L’shana Tova 5771

jtnews | section b | september 3, 2010 | 24 elul 5770

2B shana tova JTNews . www.jtnews.net . friday, september 3, 2010
friday, september 3, 2010 . www.jtnews.net . JTNews shana tova 3B

Is our fate determined on Yom Kippur?

Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman Special to JTNews
High on the list of Jewish martyr stories
still retold or, at least, alluded to every Rosh
Hashanah and Yom Kippur, is the terrible
medieval tale of Rabbi Amnon of Mainz.
For refusing to appear before the Bishop
of Regensburg — who had requested that
Amnon become a Christian — he had his
limbs hacked off; what was left of him was
arrayed alongside his severed parts and
returned home in time for Rosh Hashanah.
As the chazzan reached the climax
of services that day, Amnon interrupted
with a beautiful liturgical poem, and was
promptly transported to his heavenly
abode. Three days later he appeared to the
saintly Rabbi Kalonymos to teach him the
poem and instruct him to spread it every-
where. Today, that poem, the Un’taneh
Tokef, is a centerpiece of the High Holy
Day liturgy.
So goes the story, which is still told
annually in many a synagogue, before
Un’taneh Tokef and its two-fold message:
First, that “On Rosh Hashanah it is written
and on Yom Kippur it is sealed: who will
live and who will die, who by fire, who by
water…who by earthquake, who by plague
[and so forth]”; but second, that “peni-
tence, prayer, and charity” can somehow
alleviate the hardship of the decree.
It is hard to know which is more trou-
bling: The prayer or the story of its author-
ship. Who by Fire, Who by Water (Jewish
Lights Publishing, 2010), the first volume
in the “Prayers of Awe” series, chronicles
the fascinating controversy that surrounds
them both. The problem with the prayer is
that it seems patently scandalous.
Were the fates of the 9/11 victims pre-
determined on the prior Yom Kippur? Did
they die because they were insufficiently
penitent, prayerful, or charitable? The
problem with the story is that it is hardly a
message that inaugurates a new year with
spiritual promise. Besides, it is pure fic-
tion — there never was a Rabbi Amnon
of Mainz. “aMNoN” is a rearrangement of
the letters in the Hebrew Ne’eMaN, “faith-
ful.” This is a morality tale of a putative
“Rabbi Faithful” who stood fast in the face
of adversity.
The poem was probably composed as
early as the fifth or sixth century by a Byz-
antine Jewish genius named Yannai, who
symbolized anything but Jewish martyr-
dom in the face of inhuman persecution.
Yannai personified a Jewish literary efflo-
rescence rarely matched in the millen-
nium and a half following.
Perhaps the story we should be telling
every Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish poten-
tial for artistic brilliance, Judaism as a well
of creative potential, not Judaism as the
religion of the persecuted masses. Un’taneh
Tokef illustrates classic liturgical poetry at
its best, an abundance of biblical and rab-
binic allusions wed to clever Hebrew word-
play and alliterative excellence.
But what about the poem’s troubling
message? While the first half of Who by
Fire, Who by Water provides the truly stun-
ning story behind the myth and the poem
(alongside an annotated translation of
both), the second half elicits commentaries
from some 40 thoughtful contributors who
tell us how they handle the poem’s mes-
sage. Here, arguing over the poem’s merits, ers subject
are rabbis and laypeople; men and women it to literary analysis, exposing
from all denominations of Jewish life (some its very many poetic virtues. Author and
of them artists, writers, scholars, teachers, scholar Erica Brown plays with the image
and musicians); from around the world and of God as writer of our fate: What kind of
spanning generations. Prayer book editors writing would God prefer? Fiction? Jour-
from Europe and North America wrangle nalism? Scholarship?
over whether to include it, fudge its mes- “Who shall live and who shall die? The
sage, or trash it altogether. answer is ‘Me!’” concludes Rabbi Edward
Modern feminist and professor Wendy Feinstein, in his insistence that Un’taneh
Zierler surveys Un’taneh Tokef as a theme Tokef speaks directly to our most cher-
in modern literature. Israeli professor ished illusion — that we are in charge of
Dalia Marx recalls how the poem emerged our fate, when, in fact, we are painfully
anew as a symbol of Israelis dying in the out of control.
Yom Kippur War of her youth. Bible pro- Isn’t that the whole point of the High
fessor Marc Brettler provides the biblical Holy Days, delivered, in Rabbi David
backdrop for the poem, and several writ-
XXPage 15B

High Holy Days 5771

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4B shana tova JTNews . www.jtnews.net . friday, september 3, 2010

More High Holiday services in our community

Below is an addendum to our annual High Holiday services guide, which JTNews printed in its August 20 issue.
For a full listing, look online at www.jtnews.net/holidays5771.

BCMH Capitol Hill Minyan #200, Seattle. Sephardic Bikur Holim Congregation room, 1224 Cornwall Ave., Bellingham
The Capitol Hill Minyan offers traditional Rosh Hashanah day 1: 10 a.m. Services are conducted in the traditional Contact Mary Somerville at 360-733-8890,
Orthodox services and a warm envi- Shofar blowing: Sephardic custom bishul@aol.com or
ronment in the center of Seattle.  11:30 a.m. in the style familiar www.bethisraelbellingham.org
Held at 1501 17th Ave., Seattle. Call for Yom Kippur to those of Turkish Sat., Sept. 4 at Beth Israel Synagogue,
Contact Rabbi Ben Aaronson at 206-659- program times. ancestry, occasion- 2200 Broadway, Bellingham
7485, capitolhillminyan@gmail.com, or Cost for services: No ally utilizing the Ladino Study session: 9 p.m.
www.capitolhillminyan.com. cost, but dona- language in the lit- Havdalah and Selichot service, led by
Selichot (Sept. 4): 11 p.m. at BCMH, tions are wel- urgy. Rabbi Cindy Enger and Cantor Sharona
5145 S Morgan St., Seattle. come. Held at 6500 52nd Feller: 10 p.m.
Rosh Hashanah eve: 7:25 p.m. Ave. S, Seattle. Rosh Hashanah eve: 7:30 p.m.
Rosh Hashanah day 1: 8:30 a.m. Secular Jewish Contact Diana Black Rosh Hashanah day 1:
Shofar: 11:15 a.m. Circle of Puget at 206-723-3028 Morning Service: 9:30 a.m.
Mincha: 7:20 p.m. Sound Rosh Hashanah Family Service: 2:30 p.m.
Rosh Hashanah day 2: 8:30 a.m. A secular human- eve: Rosh Hashanah day 2 (at Beth Israel Syn-
Shofar: 11:15 a.m. ist (non-theistic) Selihoth: 5 a.m. agogue):
Mincha: 7:20 p.m. celebration of the Minha/Arvith: 6:30 Morning Service: 9:30 a.m.
Kol Nidre: 7 p.m. New Year. p.m. Kol Nidre: 7:30 p.m.
Yom Kippur day: 8:30 a.m. Contact 206-528- Jack Hazut Rosh Hashanah day Yom Kippur day:
Yizkor: 11:30 a.m. 1944 or 1: 8 a.m. Morning Service: 9:30 a.m.
Mincha: 5:45 p.m. info@secularjewishcircle.org or Rosh Hashanah day 2: 8 a.m. Family Service: 1:30 p.m.
Break-Fast: 8 p.m. secularjewishcircle.org Erev Yom Kippur: Minha: 3:30 p.m. Service of Restorative Prayer and Heal-
Cost for services: No charge for services. Please call for location. Noche de Kippur Service/Kal Nidreh: 7 p.m. ing: 3 p.m.
Rosh Hashanah eve: 7-9 p.m. Yom Kippur day: 8 a.m. Afternoon Service, Yizkor & Ne’ilah,
The Friendship Circle of Washington Tashlich Gathering: Sat., Sept. 11, 10 a.m. Cost: There is no charge for holiday seat- followed by Break-Fast: 4 p.m.
High Holiday Unplugged is a blend of Kol Nidre: 7-9 p.m. ing (donations are welcome). Please Cost for Services: Non-member tickets
services and stories by Rabbi Elazar Cost for services: call to reserve your seat. (does not apply to Selichot service):
Bogomilsky for children of all abilities. For Rosh Hashanah: Members: Adults $15, $180 per person to attend any and
Contact 206-290-6301 or children $8, childcare $5; non-mem- Bellingham all High Holy Day services. Cost may
highholiday@friendshipcirclewa.org. bers: First adult $45, additional adults Congregation Beth Israel
Held at The Landing, 5001 25th Ave. NE $30, child $8, childcare $5 Most services held at the Leopold Ball- XXPage 20B

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friday, september 3, 2010 . www.jtnews.net . JTNews shana tova 5B

Is this some kind of joke?

Mark Mietkiewicz Special to JTNews
High holiday humor? Is this some kind
of joke? Actually, yes.
Rosh Hashanah ushers in the most
solemn period of the Jewish calendar that
culminates 10 days later on Yom Kippur.
This is a serious time of introspection and
“cheshbon nefesh,” a spiritual accounting.
But Jews being Jews, there’s also time for
a smile or two. Here are some things to
ponder between your introspecting. Or to
keep you rolling in the shul aisles.
By now, you should have received your
High Holiday ticket renewal form. Well,
it seems several forward-thinking con-
gregations are now finding it a competi-
tive edge to allow you to specify your seat
location. Here are excerpts from one form
I came across:
I want a seat located (Indicate order of
priority:)
___ On the aisle
___ Near the pulpit
___ In Aruba [http://bit.ly/hhh01]
On the first night of Rosh Hashanah,
there is a tradition to eat foods whose
Hebrew names have dual meanings and
are omens of an auspicious year to come.
We eat apples and honey so “You renew us
for a good and sweet year,” and the head of
a fish or sheep so “we be as the head and
not as the tail.” [http://bit.ly/hhh02]
Apples and honey and sheeps’ heads
are fine, if you like that sort of thing. But
here’s one suggestion for an updating
of the custom: Cut a raisin in two equal
pieces and place it along with a piece of
iceberg lettuce in a stalk of celery. While
eating this, you should say, “Our Father
in Heaven, lettuce half a raisin celery.”
[http://bit.ly/hhh03]
Q: Why didn’t the computerized
shofar work on Rosh Hashanah?
A: The rabbi didn’t buy enough RAM.
[http://bit.ly/hhh28]
Speaking of technology and the holi-
days, a big baseball fan comes running to
his rabbi before Yom Kippur.
“Rabbi, I have a dilemma. The Sox are
playing their big game on Yom Kippur.
What do I do?” The rabbi replies, “Well,
what do you think they invented DVRs
for?” And the congregant replies, “Rabbi,
that’s a great idea! But... I didn’t know
Yom Kippur services were on cable!”
[http://bit.ly/hhh06]
As all good Jews know, Rosh Hashanah
is the time to ask for and grant forgiveness. their entirety, simply visit the Web sites.
Well, it appears Stephen Colbert knows (Warning: spoiler alert!)
that too. You’ve probably never met the (1) “Please,” says the [synagogue] pres-
“Colbert Report” star, but if you want him ident with tears in his eyes, “Shoot me
to forgive you, all you have to do is leave first!” [http://bit.ly/hhh16]
a message at 1-888-OOPS-JEW after you (2) Seeing this, the chazzan nudges the
hear something like this: “Shalom, and rabbi and whispers, “So look who thinks
welcome to Stephen Colbert’s atonement he’s nothing?” [http://bit.ly/hhh17]
hotline. At the tone, please be a mensch, (3) “$4 for the tallis, and $20 to get all
and unburden your soul by stating how the knots out.” [http://bit.ly/hhh18]
you’ve wronged me — Stephen Colbert. (4) The gabbai came running over and
Your call will not be returned but selected said “NOT ON YOU, on the TORAH, on
apologies will be played on the air. You the TORAH!!” [http://bit.ly/hhh21]
should be so lucky.” [http://bit.ly/hhh24] (5) “Shush,” the parrot says. “Think
In a heated moment, we may let slip of the odds we’ll get on Yom Kippur.”
some words that would have been best left [http://bit.ly/hhh22]
unsaid. That was true during the last pres- Finally, here is “Dry Bones” comic strip
idential election when things occasionally writer Yaakov Kirschen’s take on Yom
got out of hand. Here in this video (cour- Kippur, Israel and world politics: “On
tesy Taglit-Birthright) candidates McCain the Day of Atonement we say, ‘We have
and Obama, Biden and Palin try to get sinned. We have sinned.’ The rest of the
into the Rosh Hashanah forgiveness spirit. year we have the U.N.… to tell us that.”
[http://bit.ly/hhh11] [http://bit.ly/hhh33]
Life is short. And so is this column.
In order to maximize the mirth and to Mark Mietkiewicz is a Toronto-based Internet
keep you from saying, “I heard it already,” producer who writes, lectures and teaches
I present to you five classic High Hol- about the Jewish Internet. He can be reached
iday punch lines. To read the jokes in at highway@rogers.com.

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6B shana tova JTNews . www.jtnews.net . friday, september 3, 2010

The meaning of the shofar,

L’Shana Tova and the how-to
from
David Olivestone JTA World News Service
NEW YORK (JTA) — Sounding the evocative of crying. The shevarim, a three-
Judaica Shop shofar in the synagogue on Rosh Hasha- part note, suggests the sound of sighing or
3700 East Mercer Way nah is the high point of my year. moaning. The teru’ah, consisting of nine
Mercer Island No other mitzvah in Judaism is so rapid-fire staccato sounds, dramatically
dependent on a personal skill or entails echoes the sobbing of someone in despair.
Unique ritual items, such high drama. And, at least for me, no One hundred notes, in various combi-
jewelry, ketubot, kippot, other mitzvah renders quite the same sense nations, are sounded at intervals through-
greeting cards, baby gifts, of achievement and fulfillment. out the Rosh Hashanah service, and each
I often hear people talk about the awak- set is capped by a teki’ah gedolah, an extra-
games and artisan Judaica!
ening power of the sound of the shofar — long note in which many also hear a sign of
www.h-nt.org/judaicashop.htm how awesome a moment or how inspiring strength and hope.
Open Wednesdays an experience it is for them to hear it. For
from 11 am to 1 pm, me, it is both a very public and an intensely
second Sundays
10 am to 12:15 pm
personal experience.
and by appointment As I approach the bimah, I find myself
206-232-8555 ext. 212 quite alone, concentrating intently on
what I have to do. Yet I am also highly con-
scious of being surrounded by hundreds
of people relying on my ability to enable
them to fulfill the central observance of
the day.
In Numbers 29:1, the Torah designates
Congregation the first day of the seventh month, that is,
Ezra Bessaroth Rosh Hashanah, as “a day of blowing the
shofar.” The oral law, as interpreted by the
wishes all its members, friends rabbis, sets out a number of regulations Library of Congress

and the entire jewish community
a happy new year
Tizku Leshanim rabot
yogev nuna, hazzan
isaac azose, hazzan emeritus
steven hemmat, president
raye behar,
ladies auxiliary president
ǯǯ
ͷ͹͹ͳ ʹͲͳͲ
CongregationShevetAchim
invitesyoutosharetheHighHolidayswithus
TraditionalOrthodoxservicesledby
RabbiYechezkelKornfeld
Saturday Evening 9/4 ~ Selichot
Services:
Wednesday 9/8 ~ Erev Rosh Hashanah
Selichot followed by Shacharit
Mincha & Maariv:
Thursday 9/9 & Friday 9/10 ~ Rosh Hashanah
Shacharit:
Shofar:
Mincha, Tashlich, Maariv: 6:45 PM (day 1)
Mincha, Kabbalat Shabbat Shuvah & Maariv: 7:00 PM (day 2)
Friday 9/17 ~ Erev Yom Kippur
Kol Nidre & Maariv:
Saturday 9/18 ~ Yom Kippur
Shacharit:
Yizkor:
Mincha, Neilah & Maariv:
Services held at
Northwest Yeshiva High School
5017 90th Avenue S.E. Mercer Island, WA 98040
www.shevetachim.com
(206) 275-1539
concerning both the instrument itself and
the manner in which it is to be sounded.
The shofar must be fashioned out of a
ram’s horn. With the smaller end cut off,
the horn is straightened out a little by heat-
ing it, so that a hole can be bored through
it. A mouthpiece is formed out of the horn
itself. No finger holes or reed or valves —
such as you would find on other wind or
brass instruments — may be added to help
vary the notes. Thus, the only control you
have over the notes is how you use your
lips and your tongue.
How to Blow
To produce a note, first use your tongue
to moisten the extreme right-hand corner
of your lips, and place the shofar firmly
against them in that spot. With your lips
tightly closed, make a tiny hole in them
where the shofar is, and then force air into
it as if you were making a Bronx cheer (a
rasping sound), but without actually pro-
ducing such a rude noise.
11:00 PM If you get it right, a bright and power-
ful note will emerge from the shofar. The
6:00 AM tighter you squeeze the shofar against your
7:15 PM
lips, the higher the note you will sound.
8:30 AM It’s not necessary to puff out your cheeks;
10:45 AM breathe in and hold the breath in your
chest, letting it out slowly to control the
length of the note.
7:00 PM
The Three Mandatory Sounds
8:3 0AM
The sequence and the length of the
11:30 AM notes must follow the established pattern
6:00 PM with great accuracy. The three mandatory
sounds are designed to awaken thoughts of
repentance and of subservience to God in
the mind of the listener.
First comes the teki’ah, a long, clear
note of alarm. This is used to bracket each
of the other sounds, which are meant to be
Not too many people persevere enough
to become really proficient at blowing the
shofar. Many of those who do so learned the
skill from their fathers at a very young age,
as I did myself. But each year, it takes much
practice over a month or so both to once
again perfect the notes and to retool the mus-
cles of the lips and the strength of the lungs.
The Sound of My Thoughts
Since there’s no real way of controlling
the quality of the shofar’s sound, you can
never be 100 percent confident the right
sound will emerge. So whatever spiritual
thoughts I might try to have as I prepare
myself to sound the shofar usually evapo-
rate as I begin, and I am left simply hoping
that, despite my trepidation, the notes will
come out as perfectly as they did when I
was practicing.
Yet being in control of the shofar’s
power is an extraordinary privilege and
responsibility. Sometimes I like to think
that the next teki’ah or the next shevarim
could be the one that carries the congre-
gation’s prayers soaring to the heavens.
Sometimes I pray that this wordless animal
sound I am producing will have the ability
to take the place of the unspoken prayers —
those that words are inadequate to express.
I will not deny that I enjoy the congrat-
ulations and the handshakes offered to me
after I sound the last teki’ah gedolah. And
what am I thinking at this point, when it’s
all over? That in just one year, with God’s
help, I will get to do it again.
David Olivestone, senior communications
officer at the Orthodox Union, has blown the
shofar at Congregation Ohab Zedek, a
prominent 138-year-old Orthodox synagogue in
New York, for the past 23 years.
friday, september 3, 2010 . www.jtnews.net . JTNews shana tova 7B

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L’shana Tova. Join us in welcoming the new Year
with High Holy Day Services
led by our inspirational clergy team
Wishing you
Peace,
Prosperity,
and the
Pleasures of
Photo by Gail Frank

Page after page.

Sr. Rabbi James Mirel, Assoc. Rabbi Yohanna Kinberg, Cantor David Serkin-Poole

We welcome you to join us

for High Holy Days Worship
Please visit our Web site for a schedule of services.
Call the temple office for more information.

425-603-9677 www.templebnaitorah.org
15727 NE 4th Street, Bellevue, WA 98008
8B shana tova JTNews . www.jtnews.net . friday, september 3, 2010

Tasting a new sweetness in Rosh Hashanah

Edmon J. Rodman JTA World News Service
LOS ANGELES (JTA) — What flavor is
your Jewish New Year?
For most, since childhood, Rosh Hasha-
nah begins with apples dipped in honey.
Custom has Jews eating them together
supposedly to ensure a sweet new year.
Over time they have become a ritual
comfort food. But what if we like change?
What if you don’t like apples, or honey,
or find the combination a drip too saccha-
rine for your tastes?
If the good quality of time we choose to
celebrate is sweetness, I want to revel in a
different kind of sweet.
Does eating the same old thing portend
we will have the same old year? Does habit
have us singing, “Apples dipped in honey
on Rosh Hashanah, blah?”
You don’t need food dehydrators and
molecular gastronomy to come up with
something better. Just follow your nose,
taste buds, Jewish history and ritual.
At this time of year, we dine on so
much food symbolism. Two noteworthy
symbols: Round challah, for the continu-
ity of the Jewish year, with some even dec-
orated with wings or ladders anticipating
our spiritual ascent; and pomegranates,
their seeds representing the command-
ment to be fruitful and multiply.
Before we say a blessing and eat, why
to represent? our lives at this time of year, then in our Jews are even more familiar: Crispy chow
For a different new year, one filled with search for a new combo, let’s begin with mein noodles? We already eat them at
as many new experiences as the seeds of dates. Many already use them as an ingre- Christmas; apparently even our newest
the pomegranate, a new combination is in dient of charoset for the Passover table. Supreme Court justice, Elena Kagan does.
order. Unless some- Pairing dates with So why not on a Jewish holiday?
one is planning to another ancient food, For dipping, use the bright red sweet-
open a Rosh Hasha- ice cream — it dates and-sour sauce, of course. Let the dipping
nah food truck, we back to 400 BCE remind you to dip into your wallet; Rosh
will need to come up Rome, around the Hashanah is an auspicious time to make
with our own. time of the prophet someone else’s New Year sweet as well.
New combos can Malachi — provides Moving beyond food, at this time of
be as easy as apples a kid- and adult- year we should be thinking about the “land
and honey, provid- friendly treat to begin of milk and honey” — that sounds a lot
ing new ways to feed 5771. like a drink. What about raising a glass for
our heads at the head So chop up a a sweet and healthy year?
of the year. few dates and sprin- With their myriad ruby red seeds, anti-
To start, let’s not kle them onto some oxidant-rich pomegranates have a holiday
stick with honey. vanilla ice cream or significance, reminding us of both mitzvot
According to Clau- frozen yogurt. Think and fertility; all the good deeds and per-
dia Roden, author of of a refreshing new haps new babies we intend to surround
The Book of Jewish year with many sat- ourselves with in the coming year.
Food, “Beekeeping isfying acts of loving We can toast the year with a glass of
is not mentioned in kindness. Serve and pomegranate juice, sweetened further by
the Bible, and it is Kate Hopkins/Creative Commons say “L’shana tova serving it with a slice of orange on the rim
believed that every What could be sweeter this holiday than…wait umetukah,” wishing of the glass. Pomegranates and oranges are
mention of honey in for it…an egg cream? you a sweet New Year. agricultural products of modern-day Israel.
the Pentateuch refers Another tradi- At the High Holy Day season’s end
to date honey.” tional approach to a sweet new year is they give us another reason to sing
“Let me take hold of its branches,” says eating taiglach, literally “little dough,” “L’shana Ha’baah, Yerushalayim,” next
a verse of the Song of Songs, which refers to small pieces of dough boiled in honey. year in Jerusalem.
the tamar, the date palm. What about substituting another form

L’Shana Tova
not first consider what we want our food Since we want to bring more Torah into of cooked dough, one with which many XXPage 9B

Our
prayers
to All the Supporters of
The Kline Galland Center for a
and Affiliates year of
The Caroline Kline Galland home
Kline Galland hospiCe serviCes Health,
Peace,
The summiT aT FirsT hill
The polaCK adulT day CenTer

Happiness
The Kline Galland FoundaTion

In this New Year,

may you and your family
be richly blessed.
Douglas Rosen, Chairman
Jeffrey D. Cohen, Chief Executive Officer
Leasing
saLes
ManageMent
investMent
friday, september 3, 2010 . www.jtnews.net . JTNews shana tova 9B

For the sin of … scandal Thank you to all

Erica Brown Washington Jewish Week
of our generous supporters.
We are now in the run-up to the High People try to minimize the shame of it Bob & Lynn Abolofia Mordechai & Ruchie Farkash Jolanda Kintzer Marc & Leslie Rifkin
Holidays and the newness of the fall season. all by saying that we are just like everyone Robert & Cindy Abramowitz
Steve & Nance Adler
Chanan & Nechama Feldman
Jim & Mari Fink
Alan & Sandra Kipust
Aaron Kiviat
Bradley & Janet Rind
Marius & Janet Rochon
The weather will soon change and with it, else, and, like everyone else, we have good Todd & Elena Alberstone
Eli & Rebecca Almo
Joel & Randy Fisher
Bernie & Shirly Fox
Charna Klein
Sydney & Izzy Kleinman
Stan & Michele Rosen
Laurence & Myra Rothenberg
we begin to reflect on the year that was and guys and bad guys. The bad guys just seem Niso Almog Nathan & Marcie Fox Stuart & Deborah Kolodner Larry & Rochelle Russak
Minnette Almoslino Harley & Lela Franco Yichezkel & Devorah Kornfeld Margaret Sandler
our hopes for the year ahead. Usually, we do to get more attention. The media just love Steven & Diana Altchech Mitch & Caryn Freedman Mendy and Chanale Kornfeld Michael & Henrika Sandorffy
Allison Apple Jon & Miriam Freidman Andrew & Nina Krasnow Louie Sanft
this in the singular tense. Yet our prayers on targeting Jews. Betty Arfin David Frockt Moti & Debra Krauthamer Steven & Stacey Sarkowsky
Paul & Tamar Azose Debbie Galanti Margaret Kravette Alex & Rachel Sassoon
Yom Kippur are written in the plural, “For Alternatively, we have defenders of the Jack & Sue Barokas Richard & Barrie Galanti Efrem & Linda Krisher Jack Schaloum
the sin that we have sinned….” faith who point to the whistle-blowers with Maury & Kris Baruch
Joel & Sarah Baskin
Jonathan Gallant
Ilya & Cynthia Gamel
Eileen Kulman
Anson & Merrily Laytner
Magda Schaloum
Dan & Teri Schneeweiss
We are asked to contemplate what it disgust instead of targeting their anger at Dale & Helene Behar
Robert & Susan Benardout
Joel and Lori Gamel
Saul Gamoran & Gurline Babtis
Kenneth & Marilyn Leibert
Chaim & Techiya Levine
Michael & Sharon Schuffler
Laura Schulman
means to do wrong collectively and to the criminals themselves. Check out the David & Beth Bennett Robert & Talby Gelb Alter & Debora Levitin Jonathan & Shari Schwartz
Jeff & Jennifer Benoliel Jack & Ruth Genauer Sholom Ber and Chanie Levitin Steven & Peggy Schwartz
right those wrongs. Jewish blogosphere; you’ll find words like Joel & Maureen Benoliel Arkadiy & Tatyana Gertsen Elie & Miriam Levy Sephardic Bikur Holim Congregation
Peter & Anita Bernard Harold & Vicki Gillman Ted & Arlen Levy Aimee Shapiro
Not long after the Madoff news broke, “pogrom” used to describe the incarcera- Carl & Joann Bianco Jeff & Marcy Gillman Bob & Lisa Low Peter Shapiro
I had a pit in my throat about our collec- tion of Jews for crime. And while you’re on Kenneth L. & Janice Block
Edward David & Vivian Blum
Richard & Stacy Gilmore
Avremi & Chavi Gittler
Charles & Barbara Maduell
David & Joy Maimon
Elliott & Michelle Sharaby
Myra Sherling
tive sins. Bernie Madoff is one of many on the Internet, don’t forget to take a look at Jamie Blumenstein
Paul & Andrea Blustein
Mark & Tziviah Goldberg
Nathan & Mimi Goldberg
Joseph & Frumi Marasow
Lyle & Julie Margulies
David & Linda Sherran
David & Rose Shinder
a list of Jews who have committed high- jewsinprison.org. It gives handy advice if Samuel & Yehudis Bogomilsky Shlomo Goldberg & Karen Treiger Peter Mark Shimon & Michelle Shriki
Jacqueline Bollen Aaron & Lisa Golden Kathy McDonald Marc & Pat Silverman
profile crimes in our recent past. Others you’re in the clink and keep kosher. David & Jennifer Bolnick Matt & Nancy Gordon Michael & Diane Medved Hubert Sims
Mary Ann Bolte and John Sindorf Barry & Suzanne Goren Bruce & Nancy Mezistrano Marc & Michelle Sloan
are Jack Abramoff, Yigal Amir, Baruch When we go down the road of “normal- Aric Bomsztyk Harvey Grad & Linda Hodges Leon & Sylvia Mezistrano Rob & Kathleen Spitzer
Bruce & Tina Borrus Jerry Grashin Jeremy & Barbara Miller Harvey Stein
Goldstein, the Spinka Rebbe, those nabbed izing” Jewish crimes or pick the path of self- Kevin & Elisabeth Britt Joseph & Rachel Greenberg Sasha Millstein Sheldon & Irene Steinberg
in the sting operation in New Jersey for defense and paranoia, we avoid the long, Stephen & Rose Brown
Alan & Ruthie Bunin
Martin Greene
Jeff & Judith Greenstein
Susan Moffet
Michael & Linda Morgan
Mark & Sheryl Stiefel
Bobby & Alayne Sulkin
money laundering and selling organs, hard look in the mirror that we must take Brian Burns
Daniel & Sabrina Cahn
Steven & Valerie Greenstein
Harvey & Giselle Greisman
Stan & Esther Morhaime
Doug & Sarah Myers
Alise Tarica
Ron & Kim Thunen
the folks at the Rubashkin Agriproces- right now. These are all just distractions. Marlon & Jenn Canda David & Cathy Habib James Myers Rob & Jocelyn Toren
Yossi & Toba Leah Charytan Thomas & Marci Hanan Vernon & Elizabeth Neppe Omri & Neta Touboul
sors plant, and various rabbis caught up Let’s face it. We have all been raised to Margaret Chasan Kayla Harvey Nissim & Judy Neuman Lloyd Tucker
Ellis & Janice Cohen Albert Hawks Jon & Naomi Newman Ben & Julie Varon
in immoral sexual trysts. For the first time believe that being Jewish is a hallmark of Gary & Beryl Cohen Drew & Dena Herbolich Zev & Judy Newman Clemence Varon
in Jewish history, a former prime minister goodness. Even those who poke fun at the Gordon & Trisha Cohen
Elizabeth Cook
Avi & Marave Herbstman
Ed & Beverly Horwitz
Michael & Tina Novick
James & Andrew Packman
Frank & Rena Varon
Micheal & Lesley Weichbrodt
and president of Israel who served in the notion of Jewish chosen-ness understand it Kevin & Gail Coskey
Lucia De Funis
David & Ruth Israel
Jewish Family Service
David & Ruth Peckarsky
Laurie Perry
Yarden Weidenfeld
Mark & Kim Weinstein
same period have been indicted for crime. signifies that we are not supposed to be the Michael Doppelt Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle Paula Podemski John & Jolena Weisenfeld
Steven & Fibi Duke Eric & Debbie Joslin Annika Pollock Jerry & Judy Weiser
We have finally found something to unite same as everyone else. The expectations are Lonnie & Susan Edelheit Marc & Debra Kadish Scott & Karin Pollock Andrea Wenet
Joel & Marcia Eisenberg Raphael & Rivka Katsman Linda Portnoy Eric & Holly Wilfrid
Ashkenazim and Sephardim, Jews from more demanding; the moral bar is higher. Sara Eizen Stuart & Chana Esther Kaufman Steven & Judy Posner Moshe & Karen Yalovsky
Nicole Elbling Avraham & Sphrintze Kavka Herbert & Lucy Pruzan Mayer & Sara Yashar
the West with Jews from the East, the poor The responsibilities are greater. We let go Sholom Ber & Chaya Elishevitz Ryan & Tami Kedar Martin & Tami Rabin Bernard & Joyce Yudowitz
and the rich among us. of that reputation at our moral peril. Dorothy Elliott
Jacob Engelstein
Craig A & Carol Keebler
Nick & Michele Keller
Ron & Lois Ralph
Yechezkel & Ora Rapoport
Ilan & Patricia Zawadzki
Michael Zhovitis & Julie
There is no one crime that unites us, I, for one, do not believe that being Jewish Eddy & Elaine Epstein
Don & Deanne Etsekson
Randy & Jennifer Kessler
Imoniel & Mary Khaimov
Larry & Barbara Reder
Joe & Nancy Resnik
Olivia Zieve
Wendy Zieve
however. In this ever-growing list are is being just like everyone else. That would Paul & Nancy Etsekson Jason & Jane Kintzer Peter & Debra Rettman Robert & Rebecca Zimmerman

crimes of money, from Ponzi-scheming
to extortion, and there are crimes of pas-
sion, from sexual abuse of minors to rape.
In addition to the excruciating shame this
has brought on our people, it has also had
a devastating impact on the reputation
of the rabbinate and the trust that people
have in Jewish leadership, from politicians
to religious authority figures.
Are all of these crimes merely isolated
incidents with no relationship to each
other? I think not.
Jews have more affluence and influence
than at any other time in our 4,000-year
history. Abuses of power are highly cor-
related with having power. You cannot
abuse what you do not have. I believe we
are coming face-to-face with an enormous
moral and spiritual challenge to the rep-
utation of our people and need to take a
hard look in the mirror at what we have
come to tolerate and, sadly, almost expect.
minimize the role of the Torah and Jewish We look forward to a year of transforming lives through the magic of friendship.
law in refining our characters and helping us Best wishes for a happy, healthy, prosperous and sweet New Year!
grow into people of expansive compassion
with an acute intolerance for social injustice. hqvtmv hbve hnwl
If we have lost some of our ethical direction,
then it is time to recalibrate the moral com-
pass and put us back on track.
This is not someone else’s problem. It’s
time to take ownership of Jewish crime by
speaking more about ethics from our pul-
pits and in our classrooms and by remind-
ing ourselves every morning that we do
answer to a Higher Authority. We con-
fess our sins in the plural precisely because
we are all stakeholders in the reputation
of the Jewish people. And that reputation
is hurting.
Erica Brown is the author of Confronting
Scandal: How to Respond When Jews Do Bad
Things (Jewish Lights). She can be reached at
www.leadingwithmeaning.com.

WWsweetness Page 8B
Chocolate has all the right stuff to bring
us Jewish New Year joy. For a Jewish connec-
tion, Rabbi Debra Prinz on her blog “Jews on
the Chocolate Trail” has amply demon-
strated the involvement of Jewish traders
and producers in the chocolate trade.
Your favorite fruit or berries dipped
in melted chocolate can easily introduce a
sweet new year.
But if I have my choice of chocolate-
infused ways to bring in Rosh Hashanah,
it’s a chocolate egg cream every time. A
treat with a Jewish history, many histori-
ans say the drink dates back to early 1900s
Brooklyn. Louis Auster, a Jewish Brooklyn
candy store owner, is said to have created
the fizzy chocolate drink.
To make a chocolate egg cream, tra-
ditionalists recommend using only Fox’s
U-Bet, still made in Brooklyn. The ritual calls
for a little milk and some chocolate syrup;
add cold soda water and stir vigorously.
The bubbles represent the sparkle we all
need to begin a new year; their sweet effer-
vescence can get us written onto that big www.FriendshipCircleWa.org
menu of life. On Rosh Hashanah, sound
the shofar. But in the quiet that follows,
listen for the fizz.
10B a view from the u JTNews . www.jtnews.net .
Encountering “the place”:
Meanings of a divine nickname
Martin S. Jaffee JTNews Columnist
Once, toward the end of the First World
War, Prof. Doktor Hermann Cohen, the
German-Jewish founder of Neo-Kantian
philosophy, gave a lecture to a packed hall
in his hometown of Marburg. The audi-
ence, mostly an assemblage of merchants
and practical-minded exponents of Juda-
ism as a “religion of good citizenship,”
had gathered to hear his thoughts on “The
Jewish Idea of God.”
The great professor, nearly at the end
of his long life, made no concessions to
his audience. Neo-Kantian theory is not
for everyone! At times many nodded off,
their gratitude to Prof. Cohen for his bril-
liant thoughts overcome by a warm room
and altogether too many demonstrations
of what we can know about God “within
the limits of reason alone.” (Very little, it
turns out!)
After the lecture, came the questions.
As in none. A heavy silence descended
upon the room. Finally, a wizened old
gentleman dared to wonder:
“Prof. Cohen! I only have one ques-
tion. Is there any place in Prof. Cohen’s
idea of the Jewish Idea of God for the rib-
boini shel oilem?”
This Yiddish-inflected Hebrew phrase
(“Master of the World”) is one of the most
common names by which Jews, especially
in prayer and times of need, traditionally
call upon God for help and comfort.
What the man meant was something
like this: “Where in all of your high-
minded concepts, Herr Professor Doktor,
do we encounter the God Who really mat-
ters? The God Who knows our suffering
and gives the strength to endure it? Where
is the God Who responds to prayer?”
With the Days of Awe coming up,
many of us are especially sensitive to the
various dimensions of the
divine reality we encounter
in the season’s prayers. One
of the most puzzling is also
among the most common.
Recall the opening lines of Kol
Nidre, which convenes both
the celestial and terrestrial
courts for the nullification of
vows on Yom Kippur Eve:
With the consent of the
Makom,
and with the consent of the commu-
nity,
we declare it permissible to pray with
transgressors!
You wonder who this Makom is? If
you consult your High Holiday mach-
zor’s English translation, you’ll probably
encounter one of the most colorless ren-
derings of the divine Reality to ever mar a
liturgical text: “The Omnipresent!”
This “Omnipresent” literally sticks in
my throat — it reminds me of “omnivo-
rous”! But just try to replace it. Literally,
makom means “place.” If you think it’s
tough to pray to the “Omnipresent,” try
praying to “the Place” sometime!
Why, then, did the rabbis, who knew
a thing or two about how to pray, invent
this odd nickname for God? Why would
anyone want to call upon God as “the
Place, May He be blessed?”
The answer, at least as the rabbis saw
it, comes from — you guessed it! — the
Torah. When Jacob fled to Haran from
the anger of his brother, Esau, he spent
his first night on the road just inside
the border of the Land of Israel, in the
place he would call Bet El. There, says
the Torah, he “encountered the place”
where he would spend the night (Gene-
sis 28:12). The midrash Gene-
sis Rabba (68:9), perplexed by
this strange reference to “the
place” — what place? — takes
it as a proper name. That is:
“he encountered God, known
as ‘the Place.’”
Here’s the punchline.
Asking the question, “why
does the Torah use ‘the Place’
as a nickname for God?” the
view midrash cites the reply of
Rabbi Huna in the name of
Rabbi Ami: “Because He fills
the place of the World, but the World is
not His place!”
Here we see the theo-logic of calling
upon God as “the Place.” God, as Creator,
infuses all creation, even as no particular
place in creation can confine or contain
God. This is what “Omnipresent” is shoot-
ing for. But I’ll stick with “the Makom!”
We can pray to “the Place” because to
paraphrase the prophet, God is “closer to
you than your own kidneys,” (Jeremiah
12:2) even while being infinitely beyond
our grasp.
So now we know what the rabbis were
thinking when they called upon God as
the Makom. But where did they get this
notion from? In all the Hebrew literature
of the Second Temple period the term
never appears as a divine nickname. What
gives? Did the rabbis make it up?
Not at all! They got it rather from those
arch-rivals of rabbinic culture, the Greek-
speaking Alexandrian Jews, who were so
assimilated to Greek culture they com-
missioned a Greek version of the Torah to
replace the Hebrew.
The oldest Jewish source for calling
God “the Place” is in fact found in the
writings of the “Hermann Cohen” of Hel-
friday, september 3, 2010
lenistic Judaism, the first-century philos-
opher Philo of Alexandria. Cohen dusted
off Kant for a philosophical defense of
Judaism; Philo dusted off Plato and Aris-
totle for the same task.
In his essay “On Dreams,” Philo is per-
plexed by the very thing that perplexes
the midrash on the verse in Genesis 28:12.
Except in Philo’s Greek Bible (he couldn’t
read a word of Hebrew) the word makom
was rendered in Greek as topos, which
simply means “place.” From it we get
such English words as “topography” and
“topic.”
Here’s what Philo wrote: “Why is God
called by the name Topos? From the fact of
His surrounding the Universe and being
surrounded Himself by nothing whatso-
ever, and from the fact of His being the
refuge of all persons, and since He Him-
self is his own domain, containing Himself
and resembling Himself alone.”
Was Philo lifting an unwritten page
from the rabbis’ oral Torah? Or did the
rabbis tuck a few illicit copies of Philo
into their togas for “privy reading?” We’ll
probably never know. But, for the record,
Philo lived in first century CE Egypt, while
Rabbis Ami and Huna were fourth cen-
tury CE Galilean sages. Do the math!
I guess that it wasn’t for nothing that
the sages insisted that on Yom Kippur we
are permitted to pray together with the
transgressors. Sometimes, those “trans-
gressors” have some pretty good ideas!
Martin S. Jaffee currently holds the Samuel &
Althea Stroum Chair in Jewish Studies at the
University of Washington. His award-winning
columns for JTNews have recently been
published in book form as The End of Jewish
Radar: Snapshots of a Post-Ethnic American
Judaism by iUniverse press.
friday, september 3, 2010 . www.jtnews.net . JTNews shana tova 11B

L’Shanah Tovah
Join our Temple community in meditation, prayer
The Anti-Defamation League of the Pacific Northwest and hearing the shofar’s call to renewal.

Wishes you a Shanah Tovah!

Pam Schwartz, Regional Board Chair
Hilary Bernstein, Community Directory
Judith Mentzer, Office Manager
Shayna Rosen, Administrative Assistant

Begin 5771 by joining the ADL at our

2010 No Place For Hate Luncheon

Friday, November 5, 2010
12:00–1:30 PM
Honoring Cantor David Serkin-Poole
Featuring syndicated columnist Leonard Pitts Jr.
For information about Membership, High Holy Days,
Religious School, Lifelong Learning and Senior Programming,
please call the Temple at 206-525-0915

TEMPLE BETH AM
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Seattle, WA 98115
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Contact the ADL at seattle@adl.org or 206.448.5349 for mor information.

happy

Rosh hashanah
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12B shana tova JTNews . www.jtnews.net . friday, september 3, 2010

Rosh Hashanah reminds us we have the power to change

Amy Hirshberg Lederman Special to JTNews
It’s that time of year again. Backpacks
and school binders tumble off the shelves
at Target, crossing guards in bright orange
vests patrol the road, and parents bemoan
the frenzied schedule that “back to school”
requires. But there’s a positive energy in
the air as kids, tanned and freckled from
the summer, greet each other in the school
yard as they begin a new school year.
The fall is a time for new beginnings
and the Jewish calendar is right on track.
Rosh Hashanah, which in Hebrew liter-
ally means “head of the year,” kicks off the
parade of holidays with a spirit of peren-
nial optimism. When we wish one another
L’shanah tovah tikatevu v’taihatemu”
(May you be inscribed and sealed for a
good life), we are saying that we hope this
year will be a good one all around; a year
of good health and well-being in relation-
ships, family, work and life.
But if that isn’t enough, we are given
another 10 days between Rosh Hashanah
and Yom Kippur (called the Days of Awe
or Yomim Noraim), to reflect on where we
have been, where we are going, and what
we want to do differently in the coming
year. It’s a time of personal and spiritual
introspection grounded in the idea that
we have the continuing capacity, each
and every year, to change the way we live.
Judaism promotes and is based upon this
powerful idea: That in each one of us, at
every age and stage of life, is the capacity
to change. This power of personal trans-
formation is not beyond us but within us,
and Judaism gives us guidance by which to
the make it real.
We encounter this wisdom in a prayer
unique to Rosh Hashanah and Yom
Kippur called the Unetaneh Tokef, which
inscribes our fate for the coming year
on Rosh Hashanah and seals it on Yom
Kippur. This prayer tells us that through
repentance, prayer and charity (tes-
huvah,  tefillah  and  tzedakah), we can
change the severity of God’s decree and
alter our own fate.
I ask you: If repentance, prayer and
charity are strong enough to change God’s
mind, then shouldn’t we consider them as
worthy tools to help us change our own
minds and lives in the year ahead? And
if so, doesn’t it require us to take a closer
look at what each word means and how
together, they can help us in our own
efforts to change?
Repentance requires us to recog-
nize that we have done something hurt-
ful or wrong and to feel badly, maybe
even guilty, about it. But awareness is not
enough. Repentance demands we commit
to behaving differently in the future. In
essence, it demands we become a “new”
person the next time we are tempted to
gossip, cheat on our taxes, or misrepre-
sent the truth.
Prayer means different things to differ-
ent people, but many of us intuitively feel
that prayer has the power to heal, comfort
and even change circumstances. Whether
we pray formally using the words of our
liturgy or informally with words from the
heart, prayer is a language and a path-
way that lets us be in relationship with the
Divine.
Prayer also helps us focus our atten-
tion on what is most important to us at
any point in our lives. A sick parent or
a marriage on the rocks, the birth of a
child or the purchase of a new home; all
of these can elicit an urge to speak to God.
Words of gratitude, requests for healing,
prayers for strength or comfort: All give
us an opportunity to articulate and affirm
the feelings we have deep inside. But even
more than this, prayer can help us change
our perceptions about what is possible in
life, because it enables us to be in conver-
sation with something much greater than
ourselves, a divine source in a universe
where anything is possible.
Tzedakah is most often translated in
English to mean charity, but in truth it
is much more than that. Charity suggests
benevolence and generosity and is purely
a voluntary act. Tzedakah comes from the
Hebrew  word tzedek, which means righ-
teousness or justice. The justice of which
we speak stems from the idea that every-
thing we have or possess comes from God
who is, in a sense, the Ultimate Landlord
of the earth. As tenants, we don’t really
“own” anything we have; rather, we are
given the gift of using it for our benefit
during our lives. But this privilege comes
with responsibility — we are commanded
by God to care for the world and those in
need. That’s why in Judaism, we don’t give
to the poor because we want to. We give
tzedakah because we are obligated and
have to, whether we want to or not.
Knowing that we can and must do the
right thing requires us to admit to our-
selves what we already know: That we
have the power to become the person we
want to be.
No one ever said change is easy — it
isn’t! But knowing that there is a time each
year to think about the changes we want
to make and to commit to making them
is the first step. Repentance, prayer and
charity are part of our tradition that can
help us in the process.

Emanuel EmanuEl

CongrEgation

hbve hnwl 2010-5771

the only modern orthodox Shul in Seattle’s northend
Jay Wang, President Boaz Pnini, Cantor

HigH Holy Day SErviCES

EvEryonE iS wElComE!
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Keeping kosher — but just on holidays

Sue Fishkoff JTA World News Service
SAN FRANCISCO (JTA) — When I’m
invited to a Shabbat or holiday meal in a
Jewish home, I always bring kosher wine.
Not just that, I try to make it Israeli.
It’s not because I keep kosher. And it’s
not because the people I’m visiting neces-
sarily keep kosher either. So if wine by any
other name smells as sweet, why bother?
I know I’m not alone — plenty of Jews
who ordinarily ignore the laws of kashrut
buy kosher wine for Shabbat, stock their
pantries with kosher-for-Passover food
every spring and pay extra for kosher
catering at their simchas.
Hypocritical? Yes, if you believe that
procuring and ingesting kosher food has
merit only within the context of a fully
observant lifestyle.
But that construct holds sway today
mainly at the far ends of the observance
spectrum, among those fervent Ortho-
dox who don’t tolerate any deviation from
kashrut and the few remaining classical
Reform Jews who are hostile to Jewish rit-
uals in general, including kashrut.
Increasing numbers of American Jews,
however, do not consider the kosher diet
a divine commandment but an expres-
sion of Jewish identity, a mark of mem-
bership in the tribe. As such, it is a moving
target. Putting kosher food on the table
does not signal one’s denominational affil-
iation or level of observance so much as
the strength of one’s connection to Jewish
history, Jewish community, and even the
land of Israel.
It’s a different, very modern, and spe-
cifically Western way of looking at Jewish
dietary practice.
Let’s look at the numbers. According to
the Mintel International Group, a market
research firm that releases periodic reports
on the kosher industry, more than 40 per-
cent of the food sold in American super-
markets is kosher-certified. The group’s
January 2009 report claimed that $195 bil-
lion of the previous year’s $400 billion in
food sales came from kosher products, an
astounding figure given that Jews make up
less than 3 percent of the population and
most don’t even keep kosher.
Sure, most of that kosher-certified food
represents mainstream products such
as Heinz ketchup and Tropicana orange
juice that consumers buy without regard
to its kosher status. More telling is the
same report’s figure of $12.5 bil-
lion in sales within the dedicated
kosher market, meaning prod-
ucts purchased because of the
kosher label.
Who’s buying this food?
Many are non-Jews who
believe that kosher food, espe-
cially kosher meat and poultry,
is safer, healthier and of higher
quality than its non-kosher
counterpart. Others are non-
Jews whose moral or religious
beliefs are satisfied by kosher
certification: Muslims who
buy kosher meat when halal is
unavailable and vegetarians who
seek a “D” symbol indicating a
meatless product fall into this category.
They might be lactose-intolerant, assured
by a parve label that a product contains no
dairy. The reasons are myriad.
But many of the people who buy kosher
food on purpose are Jewish but nonob-
servant. Some of them buy kosher prod-
ucts for the same reason as non-Jews; they
believe it’s safer or of higher quality. Many
more, however, do it for reasons of com-
munity, tradition and Jewish identity.
This is particularly true on the Jewish
holidays, which have become times for
nonobservant Jews to connect with their
history by setting Jewish food on the table.
Many Jews who don’t keep kosher the rest
of the year buy kosher wine and matzoh
for Passover, sometimes out of respect
for parents or grandparents, sometimes
because it makes them feel more Jewish,
and sometimes because of an inchoate
feeling that it would be wrong to do oth-
erwise.
For its January 2009 report, Mintel
surveyed 2,500 adults about their food-
buying habits. Thirteen percent, or 335
respondents, said they regularly
buy kosher food.
Of the 86 percent who said
they were not observant Jews,
25 percent said they buy kosher
food out of respect for their own
or their partner’s family tradi-
tions. Researchers interpreted
that to mean they are Jewish,
simply not kosher observant.
And more than half said they
buy kosher products “occa-
sionally,” which the research-
ers chalked up to Passover, Rosh
Hashanah and impending visits
by the in-laws.
Food manufacturers are well
aware of this holiday shopping
phenomenon. Manufacturers of so-called
traditional kosher foods such as matzoh
and gefilte fish typically do 40 percent of
their business strictly at Passover. Spokes-
men for the Manischewitz Company put
that figure at 50 percent.
When I was researching my book
about kashrut and the kosher food indus-
try, “Kosher Nation: Why More and More
of America’s Food Answers to a Higher
Authority,” I spoke to many self-described
nonobservant or partially observant Jews
who bring out the kosher food on sacred
occasions.
One women in Glenview, Ill., told me
she keeps a “kosher-style” home, meaning
she does not bring in pork or shellfish, but
she will buy packaged food products with-
out kosher symbols. She keeps “kosher by
ingredient,” reading the labels to make
sure a product contains no lard or other
clearly non-kosher ingredients.
But when her children were growing
up, she said she made the family home
kosher for Passover every spring. They’d
put all the bread, pasta, cereals and other
non-Passover foods in a pantry, which
she would lock for the duration of the
holiday. The kids would draw skulls and
crossbones on the door to indicate it was
off-limits for the next eight days. She also
bought kosher-for-Passover food items,
even though those same foods without
kosher symbols were good enough the rest
of the year.
“Partly it was how I was raised,” she
told me. “Partly it’s a way to identify as
Jewish. And partly it’s to honor my forefa-
thers and foremothers.”
So why do I seek out kosher Israeli
wine for Shabbat and Jewish holidays?
Probably because I miss Israel, where I
lived for many years as a kibbutz volunteer
and newspaper reporter.
Marxist philosopher Walter Benjamin
explains this as the (illusory) power of the
artifact to collapse the distance between
producer and consumer. When I hold a
bottle of Yarden Cabernet, I feel a physi-
cal connection to the soil, the grapes and
the workers who produced it. And when I
pour it into my cup and make the kiddush,
I feel connected to the generations of Jews
who have broken bread together over the
years and are doing so today no matter
where they live.
Illusory? Not to the soul. Names do
matter, no matter how sweet the drink.

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In Israel, how to not take the High Holidays for granted

Judy Lash Balint Special to JTNews
One of the great things about living
in Israel is how easy it is to really “feel”
any upcoming holiday. Just take a walk
through the shouk and the stacks of honey
jars, piles of just-ripe pomegranates, and
barrels of shiny Golan apples that all make
it easy to anticipate the High Holy Days.
Radio and TV ads are full of New Year
wishes and mailboxes full of heart-wrench-
ing holiday appeals. But paradoxically, that
can all be a downside, too, because it’s just
too darn easy to take it all for granted.
In the old country, where you had to fina-
gle time off from classes or work and explain
the intricacies of why you were living in a
booth for eight days in the chilly autumn
rain, getting ready for the High Holidays
was a more deliberate and serious endeavor.
Here in Israel, it’s too easy when it’s just a
matter of anticipating a week off work and
deciding which trips to take during chol
hamoed — the intermediate days.
That’s why events like the Festival
HaPiyut are just the right antidote.
It’s hard to explain exactly what
piyutim are. Essentially, they’re the poetry
that adorns various prayers throughout
the year. The pre-High Holy Day piyutim
are the verses Jews recite at this time of
year to butter up God. They’ve evolved
over the centuries and are generally sung
as a community, not by the individual, and
for some reason Sephardim definitely have
a more developed sense of using piyutim
than Ashkenazim.
Piyutim are experiencing a revival here
in Israel with young paytanim (singers of
piyutim) commanding large audiences;
a Web site, www.piyut.org.il, is devoted
to the genre as well as a wealth of schol-
arly research and concert halls filled with
devotees.
In the delightful walled courtyard of
Beit Avichai on King George Street, sev-
eral hundred mostly religious people gath-
ered for the opening of last year’s festival.
The event was billed as encompassing
three generations of paytanim from Nach-
laot, the old Jerusalem neighborhood not
more than seven minutes’ walk away.
Indeed, the all-male performers ranged
in age from 10 to 80, each one chanting
one of the soulful but lively piyutim to the
accompaniment of an outstanding group
of musicians.
Many of the piyutim are from the 19th
and early 20th century — mostly orig-
inating in Tunis or Egypt. The music
was amazingly complex, with changing
rhythms and the odd beats of darbuka
drums, the oud, and violins all playing
major roles.
The two-hour concert drew to a close
after two veteran paytanim were honored.
One, Rabbi David Raichi, who immigrated
from Tunis in 1956, was a long-time piyut
practitioner at the renowned Ades syna-
gogue in nearby Nachlaot.
As Rav Raichi drew out his final notes,
I couldn’t help thinking of Rev. Samuel
Benaroya, the late hazzan of Sephardic
Bikur Holim in Seattle, who was a world-
renowned expert in every kind of Sep-
hardic makam, and whose personality
and ability to pass on those traditions is
legendary. His special knowledge of the
Ottoman-style maftirim would have been
a worthy addition to the evening.
Walking home with the melodies and
the poetry of the piyutim still in my head, I
realized that the journey toward the High
Holy Days will no longer be so easy to take
for granted.
Former Seattle resident Judy Lash Balint is a
Jerusalem-based travel writer and author. She
blogs at jerusalemdiaries.blogspot.com.

WWwho by fire Page 3B

Stern’s judgment, “with the poetic force of

a two-by-four”?
But still, does God really work that
way? Does the God of Judaism write real-
life obituaries in advance, not just fiction,
journalism, or whatever? No, says Rabbi
Delphine Horveilleur of Paris, the very
idea is unpalatable. The poem’s theology
is “infantilizing.” But it is a poem, with all
the complexities of Shakespeare, Keats, or
Cummings, and requiring all the interpre-
tation they do.
It may not even be about God at all, so
much as it is about us! Perhaps the poem’s
real climactic claim is that even though
“our origin is dust and our end is dust,”
we yet carry God’s name in our very being
— ”We are part of something everlasting,”
says Rabbi Sandy Eisenberg Sasso.
Both the poem’s authorship and its mes-
sage matter profoundly. Which Jewish type
we emphasize, Amnon the martyr or Yannai
the poet, will determine what Judaism we
hand on to the next generation. The dizzy-
ing panoply of commentaries gathered here
ask and answer the core religious questions
of our time: Who is God? What is fate? How
do humans matter? What spiritual truths
can carry us forward when mortality’s harsh
reality becomes finally unavoidable?
As the Shofar marks the end of one year and beginning of the next,
we celebrate your commitment to our extended Family here at home
Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman, Ph.D., the Barbara
and Stephen Friedman Professor of Liturgy,
that will resonate for generations to come.
Worship and Ritual at Hebrew Union College– Wishing you and yours a most happy and healthy New Year.
Jewish Institute of Religion, is editor of the My
People’s Prayer Book: Traditional Prayers, – The Board & Staff of Jewish Family Service
Modern Commentaries series, winner of the
National Jewish Book Award, and the major
new series Prayers of Awe, which explores the
High Holy Day liturgy. He is author of many

www
works that enrich Jewish life today.

(206) 461-3240 • www.jfsseattle.org

www.jtnews.net
 w Y ea r Gr ee t ings
e
N
16B shana tova JTNews . www.jtnews.net . friday, september 3, 2010

5771 2010 Shalom

and
happy new Year

Laurie Boguch Esther & Al Lott

Sharon Boguch Jeff Lott
A Good and Sweet
Janet Boguch Susan & Robert Year!
happy
Kelby Fletcher Solomon Susan & Loki
and & healthy Shalom
Bryan & Celina
Kalen new Year Solomon and a happy
new Year!
Karen,
Sara Bernson
Duncan & Ezra

Albert m.& Toby happy new Year!

Franco
& marge Kadaner
Conrad &
A Good & ThE
Franco RETTmAnS Family
Sweet Year The
Stacy Schill Volchok
Debra & Peter
Ryan & maddy Rachel & Zelle Families
Kubasta Paula Rettman

A Good & Sweet Year!

from the staff of

JT
news
friday, september 3, 2010 . www.jtnews.net .
This is my God
Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz Special to JTNews
I cannot say that I have ever rejected
God. There were some years in which I
was not interested, and that, perhaps, is
the greatest rejection of all (much more
than hostility or lack of faith). But then
the world seemed too small, too confined,
far too senseless without Him: To me, He
is the all-embracing, all-encompassing
being, the great Mystery, the transcending
reality that is above, beyond and behind
all that exists.
It is also true that God plays hide-and-
seek with us; He hides and I must seek
Him so I can cry triumphantly: “I’ve found
Him!”
This rediscovery happens throughout
a lifetime.
There are always periods with a feeling
of distance, almost of alienation — even if
one observes the formalities of ritual and
formal prayer; yet these times are followed
by a renewed finding, a new love.
How can one characterize God? What-
ever we say is going to be both right and
wrong. All the good, beautiful and sweet
things in this world are actually His attri-
butes and every day — nay, every moment
— we see Him differently. What is the
color of a bubble of water? That depends
upon the angle from which I look at it; and
when I gaze at it long enough, I shall see in
it all the colors and hues: Great, Mighty,
Compassionate, Gracious, Awesome, Un-
understandable — but forever extremely
close to me.
The Consulate General of Israel
to the Pacific Northwest
wishes you and your family
Shana Tova and Happy Holidays.
456 Montgomery St. #2100, San Francisco CA
www.israeliconsulate.org
JTNews shana tova 17B
It seems to me that every human being,
not just religious (or exceptionally holy)
people, experiences such moments of
grace — these are moments when one
feels the great Presence, how God is close,
nearby. This feeling is actually a lot more
frequent than people think, but we cannot
always identify it. Some people get this
sense from seeing or feeling any kind of
sublimity. Others may just suddenly expe-
rience, without any prior preparation or
knowledge, the bliss and security of this
closeness.
God is not just the originator of the
universe — an entity that gave the uni-
verse an initial momentum and then left
it. I believe that creation is an ongoing
process; the world is being created anew
each and every day, each and every instant.
The world’s existence is the result of God’s
constant presence within it, and there is
no life and no reality without that constant
Presence — at any given moment in time,
in every single particle of matter.
I also believe that God supervises the
smallest details and every single individ-
ual: His Providence and interest are not
confined to human beings but include
every created thing. And just as He is the
ruler of the great galaxies, just as He is in
charge of the great eras, so too is He pres-
ent to oversee every movement every
human being makes, and also every flying
bird, every fish in the water, every skip-
ping grasshopper, every leaf drifting in the
415-844-7500
wind, every wisp of smoke coming out of
a chimney — God watches over all these
things and cares about them.
Thus, God has a plan for each and every
human being and every single creature.
But I cannot know what His plan is for me.
Every now and then I ask Him (and some-
times receive an answer, either directly
or indirectly): What am I supposed to do
now according to the plan? Have I done
what You wanted me to do, or have I erred
and misunderstood You?
At the same time, no matter whether
we acknowledge it or not, each of us has a
personal relationship with God. My rela-
tionship is always personal and private;
precisely because He is so infinite and
unlimited, He relates personally and spe-
cifically to me. It always is a one-to-one
relationship, when I am by myself as well
as when I am in a crowd; somehow we are Erik Tisch
always alone together. Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz
That is why prayer, no matter the form,
is so important. Prayer is always a con- the world as a whole. Prayer can also be a
versation with God. It is the way we relate different sort of conversation: An urge to
feelings, fears or aspirations, or make say thank you, to say, “How good it is that
requests. There is also prayer for one’s
community, for one’s own nation, or for XXPage 21B
18B shana tova JTNews . www.jtnews.net . friday, september 3, 2010

L’Shana Tova
to all our family & friends! L’Shanah Tova U’metuka
Bruce Caplan Parking
A sweet & healthy year A Good and Sweet Year!
to all. from
B’shalom. the Benardouts
Bob & Sue
The Jessie, Mandy & Melissa
Bruce & Esther
Brianna, Carl,
Alexander & Matthew Bayley Family
Rachel & Bill ®

A Good & Sweet Year! Happy New year to all

our frieNds aNd relatives

rita roseN
Judy aNd KriJN de JoNge A Good And Sweet YeAr!
From our house to your house,
sasKia aNd aNNeKe to our family and friends

staN aNd MicHele roseN Bob & Becky Minsky

Kevin Minsky & Natasha Sacouman
leslie aNd JacK Caryn & Gary Weiss
Abbi Evanna & Adina Natali
Joel Erlitz MiMi aNd NatHaN goldberg Wendi Neuman
& Andrea Selig sadie aNd Matilda Alexandra Rachel & Daniela Talya

  A Good & Sweet Year!

Happy and healthy
New Year to all
Frances Keller
L’Shana Tova Jim & Leatrice Keller
Felice Keller & Coleman Becker
A Peaceful and Ilaine, Scott, Keller & Molly
Happy New Year Slotnick

Joel, Maureen & Joe Stuart & Barbara Sulman

Scott & Carin Jacobson
Ryan Nathan & Luke Howard
Irene Arron

Benoliel 
Scott Sulman

and Family Nick & Michele Keller

Caitlin, Michael & Courtney

a year of health &

L’Shana Tova! happiness to all
New Year’s GreetiNGs
from

the Loebs
Nolan, Patricia, frankie & Dick Joann Goldman
Adam, Gina & Joellen, Don, DaviD & aDam Dan, Cheryl,
Jonathan Dianne, Steve, katy & Becky Candace & David Becker
NewmAN arthur, susie,
Brandon & Mackenzie Goldman
friday, september 3, 2010 . www.jtnews.net . JTNews shana tova 19B

The second day of Rosh Hashanah: To be (in shul) or not to be?

Suzanne Kurtz JTA World News Service
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Steven
Levine is matter-of-fact about his family’s
upcoming plans for Rosh Hashanah.
At the dinner table with his wife,
Leslie, everyone will share resolutions,
round-robin style. He will take the day off
from his job at the U.S. Olympic Com-
mittee and his three children won’t go to
school order to attend synagogue.
But only on the first day — it is no two-
day holiday for this family.
“It’s all cost-benefit analysis,” says
Levine, 45, a risk-management director
from suburban Denver.
The local public school is still open on
the Jewish New Year and vacation time is
tight at work.
“With other obligations and commit-
ments,” he says, “we do the best we can.”
“I suppose there’s a bit of a feeling of
guilt for not doing more, but I’ve ratio-
nalized it that the second day is not sig-
expected to lead synagogue services —
if the synagogue even had services — on
the second day of Rosh Hashanah. Green-
berg, 37, an educator now living in the San
Francisco Bay area, says the second day
often would become a chance for her “to
celebrate as a participant” at another syn-
agogue.
With its seemingly red-headed step-
child status outside the more traditional
segments of the Jewish community, what
is the significance of the second day of
Rosh Hashanah, anyway?
When the ancient Israelites started cel-
ebrating the “head of the year” 2,000 years
ago it was, in fact, a one-day holiday. But
with no convenient wall calendar to indi-
cate the actual day to celebrate, they relied
on trustworthy witnesses to report to the
sages at the Sanhedrin, or Supreme Court,
a new moon sighting. Shortly thereafter
a series of smoke signals would alert the
They declared Rosh Hashanah a two-day
holiday, or a “yoma arichta,” one long day
of 48 hours, to ensure that Jews every-
where celebrated at approximately the
same time.
Yet as Mark Leuchter, director of
Jewish Studies at Temple University,
points out, despite “its root traditions,
Rosh Hashanah has changed dramatically
in 2,000 years,” and “we don’t do it the way
our ancient forefathers did it.”
Nor is there any need for smoke sig-
nals today.
The only original practice that has been
retained is the observing of the holiday for
48 hours, Leuchter says.
“Now we do it not because we have to
but because we used to,” he says. “It ties us
back to a hallowed antiquity.”
Menachem Schmidt, a Chabad-
Lubavitch rabbi in Philadelphia, says
beyond the historic reasons for observing
two days, “There is also a spiritual reason
for needing 48 hours for the holiday.”
Rosh Hashanah is a time when every
individual affirms his own relationship
with God, and “the second day is an equal
part of that process,” Schmidt says. There
is a new light in the world, he says, “and it
takes two days to accomplish that.”
With the drop-off rate in synagogue
attendance from the first to the second
day at approximately 75 percent, Rabbi
Isaac Jeret of Congregation Ner Tamid in
Los Angeles says that, “As a rabbi, what to
do on the second day of Rosh Hashanah is
a fascinating question, and I look at it as
very important to have different offerings”
XXPage 21B

Camp Solomon Schechter

nificant.”
During her time as a congregational
Reform rabbi, C. Michelle Greenberg
had a different experience: She was not
scattered communities it was time to start
the holiday.
The ineffectiveness of this communi-
cation system was not lost on the sages.
Wishes you and your family shana tova

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the summer of
2011!
take advantage
of the early
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Wishing the Jewish community check us out…

www.campschechter.org
a Sweet New Year! info@campschechter.org
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20B shana tova JTNews . www.jtnews.net . friday, september 3, 2010

WWservices Page 4B
be applied toward membership dues
before Dec. 31, 2010. Complimentary
tickets provided to out-of-town visitors
who provide documentation of current
membership at another Reform con-
gregation. Full-time students age 18 or
older, and active-duty military person-
nel will receive complimentary tickets.
Please note: Advance reservations required,
even for complimentary tickets.
Leavenworth/Wenatchee
The Jewish Community of Wenatchee
Contact Alex and Amanda at 509-548-3466
for information and services location.
Services led by Rabbi Charna Klein.
Rosh Hashanah eve: 7:30 p.m.
Rosh Hashanah day: 10:30 a.m., followed
by Tashlich at the Wenatchee River.
Kol Nidre: 7:30 p.m.
Yom Kippur Day: 10 a.m.
Afternoon service: 3–5 p.m.
Evening service: 6 p.m., followed by
Break-Fast meal.

May all people enjoy

expressing gratitude a good & sweet year! hbve hnwl
in G-d and Torah.
Joe & rosalie Kosher
The AlMoslino’s
Cary & Cathy Kosher
Minnette, Michelle & Marissa Lance & Logan
Michael, laurie & Daniel
David, Julia, Avichai, Rafael & Yaakov Lonnie & Michele Kosher
stephen, suzanne, Benjamin & Zak & sabrina
Allison Deselms
Ruth PeizeR & Family

L'Shana Tova
Helen & Manny Lott
Sandra, Gerald, Joel, Leslie, Torry & Kaya M. Ostroff
Sharon & Martin Lott
Jordan & Andrea Lott
L’Shana Tova!
Jeremy, Elicia, Jossalyn & Micah Lott Wishing the entire community a very
Tami, Ed, Yoni, Emma, Tova & Zachary Gelb healthy and happy new Year!

L’Shana Tova
Health, Happiness & Peace
to all our friends & family

CarL and Joann BianCo

The Eastern Family
Sam & Sharon and FamiLY
Richard, Stacey, Joshua, Emily & Zachary
David, Deena, Max & Isabelle

A Good & Sweet Year

Happy New Year!

Robin, Stephen and Sara Boehler

Lindsay, Barry and Elle O’Neil
Emily and Elan Shapiro
the voice of jewish
eric nusbaum
washington

Best Wishes to family & friends

L ’ S h a n a T ov a & good health for the New Year!
Wishing all good health and peace
Magda Schaloum
Henry Schaloum & Family
 ruTh LevinSon
david and vicki LevinSon  Lucia DeFunis & Family
Jack Schaloum & Michael
jane, Linda, aLan, jacob and Sarah freyd William Wiese & Family
Dallas Dockter & Family
friday, september 3, 2010 . www.jtnews.net . JTNews shana tova 21B

WWshul Page 19B
the first day and the second day.
On the first day, when he expects some
2,000 attendees — many not even belong-
ing to the Conservative synagogue — the
service has musical accompaniment and
Jeret gives a longer sermon. On the second
day, “it is shul-goers day,” he says, and the
service reflects that.
“There’s no choir and no piano,” he
says. “We take out the Torah and study
text as a community. It’s a much more inti-
mate service.”
Rabbi Charles Arian of the Conserva-
tive Beth Jacob Synagogue in Norwich,
Conn., says he makes no secret of the fact
that he would get rid of the second day
on the Jewish festival holidays of Sukkot,
Shemini Atzeret, Passover and Shavuot,
which are tacked on to remind Diaspora
Jews they are not observing the holidays in
the land of Israel.
But Rosh Hashanah, he says, “It really
is different.”
One reason, Arian explains, is that it is
the only Jewish holiday that is also a Rosh
Chodesh, or a new month. But, he adds, a
“complete repeat of what you did [the day]
before” is not necessary. He says wearing
new clothes or eating a new fruit (like a
pomegranate or an apple) also makes the
second day of Rosh Hashanah different
and meaningful.
For Ephraim Wernick, 33, heading to
Dallas to spend both days of Rosh Hasha-
nah with his family may not be different
from years past, but it will be meaningful.
“Rosh Hashanah is a cleansing of the
soul,” Wernick says. “I try to use the time
for spiritual growth, reflecting on the year,
righting the wrongs.”
And two days, he adds wryly, is just a
start, adding that “I need as much time as
God will give me.”
WWthis is my god Page 17B
You are there.”
We pray to God; in some ways, He
answers us with decisions about our fates.
Every person’s private reckoning, either
for the good or for the bad, is far too com-
plex, and no one is able to appraise one-
self properly, let alone appraise others.
Every year, there is a time of Judgment (on
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, and also
later) in which one’s fate for the coming
year is generally determined.
But these judgments are not abso-
lutely decisive. Judgment and verdict are
according to man’s state at that particular
moment in time. When one makes a dra-
matic change in life, either for better or
for worse, one’s verdict changes accord-
ingly. The “book” in which God “writes
and seals” judgments is, in a way, like word
processing on a computer: on any day, at
any time, it is possible to change, delete
and rewrite.
More than that, we can appeal. Human
beings have the right (perhaps also the
duty) to converse with God, to ask things
from Him and also to complain to Him,
to claim: “You’re not right.” It is the same
right that a child has to cry and to say,
“Why do other kids get more?” A human
being is entitled to complain. God wants
us to be honest with Him. But still and all,
He cannot be judged.
Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, internationally regarded
as one of the leading scholars and rabbis of our
time, has made it his life’s mission to translate
the Talmud into modern languages to return to
Jews the ancient wisdom and knowledge that is
their rightful inheritance. On Nov. 7, he will
complete his 45-volume original translation
and commentary on the Talmud, and Jews
around the globe will celebrate his
accomplishment with the first worldwide,
trans-denominational and non-denominational
event devoted to Jewish learning.

h a p p y n e w y e a r
uc,f, vcuy vbak
L’Shana Tova Tikatevu
May you be inscribed
for a good year!

For over a century, NCJW has been at the

1501 17th Avenue, Box 105 forefront of social change — championing
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ncjw@ncjwseattle.org — playing a proud and courageous role in
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22B shana tova JTNews . www.jtnews.net . friday, september 3, 2010

L’Shana Tova L’Shana Tova

RichaRd and Joan LeshgoLd
Doug & Marcia V. Wiviott Beth nesis
David & Christin Wiviott sammy and nicky
Stephanie, Tony & Tori Harris gaRy and wendy LeshgoLd
danieLLe, nicoLe and BenJamin
Rainier Overseas Movers BRuce and saRa Lipian

L’Shana Tova L’Shana Tova

Happy New Year!
A Good & Sweet Year!
In loving memory of
Rose Zimmer.
Bob & Becky Zimmerman
Karen Zimmer Michael, Beth, Bauer & Grant Zimmerman
Aaron & Edith DICHTER Irving Zimmer Esther, Rabbi Yossi, Yehuda,
Stephen, Gina, Marisa &
Lauren DICHTER
Kathy Cafarelli & Family Yonah Mordechai, Raziel Yitzchak &
Moshe David Malka
Robin, Max &
Sharon Zimmerman & David Tutton
Denielle Morgan
ZAMbRowSky Susan Zimmerman & Josh Stewart
Best Wishes for the NeW Year!
L’Shana Tova Dave MiNtz a good, sweet
and healthy year!
DaN & elaiNe MiNtz
tessa & JacoB
roB & Patti MiNtz
haileY & rYaN
GiNa & Paul BeNezra
Pam, Andy, Ian and BeNJaMiN
Geoff Lloyd

 
A Good & Sweet Year!  L’S hana ova T 
 WiShing You a happY & heaLThY neW Year 5771 
 
 
Marcia & Joey MAYo  
David MAYo  
 
Michael, Julie, Tatum & Joey Parker MAYo  Natalie & Bob Malin 
 Lori Goldfarb & daughter Samantha Rogel 
Mark, Mitzi, Grace & Perry ADler  
 Keith, Linda, Alec & Kylie Goldfarb 
Michael, Stacy, Jamey & Gabriel Vinnick  Melissa, Todd & Brandon Reninger 
 Kevin Malin 

L’Shanah Tova
L’Shana Tova! Raymond & Jeannette Galante
Stanley & Valerie Piha
Gerry and Sandra Ostroff Jessica, Vincent & Blaire
Joel, Leslie, Torry & Kaya Ostroff Averill
Marvin & Ray
Tami, Ed, Yoni, Emma, Tova & Zachary Gelb Charlie, Cindy & Rylan

friday, september 3, 2010 . www.jtnews.net . JTNews shana tova 23B

Seeking forgiveness on Selichot

Edmon J. Rodman JTA World News Service
LOS ANGELES (JTA) — What can
Tiger and Toyoda teach us about tes-
huvah?
With Selichot, a service of repentance-
centered prayers said in preparation for
the High Holidays, coming on the night of
Sept. 4, is there anything we can learn about
saying “I’m sorry” from public figures?
The airwaves have been full of apol-
ogies this year. But unlike soon-to-be
former BP Chairman Tony Hayward or
South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, we
usually don’t say “selach li,” “forgive me,”
on TV in front of a world audience.
The community that does hear our
Ashamnus is more immediate, even inti-
mate, as we often rise to say these words
of confession among family and friends,
even the people we may have wronged.
Why compare ourselves to public per-
sons? After all, we didn’t wreck the Gulf,
create poorly engineered automobiles, or
destroy our relationships by seeking addi-
tional sexual partners.
At least mostly.
Most of us discover that even though
the wrongs we commit never come with
front-page headlines, in our mind’s eye
they can read just as large.
So what can we learn from these staged
and scripted, spin-doctored apologies?
That for shul on Yom Kippur we should
toss the traditional white and instead don
apologetic blue? Or perhaps learn to pull
an easily readable “I’m sorry” face?
Behind all the staging and showman-
ship, there still seems to me a kernel of
kavana, of right intention, in these apolo-
gies. Some attempts, like Sanford’s, often
fall short, seemingly compiling a public
“al chet” of how not to say you’re sorry.
But we can find insight in the attempts and
learn from their mistakes.
“I have been unfaithful to my wife,”
Sanford declared before delving into the
detailed how and why of his indiscretions.
In contrast to this public confession,
Selichot prayers are not much interested
in specifics; in fact they are TMI sensitive.
Standing in synagogue, thankfully, we are
not asked to offer up personal details.
Since Judaism has no word for “sin,”
with help from the pros
the declarations in Ashamnu recited late
on a Selichot night, in comparison to the
governor’s specifics, ask us to acknowl-
edge collectively where we have missed
the mark. We say instead, “We have been
perverse. We have been wicked.... We have
used sex exploitatively.”
Furthermore, in his book Living Juda-
ism, Rabbi Wayne Dosick relates that
according to the Talmud, “God forgives
transgressions committed against him, but
offenses against another human being must
first be forgiven by the injured party.”
We don’t know what Sanford said to
his family before going on the air. Per-
haps he sought forgiveness from his wife
and family. Regardless, I know that when
I screw up, independent of TV coverage, I
have real work to do.
Tiger Woods’ admission of a life of phi-
landering and deception, even if you think
golf is a total snooze, probably stirred you
awake this year.
“I know I have bitterly disappointed all
of you,” he said in a televised apology.
“For all that I have done, I am sorry,”
he said in an attempt of teshuvah, which
literally means “return,” and in Judaism
describes the concept of repentance.
Further into the apology, Woods even
sounded Ashamnu-esque: “I was unfaith-
ful. I never thought about who I was hurt-
ing. I felt I was entitled. I was wrong. I was
foolish. I brought this down on myself.”
Liturgically, what I found lacking was
the key summation of humility that is said
following Ashamnu: “We have abandoned
excellent commandments and judgments,
and it has not turned out well with us.”
For its apology, British Petroleum
chose a 60-second commercial to say
sorry for environmentally ravaging the
Gulf of Mexico. What was it about Hay-
ward’s voice that didn’t sound apologetic?
I don’t think it was just his accent or stiff
demeanor.
On Selichot, which means forgiveness,
when we rise to say “Shema Kolenu,” “hear
our cry,” the tenor of our voice or even our
fumbling with the words is not supposed
XXPage 26

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New Year High Holy Day Services held at Seattle First Presbyterian Church
1013 - 8th Ave., Seattle 98104 (8th and Madison)

9/8 Erev Rosh Hashanah 7:30pm Service

9/9 Rosh Hashanah 9:30am Children’s Service
10:30am Main Service followed by Tashlich
and Picnic, Madrona Park Picnic Shelter
9/17 Kol Nidre 7:30pm Service
9/18 Yom Kippur 9:30am Children’s Service
10:30am Main Service
2pm Study Sessions
For more information about
4pm Afternoon, Yizkor and Neilah
The Kavana Cooperative,
please see www.kavana.org, No tickets required!
or e-mail us at info@kavana.org
Visit www.kol-haneshamah.org for more information
24B shana tova JTNews . www.jtnews.net . friday, september 3, 2010

L’Shana Tova! New Year’s Greetings

L’Shanah Tova to all our friends and
business associates!
Richard, Tricia
Ina WILLner Jonah, David and Gabe
andreW & nancy WILLner
Laura Fruchter
juLIa, chrIS & eveLyn
STuarT & SonIa WILLner
racheL, DeirDre & Martin
danIeL & Shauna WILLner
Jeffrey & BraDLey
PaTrIcIa WILLner MarTIn Happy New Year! Hasson, LaibLe & Co. P.s.
& neIL MarTIn 206-328-2871
richeLLe & aLLison

Gloria Steinberg

L’Shana Tova Sharlene, Jack & Michael Calvo A Good & Sweet Year!
Health & Happiness Aaron, Tara & Emma Calvo
in the New Year Brian & paola calvo
Don Bertoncin
Barry Steinberg

Lynn, Allan,
David & Matthew Dick & Marilyn
Feldhammer A Good & Sweet Year! Brody

Scott, Karen & Matan May the New Year

Michelson Bring You Peace,
Health & Happiness

New Year Greetings

to the community
Klaus & Paula Stern
from A HAppy New yeAr Carl & Marion Kitz
and Leah
Kevin, Debbi, Samantha & Jake Opher & Rebecca Mizrahi
HAlelA
Marvin & Michele Stern
Rafi & Shira

L’Shana Tova
Happy New Year To our dear friends & family

Dr. Martin L. Greene

and Michael, Evelyn & Aviad
Toby Saks Benzikry
Tamar Benzikry Stern & Ronnie Stern
friday, september 3, 2010 . www.jtnews.net .
Let’s recognize the sacred power of this time –
Rabbi Charles Kroloff JTA World News Service
Westfield, N.J. (JTA) — The High Hol-
idays bring with them a creative tension:
Respect for tradition alongside a call for
change, a time when we are aware of both
our blessings and our responsibilities. We
hear this piercing call at the center of our
High Holiday liturgy: “Let us proclaim the
sacred power of this day,” we pray during
Un’taneh Tokef. “It is awesome and full of
dread.”
It’s not enough simply to enjoy our
blessings; we must recognize the respon-
sibility they bring. It’s not enough to
simply hope for the best; we must connect
with that sacred power. We must work to
achieve what we pray for — our commu-
nities, our country, our Jewish homeland,
and ourselves.
In these holy days, the Jewish State
stands at a turning point, as Israelis and
Palestinians stand poised to engage in
direct negotiations. Their aim is to achieve
the one solution upon which all sides have
long agreed: two states, living in peace and
security.
Notably, fully three-quarters of Ameri-
can Jews back a two-state solution. Today,
as we open our prayer books and gather as
family at our holiday meals, the time has
This High Holy Day
season, stand up
for Israel.
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JTNews shana tova 25B
come for that majority to move beyond
hoping for the best. The time has come to
work for a real constituency for peace.
Our role is unique. American commit-
ment is crucial to the success of the talks.
Israelis and Palestinians will be asked to
make painful compromises and to deal
with the results of decades of hostilities.
The Obama Administration has acknowl-
edged that its peace initiative won’t
advance if there’s no momentum in sup-
port from American citizens.
It’s time to make our voices heard. It’s
time to tell the Obama administration and
Congress that we know a two-state agree-
ment is in the best interests of Israel, the
Palestinians and American security needs.
We must assure our elected officials that
they’ll have a reliable base of support when
they take bold steps to further negotiations
— that, in fact, there is no more pro-Israel
position than working to achieve a two-
state peace settlement.
It’s time, in no small part, because time
is not on Israel’s side.
At some point, circumstances may turn
against Israel so negatively that we may
look back on this moment as a tragically
missed opportunity. Demographic trends
C O N N E C T
for
and increasing extremism on both sides
pose a real threat to the Jewish democracy.
The sheer relentlessness of loss and fear
lead many to abandon hope. Ultimately,
those who lose hope will also lose their
willingness to compromise.
We have a narrow window of oppor-
tunity. If we’re still talking about the first
phase of direct negotiations next Rosh
Hashanah, it will mean we’ve failed to
grapple with the singlemost pressing issue
on the Jewish people’s agenda.
My commitment to Israel’s security and
prosperity is unswerving. My admiration for
its achievements is unbounded. At the same
time, I owe it to Israel to express myself as
honestly as possible. Torah teaches us that
real friends — or, in fact, loving family —
offer the truth, with the caution, care and
respect that family deserves.
Rather than retreat from discussing
the difficult issues of peace, we must call
upon our best traditions as a people always
ready to debate. We are, at our core, God-
wrestlers, who seek truth together even
when we don’t agree. Any final agree-
ments will, of course, be in the hands of
Israelis and Palestinians, but we Ameri-
can Jews must also bring our best minds
WITH OUR LAND
U N I T E
WITH OUR PEOPLE
S E C U R E
OUR SHARED FUTURE
to this conflict, engaging with Israelis and
Palestinians as they find their way to a set-
tlement — one that will bring security to
Israel, hope for a better future to Palestin-
ians and peace to the region.
It’s not enough merely to seek atone-
ment. We’re expected to do the diffi-
cult work of examining our behavior and
effecting real change. This will require
tough choices and the full engagement of
Israel’s supporters, but surely a resolution
of this horrendous conflict is worth that
effort. Israel’s agreements with Egypt and
Jordan stand as proof that after difficult
negotiations, peace can withstand the tests
of time and circumstance.
In the years to come, let it not be said
that we stood on the sidelines in the face
of great opportunity. Instead, let it be said
that we recognized the “sacred power of
this time” and seized this moment to sup-
port those who aggressively pursue the
cause of peace.
Rabbi Charles A. Kroloff, a member of the J
Street Rabbinic Cabinet, is past president of
the Central Conference of American Rabbis,
and rabbi emeritus of Temple Emanu-El of
Westfield, N.J.

26B shana tova JTNews . www.jtnews.net .
In 5771
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Figs
for the holidays
Eileen Goltz Special to JTNews
There is no better fruit to use to cele-
brate the High Holidays than the fig. This
exotic, tender, purplish green fruit, a fix-
ture in ancient manuscripts, is now in
season and ready to be plucked from your
produce sections and celebrated with a fes-
tival of fig dishes.
The best way to tell if the fig you’re
buying is ripe and ready to eat is to feel it.
Don’t squeeze too hard but it should give
just a little to the touch, sort of like a peach
when it’s ripe, but not too soft or mushy. A
fig tastes equally delicious fresh or cooked
in a dish. It also works equally well in sweet
or savory dishes.
Figs are like a vitamin pill and health
food all wrapped up in one delicious fruity
package. Figs are also full of antioxidants
and contain more fiber, potassium, cal-
cium and iron than most other fruits. Be
warned, however: Fresh figs are extremely
perishable and bruise easily. They must be
kept refrigerated and eaten very quickly
after they are picked or purchased, as they
tend to spoil quickly at room temperature.
There are quite a few types of figs avail-
able, but the most common ones found in
the U.S. are the Calimyrna, Mission and
Kadota and can range in color from yellow
to brown to red to purple.
Prime fig season is late August through
September, so now is the time to try these
fig recipes and add a little something spe-
cial to your holiday table.
You can, of course, get dried figs year-
round.
WWforgiveness Page 23B
to matter.
So forgetting about his tone, what I
found missing from Hayward’s words was
a sentiment akin to the prayer’s direct-
edness, in which we ask God to “help us
to return” and the promise that we “shall
indeed return.”
Yes, Hayward and BP took responsi-
bility and promised “we will make things
right.” But where was the teshuvah? Are
they going to change? Will this ever
happen again? The nasty online parodies
of this commercial seem to indicate that
many just didn’t buy it.
This winter, appearing at a hearing
before the U.S. Congress, the grandson of
Toyota’s founder apologized for his cars
that would not stop.
“I am deeply sorry for any accident that
Toyota drivers have experienced,” Akio
Toyoda said.
friday, september 3, 2010
HONEY WALNUT FIG TART (dairy)
2/3 cup flour
2/3 cup finely chopped walnuts
3 Tbs. cold butter or margarine
2 Tbs. sugar
1 egg yolk, beaten
1/2 to 1 tsp. ice water
Caramel Fig Sauce
2 Tbs. butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white wine
4 fresh figs, stems removed and chopped or 8
dried California figs chopped
1/4 cup whipping cream
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
Honey Cream
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
2 Tbs. honey
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
8 dried California figs or 4 fresh figs, stems
removed and sliced or quartered
Mix flour, walnuts, butter and sugar
together with pastry blender or fork until
it resembles coarse crumbs. Beat egg yolk
and water together; stir into flour mixture
and knead for about 15 seconds on a lightly
floured board. Roll out and with a 2-inch
round cookie cutter, cut into 16 discs. Run
finger around edges to form a shallow rim.
Transfer to lightly greased baking sheet
and chill for 1 hour. Preheat oven to 350º.
Bake for 15 minutes, then cool.
For sauce, melt butter with sugar and
cook for 2 minutes in small saucepan. Stir
in wine and figs; cook 2 minutes more.
In an almost High Holy Dayish tone,
he asked his customers for forgiveness
and faith.
“I ask you to find room in your heart to
one day believe in me again,” he said.
Was Toyoda preparing us for the Thir-
teen Attributes of Corolla?
To make amends, he offered that
Toyota is dedicated to “continuous slow
improvement” — the “change for the
better” concept of “Kaizen” upon which
Toyota has successfully built itself.
If applied to human relationships, it
is this idea of gradual improvement — of
continuous teshuvah, if you will — that
among all the apologies I find the most
useful for Selichot and the season’s Days
of Repentance.
Beginning with Selichot, it’s a long,
hard haul down an often-curvy teshuvah
highway, and steering toward “continuous
slow improvement” sounds like a plan.
friday, september 3, 2010 . www.jtnews.net .
Add cream and cinnamon; stir well and
remove from heat. Cool slightly; then
purée until smooth. Set aside.
Stir cream cheese honey and cinnamon
together in a small bowl. Divide and spread
evenly onto crusts. Spoon a thin layer of
caramel fig sauce on top and spread evenly.
Arrange sliced figs over all and serve with
additional sauce to spoon on.
Recipe modified from California Fresh
Fig Growers Association
FIG AND ONION CRISPS (dairy or parve)
1 loaf French or Italian bread baguette, sliced into
1/2-inch thick slices
2 tsp. minced garlic
2-1/2 Tbs. olive oil
1 red onion, thinly sliced
1 tsp. sugar
2/3 cup cream cheese or the parve equivalent
8 fresh figs
Fresh or dried rosemary
In broiler, lightly toast bread slices on
both sides. In a small frying pan combine
the oil and garlic and sauté it until the
garlic is soft. Brush the oil mixture on both
sides of toast slices saving any remaining
oil. Cool the toast on wire racks.
In the same pan sauté the sliced onion
with the sugar until soft and golden brown.
Become a fan > jtnews
JTNews shana tova 27B
Spread each bread slice with cream cheese
and top with a spoonful of sautéed onion.
Remove the stems from the top of the figs
and slice each fig into quarters. Arrange
one of two pieces of fig on the top of the
bread. These can be served at room tem-
perature or placed under a broiler for 1 to 2
minutes to serve hot. Garnish with a sprig
of fresh rosemary or a sprinkle of dried
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1 Tbs. rice wine vinegar
1 Tbs. chopped fresh rosemary or 1 tsp. dried
rosemary
Ground black pepper
1 to 1-1/3 pounds salmon filet, skinned and cut
into 4 portions
Chopped parsley
Heat the olive oil a skillet and sauté the
onions with the salt and sugar. Cover and
cook over medium heat, stirring occasion-
ally, until the onions are soft and starting
to turn brown, about 10 minutes. Uncover
and cook, stirring often, until onions are
golden, 15 to 20 minutes. Add in the figs,
wine, broth, vinegar and fresh rosemary.
Bring sauce to a simmer and cook until the
sauce thickens, about 5 minutes. Season
Keith McDuffee with salt and pepper to taste. Keep warm.
Preheat oven to 450º. Sprinkle the salmon
rosemary. with salt and pepper to taste. Place on lightly
Yield: 30 to 36 oiled heavy baking sheet and cook for 7 to
10 minutes or until fish flakes. Remove the
SALMON AND CARMELIZED FIG SAUCE salmon to a serving plate, spoon the sauce
2 Tbs. olive oil over the top of the salmon, sprinkle with the
4 cups thinly sliced sweet onions chopped parsley and serve.
1 tsp. salt Recipe courtesy of Valley Fig Growers
1 Tbs. sugar Yield: 4, but can be doubled or tripled.
8 fresh figs
As we celebrate our eighth decade
of supporting MDA in Israel,
American Friends of Magen David Adom
wishes you a happy, healthy
and peaceful 5771
Ellen Rofman, Regional Director
5535 Balboa Blvd., Suite 114 • Encino, CA 91316
Tel 818.905.5099 • Toll Free 800.323.2371
western@afmda.org
Tweet with us > jew_ish
28B shana tova JTNews . www.jtnews.net . friday, september 3, 2010

5 99 2 $ 3
Only
1 50
each for
Kedem Streit’s
Concord Grape Matzo Ball or
Juice Matzo Ball and
Wishing 64 oz., Soup Mix
select varieties 4.5 oz.,
you a select varieties

happy and
healthy
Rosh 3
Yehuda
99 1 99
Albertsons
Gefilte Fish Apple Juice

Hashanah 5771
24 oz.,
select varieties
64 oz.,
select varieties

Prices effective through 9/30/2010

¢ 49 99
Fresh
lb. 1 lb.
Fresh
2
Only
50
each
2 $
for
Fresh
5 199 lb.
Kosher
Granny Smith Sweet Potatoes Pomegranates Whole Turkey
Apples 12-20 lb.,
medium size frozen

Manischewitz
299
Albertsons Save an additional
$1.50 after
399
Kedem
Only
1 50
each
2 $
for
Lipton
3
Tam Tam Crackers Honey manufacturer mail-in Sparkling Grape Juice Recipe Secrets
8 oz., select varieties, 12 oz. rebate located on 25.4 oz., Soup Mix
Mix or Match select bottles select varieties 1.8-2.2 oz., select varieties
Save up to $4.49 on 2

Only
$2
each
2 $
for 4
Manischewitz
Only
50 ¢
each
2 $
for
Kedem
1 159
Albertsons
79¢
Rokeach
Egg Noodles Tea Biscuits Cranberry Sauce Memorial Candle
7-12 oz., 4.5 oz., 16 oz., 1 ct.
select varieties select varieties select varieties

MANUFACTURER’S COUPON VALID 9/1/10-9/11/10 RV0200 Only

150
2 $ 3 399 Only
2 50 2 $ 5
SAVE 2
for for
$ each Silver Spring
Horseradish
Vita
Herring
each Tabatchnick
Soup
Rosh Hashanah is
5 oz., 8 oz. 32 oz.,
when you purchase Sept. 9-10 select varieties select varieties
any 2 American
Greetings Cards
priced $1.99 or greater
RETAILER: Mail coupons for redemption to
279
Golden
599
ungar’s
399
Kineret
American Greetings, P.O. Box 880960, Blintzes Gefilte Fish Round Challah Dough
El Paso, TX 88588-0960. VOID IF COPIED, 13 oz., 22 oz., 15 oz.,
TRANSFERRED, PURCHASED OR SOLD.
ONE COUPON PER PURCHASE © AGC, LLC
select varieties select varieties select varieties
$2.00
redeemable at: /2
499
Cohen’s
1099
Baron Herzog
499
Manischewitz or
Beef Kreplach Wine Mogen David
32 oz., 750 ml., Wine
select varieties select varieties 750 ml.,
select varieties

Celebrate with Fine Foods From Israel Organify your New Year!
199
Halutza
249
Osem
359
wild harvest
269
wild harvest
Olives Mini Croutons Organic Apple Juice Organic Honey
18 oz., 14.1 oz. 64 oz., 12 oz.
select varieties select varieties

99¢
Osem
399
Osem
169
wild harvest
299
wild harvest
Bissli Economy Size Baby-Cut Carrots Cage-Free or
2.5 oz., Soup Mixes 1 lb. bag Omega-3 Eggs
select varieties 14.1 oz. 1 doz.

Prices effective through 9/30/10

Some items not available in all stores. While supplies last. No rain checks. For the best
selection, please visit: 2755 - 77th Avenue Southeast, Mercer Island, WA
Help Keep Israel Green this 5771!
Some items not available in all stores. While supplies last. No rainchecks. This Summer, forest fires raged across Israel, destroying over 300,000 trees and 750 acres of forested
Rain Check: We strive to have on hand sufficient stock of advertised merchandise. If for and open land. Purchase any product this High Holiday season and a portion of your purchase
any reason we are out of stock, a Rain Check will be issued enabling you to buy the item
at the advertised price as soon as it becomes available. Savings may vary. Check price will be donated to the Jewish National Fund® for reforestation of these fire-ravaged areas. Applies to
tag for details. We reserve the right to limit quantities. Please, No Sales to Dealers. Rain purchases made August 22- September 17, 2010. Some exclusions and limitation may apply.
Checks not available on seasonal merchandise.
ROP • WK 27 • 9/1/10 • IMW • Seattle Jewish Transcript - B