xt7w9g5gfs4f https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7w9g5gfs4f/data/mets.xml Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass Kentucky Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass 2006-09 Newspaper of the Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass, previously named the Central Kentucky Jewish Association and Central Kentucky Jewish Federation. Published ten times annually. The Federation seeks to bring Jewish community members together through holiday parties, lectures, Yiddish courses, meals, and other celebrations of Jewish heritage and culture. They also host fundraisers and provide financial assistance for Jews in need, both locally and around the world. This collection is part of the Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass records, 2016ms010. newsletters 2016ms010 English Central Kentucky Jewish Federation Inc Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass records Jews -- Kentucky -- Lexington Jews -- History Shalom, September 2006 text image Shalom, September 2006 2006 2006-09 2025 true xt7w9g5gfs4f section xt7w9g5gfs4f

SHAL

NEWSPAPER OF THE CENTRAL KENTUCKY JEWISH FEDERATION

SEPTEMBER 2006

American teen experiences
Situatlon in Israel

Young Judaea program
provides insights

§§§

By Asher Finkel

On August 1, I returned from six
weeks in Israel, a trip supported in
part by the Gift of Israel Fund, in
which CKJF participates. I chose the
Machon program run by Young
Judaea, a Zionist youth movement
active throughout the US. As a
native of Lexington, Kentucky
(currently'a student at Henry Clay
High School), I have grown up very

much asareligious111111milv'lo

strengthen my Jewish identity, I attended Young Judaea's
summer camps for five years. This summer was my
culminating experience with Young Judaea camps, a
summer in Israel prior to the senior year of high school.

Machon consists of touring Israel, volunteering in
community service projects, taking part in educational
workshops and lectures, and attending cultural events, as
well as making family visits and interacting with people
from different parts and regions of Israeli society. This
year, more than 450 US. teens participated in Machon,
along with another 450 British teens in a sister program.
We were just one contingent of the almost 9,000 American
teens in Israel programs this summer. My particular
touring bus included 40 or so teens from across the US,
along with a couple of lsraeli teens and American and

l'~!‘.xl.‘ll counselors.

— CAMPAIGN NEWS —

Pomegranate Society unveiled

Dinner to honor women who support community

By Ricki Rosenberg

The women’s sdivision of CKJF is
proud to announce the unveiling of
our new Pomegranate Society on
Thursday, September 14 at Portofino
Restaurant. We will gather for an
evening of good times, good friends,
and good deeds All w omen who are
Pomegranates have a common
bond—a bond cemented by their
dedication to the Jewish people both
locally and around the world. Each

#00

woman making an annual commitment of $1800 or more
to the CKJF/ UJC,c0mmunity campaign is welcome to join
us for a memorable evening and to be recognized with a
beautiful pomegranate pin.

The Pomegranate Society was established in 1981 to
honor women who in their own right make important
contributions to their communities. By 1984, more than
200 women had joined, and today over 20,000 women
nationwide proudly wear the pomegranate pin. Our goal
is to have 30 more women in the Lexington area become
Pomegranates as well.

see Pomegranate, page 22

ELUL-TISHRI 5766-5767

Asher Finkel in a moment of repose.

Central Kentucky Jewish Federation

1050 (hinoe Road 0 Suite 203 0 Lexington, KY 40502

Change Service Requested

Non~Profi1 019.
US. Postage

PAID

lexington, KY
Permit # 719

For the first two and a half weeks, we had a carefree
program. We experienced the arid heat of the desert,
swam among the coral reefs of Eilat, walked the ancient
streets of Jerusalem. Then we headed north to coastal
caves near Nahariyah, just below the border with

r~t’t' Teen in Israel, page 5

A “him” 16 be pond

of: Building community
in Budapest

By Judy Levine

With reluctance Abe and I left Prague and our
introduction to Jewish life in the Czech Republic,
continuing our trip in Budapest where the Jewish
community has had a presence since Roman times.
There we learned that Hungarian Jews have had a
spotted history—periods of benevolence and even
prosperity interspersed with times of great oppression,
expulsion, and death As in Prague, we were shepherded
by knowledgeable, committed Jewish guides: Alec Auer,
a young man planning to attend the rabbinical seminary
to pursue a course of Jewish studies, Agi Antal, who
specializes in working with Jewish organizations, and
several representatives of the Joint Distribution
Committee (JDC).

The greatest contrast between Prague and Budapest is the
size of their Jewish communities Prague has one of the
smallest Jewish populations in Europe, Budapest the
second largest with approximately 100,000 Jews. (About
4, 000 live in seven other cities.) Although ov er 600 000
Hungarian Jews perished in the Holocaust, about fifteen
percent survived. One reason was that the Nazis did not

see Budapest, page 20

IN THIS ISSUE

Students learn dangers of intolerance ................ 3
Shalom snapshots .............................. 3
President's Message ............................. 4
TAI Religious School launching exciting year ........... 4
CKJF and the Lexington Community Orchestra
offer a fall concert .............................. 4
Hadassah’s Annual Donor Campaign
more pressing than ever .......................... S
From the Executive Director ....................... 6
Third Opinion ................................. 7
Ask a Rabbi ................................... 8
Mixed developments affect Jews around the world ...... 9
Book Review .................................. 9
Status report ................................. 10
Holidays at-a-Glance ........................... 11
TAI Sisterhood plans a year of programs ............. 1 1
Community Relations ........................... 11
CKJF Board Retreat brings new insight .............. 12
Camp Shalom ................................ 13
. Letter to the Editor ......................... —. . .17
Judaic Studies Program to launch year .............. 17
History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict — Part Xl ...... 18
B’tayavon ................................... 22
Hillel opens semester with pizza party ............... 24
Hadassah National Convention .................... 24
Around the Community ......................... 25
TN ........................................ 26
Lexington Hadassah ............................ 26
OZS ....................................... 27
Lexington Havurah ............................. 27
Community Calendar ........................... 28

SHALOM

Published ten times per year by the Central Kentucky Jewish Federation, Inc.
1050 Chinoe Rd., Suite 203, Lexington, KY 40502
Phone (859) 268—0672 0 Fax (859) 2680775
email: shalom@jewish|exington.org

SEPTEMBER 2006, VOLUME Xlll, ISSUE 7
Marty Barr, President
Daniel Chejfec, Executive Director
Jana LaZur, Activities Director
Tamara Ohayon, Office Administrator

SHALOM COMMITTEES

Editorial Board
Ruth Poley, Editor-in-Chief
Mary Hele’ne Rosenbaum, Editor/Administrator
Marcia Blacker, Editorial Board
Judy Levine, Editorial Board

Advisory Board
Elissa Brown, Gail Cohen, Angie Ornstein,
Janet Scheeline, and Rose Rita Wurmser

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Vivian Bitensky, Asher Finkel, Jane Grise', Judy Levine,
Stanley Ned Rosenbaum, Ricki Rosenberg, and Ken Slepyan

Production Services by Direct Response, Inc.

The editorial staff has the right to edit all articles submitted for publication
in Shalom, The appearance of any advertising in this publication does not
represent a kashruth endorsement on the part of CKJF or any other agency
or organization. Shalom is supported by the advertisements appearing in
the paper.

2 0 September 2006 Shalom

r » — ; .‘1 . .
; - § ~ Have a question? 65k a rabbi
SHALOM The rabbis are now writing their columns in response
. ,_ ~ . to questions submitted by the readers. We encourage
a ' you—whether you are a member of the Jewish
( , “ ,. Takktg-ra page « If you have an issue you would like to see addressed,
- - L ' ' please email it to di-ifr@bardstown.com and put

community or not—to submit your queries on
from the . I ”Ask a Rabbi” in the subject line of your email. (It may

theology, morality, ethics, religious Observances, etc.
for response by one of our rabbis.

Herald-Leader, take quite a while until your question is answered—-
. ' , . . or it may never be answered, if no rabbi selects it.)
v. we invite readers to You will not be identified as the writer of the
’ g Sandpicturels 0? question to either rabbis or readers, nor will you
> _. , V , ~. i _ ; a. E . . . , be asked to specify which rabbi should answer.
*hem%!ve§0nvacaﬁon IO0.00.0IO...CI0.0.0000IOOOCOOOOOOIIIOOO0.0
with Shalom.

Opinions expressed by writers in ‘1
Pieaseemail ShalOm

digitai ates to a"? not necessariiy those of the ammo staff a.
di‘ifr@bardstown com ﬂdVISOIS, more}? the Central Kentucky Iewzsh

Federation or its constituent communities,
officers, staff, or comaﬁttee members. Letters to
the Editor are always welcome-Heme! them to

l i v . diéifré’bardstownxom

_ y (Jr-send prints, to the
l . CKJF Office. ' I

Let Us Know...

‘Wﬁat’sgoirg on wit/i you. Senrf announcements and
pictures ofspeciaIEirt/idays, wecﬁfirgs, iionors, celebrations,
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"——

If you are not receiving Jewish weekly email

and would like to, please email your name
and email address to ckif@iewishlexington.org

Central Kentucky Jewish Federation

CKJF President CKJF Board

Marty Barr Ray Archer Jennifer Miller

' Judy Baumann Lowell Nigoff
Executive Committee Elissa Brown Linda Noffsinger
David Feinberg Angie Ornstein
Robert Grossman Rickie Rosenberg
Stanley lsenstein Walter Solomon
Odette Kaplan Lisa Satin
Doug Katz Carole Wilson
Mimi Kaufman

Michael Grossman, Vice President
Pat Shraberg, Secretary
Ruth Poley, Member At-Large

Shalom Deadline '

Deadline for articles for the October Shalom is September 8.
Email articles to di-ifr@bardstown.com.
Articles submitted in hard copy should be double-spaced.

Students learn dangers of

intolerance

Program shows Jews and non-Jews
the effects of anti-Semitism

¢§§

By Ken Slept/mi

For many college students, the month of May means

an end to classes, the beginning of summer jobs and
internships, and, for some, graduation. For 70 students
attending schools in central Kentucky, this May brought
a unique experience: participation in the March of
Remembrance and Hope (MRH), the brainchild of Dr.
David Machlis of Adelphi University. Based on the March
of the Living—a program designed for American Jewish
youth that takes its participants to Holocaust sites in
Poland followed by a visit to Israel MRH is a
“leadership mission” to Polish Holocaust sites aimed at
non-Jewish and Jewish college students. According to its
brochure, the goal of MRH is “to teach students of
different religious and ethnic backgrounds about the
dangers of intolerance through the study of the
Holocaust, and to promote better relations among people
of diverse cultures.”

This year students from six central Kentucky institutions—
Centre College, Georgetown College, Kentucky State
University, Lexington Theological Seminary, Transylvania
University, and the University of Kentucky—joined
approximately 250 others from across the United States
and Canada for the week-long trip (May 22-29). That so
many central Kentuckians participated is due in large
part to the et'torts of Joseph Kelly the president of
Columbia Gas, who provided extensive financial and
organizatiOnal support to make this contingent the largest
in the MRH. College faculty, guides from Israel and
Poland, and Holocaust survivors accompanied the students
to provide critical historical and personal context.

To ensure that students were prepared academically, in
the months before the program all institutions either
offered formal courses on the Holocaust or required
independent study. Before departing for Poland, all
participants gathered in Newark, New Jersey for a full
day of seminars on topics such as the responses of
bystanders to the Holocaust, the reaction of the American
press, the persecution of non-Jews, and the achievements
of Righteous Gentiles.

The itinerary made for a grueling physical and emotional
journey that challenged participants’ understanding of
the nature and scale of the Holocaust. After an all-night
flight to Warsaw, the MRH traveled to Lodz to visit the
Jewish cemetery and the memorial to the Lodz Ghetto,
the second largest and the longest—lasting ghetto in
Poland. The next day, MRH went to the Auschwitz—
Birkenau complex. There students listened to survivors
tell their stories of the camp and participated in an
interfaith memorial service including readings from the
Jewish and Christian Bibles, as well as verses from the
Quran, read by members of all three faiths. On Friday, the
group toured Krakow, viewing Kazimierz, the old Jewish
quarter, Oskar Schindler's factory, and the Ghetto.
Departing from Krakow for Warsaw, many MRH
participants stopped briefly at Kielce, the site of a pogrom
in 1946, where 46 Holocaust survivors were murdered by
Poles. Saturday began for some with services at the
Nozyk Synagogue in Warsaw, followed by a walking tour
of the Warsaw Ghetto, as well as an opportunity to see

central Warsaw, rebuilt exactly as it
was before the war. On Sunday,
MRH visited the concentration
/extermination camp Majdanek just
outside the city of Lublin. Unlike
Birkenau, the camp was captured
intact, and participants were
confronted with the reality of gas
chambers and crematoria that,
theoretically, could be made
functional in just a few hours. On the
final day, MRH visited the memorial
at the site of the Treblinka
extermination camp. Where the camp
once stood are now thousands of
memorial stones, evoking a giant
Jewish cemetery in memory of the
communities that were wiped out by
the Holocaust.

Walking on the same earth and
witnessing sites that many had only
read about or seen in documentaries
and movies made the enormity of the
Holocaust real in a way that lectures,
textbooks, and films could not. Beth
Glazier-McDonald, the faculty leader
from Centre College, said, “My
symbolic world was shattered by our
visit.... After Auschwitz, and
especially after Majdanek, I don't
think one can ever be immune to
suffering no matter where it is and
who the victims are. The challenge,

of course, is, to translate the depth of
one's feelings into actions that make
it clear that each and every human
being is within our world of moral
responsibility, that each and every
human life is sacred.” Transylvania
student Saul Kutnicki said, “Visiting
various sites of the destruction of
much of Europe’s Jewish population
provided me with the confidence to
realize that political, religious, or
cultural extremism which incites
violence against innocent people has
no place in a world Hashem [God]
has intended for peace.”

The program challenges students,
upon their return home, “to speak
out against intolerance and injustice;
to refute the malevolence of
Holocaust deniers; to contribute to a
better world; to make a difference."
In past years, MRH participants have
spoken at churches, synagogues, and
mosques, and have joined efforts to
end genocide in Darfur and to
broaden diversity awareness back
home. In this sense, MRH does not
end when students arrive back in
their home communities. Their
mission, in fact, is just beginning.

(Kl’ll Slept/air is professor ofhistori/ at
Transylvania University and was ca-
lcadrr of Transylvania ’s MRH group.) Q

Fr=¥1

Ecological design from the scale of dwellings lo the scale of cities.

/~,”" ‘ Prof. Richard S. Levine
‘ Registered Architect NCARB
5675 Kiddville Ln.

USTAINABLE Lexington, KY

ITIES 40515-9596
. V . . tel: 859.272.6444
DCSlgn SlUle rslevine1939@yahoo.com

www.centerforsustainablecities.com

rS/w/o/r/i Saw/empty“

Shalom on vacation, Shalom and your grandkids,
Shalom in high places—share your photos with us.
Send digital files to di—ifr@bardstown.com or prints

to the CKJF office.

Rich Ornstein taking a minute to enjoy his Shalom newspaper while
visiting the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Civil servants at work read Shalom
Angie Ornstein recently ran across two of our local civil servants
enjoying the Shalom newspaper. The first picture is of Fayette Circuit
Court Judge Mary Noble taking a much-needed break from the bench.
The second is State Representative Kathy Stein catching up on all the
news. It's nice to know we have local officials who take interest in

I what's going on in the Central Kentucky Jewish Community. I

September 2006 Shalom 0 3

“The Eacecuti'ue Director
one staff 1'of the Central
Kentucky Jewish Feoeration
wish our Jewish family in
Central Kentucky a hearty

“Olga someacb" arm a
9

wonoerful, healthy, one
prosperous 5767. .

Ham mob
17.1mm unzm

TAI Religious
School launching
exciting year

Projects to emphasize

community service
9 Q Q

[to lllllt' Gr'isr‘

We are looking forward to an exciting year in 5767. After
having very successful Mitzvah Days over the past three
years, we have decided to expand our efforts and
institute Mitzvah projects for each class that will be year-
long endeavors. Our major theme for the year will be
helping our classmates, the Jewish community, and larger
communities in as many ways as we can imagine. Each
class will be selecting ways that they can make this a
reality. If anyone in the community needs help, just let us
know through the TAI office and we will do our best to
provide assistance.

Over the summer, our entire Religious School wing
was repainted, which has given us the opportunity to
redecorate our classrooms. At our July potluck dinner,
our teachers began planning for the upcoming year. In
August, we had a wonderful teacher workshop with
Laurie Vennes from the Lexington School, who spoke
about the CHAMI’s classroom behavior management
system. Rebecca Young, Corey Kline, and I also had the
opportunity to attend the CAJE Conference at Duke
University in August. The CAJE Conference provides us
with a wealth of information about Jewish educational
issues and techniques.

Our calendar for the year is full, with a special Rosh
Hashanah program on September 24, Simchas Torah on
October 13, a Fourth Grade service on November 10, a
Saturday morning Sixth Grade service on December 9,
and a special Fifth Grade service on March 16. We are
looking forward to a joint Israel Celebration with OZS on
April 22. With more than ’125 students from 2 1/2 to 18
years old, we look forward to busy and productive
Sunday mornings. 33X

4 0 September 2006 Shalom

if President's Message“

Marty Barr

The Federation has a number of committees that serve

its membership. Some of them are highly visible to the
community. Examples are Community Activity, which
runs the Winter Dinner, and Camp, which organizes and
operates Camp Shalom. Some of our committees, though
their work is vital to our existence as a Jewish organization,
operate in relative anonymity. One of these is Community
Relations, which has the responsibility of beii g our voice
to the non-Jewish community and of bringing information
and education to members of our own community.

This committee has been of great service over the last few
years and is now gearing up to fill an even larger role in
this time of crisis. The members of the committee are
Mike Grossman, Judy Levine, Rachel Belin, Uri Smith,
Dave Wekstein, Marty Kaplan, and Larry Kant.

As anyone reading the letters to the editor in the local
newspaper knows, few people seem to know that in 1948,
the nascent state of Israel was attacked by the armies of
Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Iraq and the Mufti of Jerusalem,
a Nazi sympathizer who advised the Arab residents to
leave so that the armies could operate. Their assumption
was, of course, that they would return behind their

victorious armies and re-occupy not
only their own land but that which
belonged to the Jewish inhabitants.
They, as we know, lost.

It is the widespread lack of this kind
of information, as well as the spread
of misinformation in both print and
broadcast news sources, that the
Community Relations Committee
will help counter.

During this time of crisis for the State
of Israel and world Jewry, Barbara
and I would like to extend our
wishes for a safe and peaceful New
Year to everyone. L’Sharza Tovah. e

Community
a fall concert

09¢

CKJF and the Lexington
Orchestra offer

Come out and enjoy “Music of the Stage and Screen”

Please be our guests Sunday, October conductor of such orchestras as the Northern Music

22 at 7:30 pm. at the Singletary
Center for the Arts for the Central
Kentucky Jewish Federation's
biennial concert with the Lexington
Community Orchestra. Musical
selections include a Mendelssohn
overture, Arizcricmi in Paris by George
Gershwin, and an Irving Berlin
tribute, along with selections from
Gone with the Wind, Hello Dolly, and
Sliouilmat. This concert is free to the
public; come early for a good seat as
there is usually a full house. Enjoy a
beautiful and relaxing evening of
music and join us for a reception
following the performance, to take
place in the President’s Room.

The Lexington Community Orchestra
is conducted by Jon Roller, who is in
his fourteenth year in that position.
He has also been music director and
conductor of the Denton Chamber
Orchestra, the Denton Community
Orchestra, the Youth Orchestra of
North Texas, DancExpress, and
productions of the Denton Light
Opera Company. He has been guest

Festival Orchestra and the Lexington Philharmonic. He
studied conducting with George Zack, Nurhan Arman,
and Anshel Brusilow. Roller earned his doctorate in music
from the University of Kentucky, and currently teaches at
Asbury College; he also is a minister of music at Harris
Memorial United Methodist Church.

The Community Activities committee of the Central
Kentucky Jewish Federation encourages you to attend
this event. If anyone has an interest in planning other
community events or joining this exciting committee,
please contact Jana LaZur at the CKJF office, (859) 268-
0672 or activitiesGl‘jewishlexington.org. s5!

st Main Street ' Lexington, KY 40507
859.253.9300

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Teen in Israel (from pa

ge 1)

Lebanon. There we were joined by a group of fourteen
Israeli teens so the two groups could learn more about
each other’s cultures. Together we hiked in the Galilee,
the forested area of northern Israel. While hiking, we
started to hear booms. We thought nothing of it and
assumed they were caused by airplanes.

Our Israeli counselors, who had already completed their
compulsory military service, recognized the sounds as
something else. As the realization hit the counselors that
these were not benign booms, they received a phone call
from the program office. Mid-hike, the counselors
explained that what we were hearing was Hezbollah in
Lebanon firing Katyusha missiles into northern Israel. As
the booms continued, the counselors told us that
Hezbollah had kidnapped two Israeli soldiers and killed
others. They wanted us to understand that we were safe
and that though we could hear the missile explosions, we
could complete our hike. The Israeli teens with us
immediately took out their cell phones to check on the
safety of family and friends. We continued to hear the
booms as we hiked back to our campsite, but they faded
into the back of our consciousness. After the hike, the
staff informed us that the preliminary rescue mission into
Lebanon had failed and more Israelis had died in an
attack on an Israeli tank.

We closed camp and continued
on to nearby Tzfat [Safed], one

dangers. They explained to us that
they were afraid for the people they
knew and for people they didn’t
know. This concern for others was
much more on their minds than fear
for themselves. They were dismayed
about the casualties that would occur
on both sides. But they supported the
forceful response of Israel to end the
reign of Hezbollah in southern
Lebanon. This was not the first time
Hezbollah had attempted to threaten
and terrorize Israel.

When we asked the Israelis with us
how closely they planned to follow
news of the conﬂict, they said they
didn’t really want to know details.
They just wanted reassurance that
Israel was doing what needed to be
done to protect its people. They said
their reaction was likely typical of
most Israelis. This was consistent
with my impression that even
though Israel has to-be militarily
prepared, the people do not seek war
and do not prefer to be involved in
military activity. They perceive the
military as a defense force to be used
to establish and

of the ancient centers of lewish
mysticism. From Tzfat, we
could see, just three kilometers
away, the foothills that separate
Israel and Lebanon. On top of
one of the hills sits an Israeli air

force base that keeps security

Mid-hike, the counselors
explained that what we were
hearing was Hezbollah in
Lebanon firing Katyusha
missiles into northern Israel.

maintain peace. Our
discussion with the
Israelis was really
the beginning of a
new understanding
for us of Israeli
society.

watch on the border. Then we
heard a boom that caught our
attention. We looked to the hills; just below the air base
we could see a plume of smoke. A few minutes later, we
could see and hear return artillery fire from the base and
then another boom, another crack, and so on back and
forth. Our Israeli counselors informed us which were
Katyushas, which were Israeli return fire. Despite this
exchange we continued our tour of Tzfat, with constant
reminders from our staff that we were safe.

Because of the ongoing hail of Katyushas, the program
revised our itinerary to move us farther south, close to

Haifa. That night we had a long discussion with our
Israeli companions. Sadly, they’d grown up with these

Attention ' ‘
Sukkah Builders ¢

if you have a sukkah in your backyard,
we’d love to photograph it for a feature
in Shalom. Please email

to have us include your family’s sukkah
in the November Shalom.

1
i
rgp@insightbb.com if you’d be willing ‘
1
I

The next day we

. saidgb‘édbyé' to‘the . *

Israeli teens and continued on to the
”safety” of Haifa. In fact at this point
we really did feel safe and weren’t
particularly worried about what was
going on. Ironically, during one of
that day’s lectures, our local guide
jokingly stated that as things were
going Haifa would be hit that very
night. At first we were shocked and
then realized he was joking. Later
that night, when we’d already settled
into the hostel, the counselors came
knocking on our doors to tell us to
pack immediately. We were leaving
Haifa in one hour because two ~
Katyushas had just hit near the
Baha’i Gardens, on a road we’d
traveled just a little earlier. Now we
began to feel fear. In Tzfat the
missiles had landed at least three
kilometers away; in Haifa it was less
than one kilometer. We turned on the
news as we packed and tried, along
with tens of thousands of others, to
phone home and assure parents that
we were safe and being moved to
Jerusalem.

I finally reached my mother in
Lexington. Turns out that Young
Judaea had already emailed all of our
parents saying that we were safe and
being moved. The promptness of the

sec Teen in Israel, page 23

j-———F——'—-——————__———-'____—I—
The 2006 CKJF/UJ C
Community Campaign

$ 450,000
$ 400,000—
$ 350,000—~
$ 300,000—
$ 250,000——
$ 200,000——
$ 150,000 '
$ 100,000

$ 50,000
$ 0 ,

YOU Make a Difference

Hadassah’s Annual

Donor Campaign 7 1..., t

more pressmg
than ever

Events in Israel require
emergency appeal

#90

In planning the schedule for this year’s Annual Hadassah
Donor Campaign, no one foresaw the terrible events that
would overcome the Middle East.

This year, even the enormous range of Hadassah’s
ongoing needs pales in the face of the awesome events
that have overwhelmed the Israeli population and
Hadassah. By now, you will have received an emergency
appeal letter from June Walker, Hadassah’s National
President, and we hope you have responded. This will
enable Hadassah to raise additional funds to be
responsive to Israel’s immediate needs.

Our local Annual Donor Campaign will take place as
usual this year. You will receive a solicitation letter soon
and we hope you will take the opportunity to pledge
generously and/or send your check to Hadassah at that
time. If your pledge has not been received before the
October 12 Phonathon, we'll look forward to talking with
you during the evening of the Phonathon.

If you have any questions, please call Donor Co-Chairs
Carole Wilson, (859) 277-0979 (evenings), or Jane Chaput,
(859) 245-8524. Thank you for your support of Hadassah's
2006—2007 Donor Campaign. ﬁ

September 2006 Shalom 0 5

From the Executive Director

Daniel Chejfec

Learning from Language (II)
+ + +

”And this is the Torah...”

I am fascinated by how much can be learned, from the
use of language, about a people’s culture and attitudes.
Take the phrase used in the synagogue during the Torah
service: ’This is the Torah put in front of the people of Israel
by Moses, by the hand of Moses from the mouth of God.”

The first thing that stands

used to be the center for trade in the Eastern Mediterranean
and the place where the Greek merchants normally
bought the Egyptian papyrus for bookmaking. The name
“Byblos” in Greek came to mean “book," and in later
related languages (such as English) the term Bible is
sometimes replaced by ”The Book" (with capital letters).

Other people, among them many Jews, refer to the Torah
as "the Law.” But the standard Hebrew word for “law” is
hoq, a word used numerous times in the Torah itself to
distinguish statements which are hoqim (laws) from
mitzvot (commandments) or d ’vrot (divine

out is of course the word

utterances). So if the real meaning of the word
”Torah” is not “Law”——what then?

”Torah,” but I will go into 1 Neither the ‘t‘orah nor

lhaklatteth Forhnow, let us hm make ",8 1393183" or The word ”Torah” is derived from the Hebrew

v3?! 1: ”Fe 3. rise as af th m than ”Myst”. root or, meaning ”light,” and the way the word
0 ' u in ron 0 e my m9 355% ma ' is constructed implies that it refers to an object

people of Israel by Moses”
(Hebrew: ...asher sum
Mosheh lifnei b’nei Israel. . .].
The English, like the
original Hebrew, implies
that the people have a
choice either to accept the
Torah or not. It is not an
imposition, but a choice.
Furthermore, this
document presented to the people comes "by the hand of
Moses from the mouth of God” [Al pi Adonay beyad
Mosheh]. The leader (Moses) is an instrument bringing for
the document proposed by the God of Israel. The leader’s
position is granted and supported by God. According to
the rabbis, this support existed because of Moses’ faithful
adherenoeto the Torah (here comes that word again).

So what is this ”Torah”? In English, some people call it
”Bible." The word ”Bible” is derived from the name of the
ancient city of Byblos in what is today Lebanon, which

intended to shed light or illuminate. But
illuminate what? While the Torah itself does not
clarify what it is that it’s illuminating (quite a
paradox), rabbis over the centuries have insisted
that it is illuminating the halacha, and here we
have another conundrum.

The term halacha is also translated today as
”Jewish religious law.” The word, however, is
derived from a Hebrew root for “walking," and
the word itself can be best-literally—translated as ”the
Path” or ”the Way.” In fact, rabbis have often said, ”many
rivers feed into the sea of halacha," implying that there is
more than one way to understand the path. But where
does this path go?

Halacha is intended to be the path a life lived in
accordance to the expectations of God. And how do we
know those expectations? From the T