and tolerance, a message that will be echoed by the the eclectic line up of local performers including: Baoku and the Image, Chinese Lion Dancers, Eclipse, Elderwood Quintent (Jazz & Latin mix), Gaiananda Music and Dance Ensemble (Middle Eastern), Kai Kweol & Drum Jam Parade, Mohenjo Daro, Poco Loco with dance lessons by Kama Salsa, Sogbety Diomande’s West African Drum & Dance Company, the Southern Baptist Gospel Choir, and WULF (Folk/Acoustic/Gothic).

Celebrate As One is supported by very generous funding from some of Cincinnati’s most prominent corporations– Macy’s Inc., Great American Insurance Group, and Fifth Third Bank, who are the Israel @ 60 Presenting Sponsors.  They were joined by community supporters including The American Israelite. Event sponsors include the Fine Arts Fund, CityBeat, La Jornana Latina, Duke Energy, Fountain Square, and Toyota as the Education sponsor.

Additionally, Hagit Limor, WCPO-TV’s Emmy and national award-winning investigative reporter, will serve as Master of Ceremonies. Hagit, whose father is a Holocaust survivor and fought in Israel’s 1948 War of Independence, is an anchor, general assignment reporter, and now heads the award-winning I-Team.
The Festival is part of Cincinnati’s year long Israel @ 60 celebrations.  This year, communities around the world are celebrating Israel turning 60—or the 60th year of Israel’s statehood. No other city in America can boast such an incredible culturally rich and diverse Israel@60 lineup as Cincinnati will this year.

“Cincinnati is nationally recognized for one of the most creative and sophisticated Israel@60 lineups.  The Jewish Federation of Cincinnati is grateful for the outpouring of support from the community and volunteers who have made this possible” said Shep Englander, Federation CEO.

The Jewish Federation of Cincinnati has taken a leadership role in planning a series of exciting, high-profile events that will take place throughout the year. From special concerts showcasing Israel’s diverse music, to book signings with award-winning and best selling Israeli authors, to cooking classes featuring Israeli cuisine.

For more information about Israel@60 events, including “Celebrate As One,” please ... visit http://www.jewishcincinnati.org.

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The man behind the spy charges

By Uriel Heilman · April 24, 2008

The day after reporters flocked to a courtroom in downtown Manhattan to catch a glimpse of the 84-year-old New Jersey retiree arrested this week for spying for Israel, reporters converged on the man’s hometown of Monroe, N.J. to talk to friends, neighbors and anyone else willing to spill what they knew of the alleged spy, Ben-Ami Kadish.

“You can know people for years and just not know them,” a woman named Anita told The New York Times.  “Nobody ever said anything bad about them,” a “shocked” neighbor told the New York Jewish Week. The spy story has been a boon to the New Jersey Jewish News, which scooped them all with a 2006 profile of Kadish and his wife, Doris. That story showed the couple hosting a charity event in their sukkah, portraying them as pillars of their Jewish community. Who knew?

7 Comments | Share This | International, Israel, Israel-Diaspora, Politics

So you say you’re a Jew … Prove it!

By Ami Eden · March 3, 2008

Writing in the New York Times Magazine, Gershom Gorenberg reports on the struggles of American Jews forced to deal with the Israeli Chief Rabbinate. The problem, Gorenberg asserts, is that proving you are Jewish to the Israeli religious establishment has become increasingly difficult – “especially if you came to Israel from the United States.”

In recent years, the state’s Chief Rabbinate and its branches in each Israeli city have adopted an institutional attitude of skepticism toward the Jewish identity of those who enter its doors. And the type of proof that the rabbinate prefers is peculiarly unsuited to Jewish life in the United States. The Israeli government seeks the political and financial support of American Jewry. It welcomes American Jewish immigrants. Yet the rabbinate, one arm of the state, increasingly treats American Jews as doubtful cases: not Jewish until proved so.

More than any other issue, the question of Who is a Jew? has repeatedly roiled relations between Israel and American Jewry. Psychologically, it is an argument over who belongs to the family. In the past, the casus belli was conversion: Would the Law of Return, which grants automatic citizenship to any Jew coming to Israel, apply to those converted to Judaism by non-Orthodox rabbis? Now ... the status of Jews by birth is in question. Equally important, the dividing line is no longer between Orthodox and non-Orthodox. The rabbinate’s handling of the issue has placed it on one side of an ideological fissure within Orthodox Judaism itself, between those concerned with making sure no stranger enters the gates and those who fear leaving sisters and brothers outside.

According to Seth Farber, an American-born Orthodox rabbi who helps Israelis navigate the rabbinic bureaucracy, the Chief Rabbinate’s have become so strict that “80 percent of federation leaders probably wouldn’t be able to reach the bar.”

3 Comments | Share This | Chief Rabbinate, Israel, Israel-Diaspora, Orthodox

My (Israeli commando) bodyguard

By Ami Eden · February 27, 2008

The celebrity gossip Web site TMZ has a video segment on the latest wave of Jews to invade Hollywood: Israeli commandos.

1 Comment | Share This | Israel-Diaspora, Pop Culture, video