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This commemoration of the return of Gilad Shalit was posted on the wall outside the front door of the Seattle Hebrew Academy this morning. Though many students were happy to see him return to his family, others were torn about the cost of the prisoners released, many who were involved in murderous crimes.
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When I attended Camp Solomon Schechter many moons ago, we used to get up early every morning and before Shul, raise the Israeli, the Canadian, and the American flag. We would sing the Hatikvah, the Canadian National Anthem, and the Star Spangle Banner.
As an adult, I realize that morning ritual encompassed the values my parents have given to me. That together as Jews we honor the sacrifices made to ensure we had a place to worth ship in freedom without fear of losing our livelihood, our homes, and our lives. The spirit of being part of a global Jewish community and having pride in the United states of America both serve a common good, should be respected, and the sacrifices never forgotten.
I have children of my own now and extended family that I have enjoyed sharing in their events throughout our Puget Sound Jewish community. At some of these events, I have wondered have we forgotten to teach that being part of a world Jewish community does not go against having pride for the United States of America. Over the last couple of years, some events were ended with the singing of the Hatikvah but forgot to add the National Anthem.
The Hatikvah, the Hope. The hope to be able to survive as Jews in a free homeland fought with sweat and tears and the deaths of our ancestors. To me, the song stands for freedom to study Torah, freedom to be Jewish, freedom to have a choice. I would like to think that goes very well with the Star Spangled Banner. “Our flag was still there” has a nice ring to it, so stand up and sing it.
Hilary Okrent-Grilley
Wife of 1SG Peter A. Grilley, retired
Operation Iraqi Freedom War Veteran (two tours)
That there’s a question this close to Passover might be alarming, but a controversy in Queens and parts of Long Island has called the certification of the Streit’s plant into question, as reported by The Jewish Star.
Less than a month before Pesach, the Vaad HaRabbonim of Queens decided to remove Streit’s Matzo and matzo products from its list of approved products. The Vaad HaKashrus of the Five Towns and Far Rockaway immediately followed suit. The result was that days before Passover the makers of Streit’s Matzo felt ambushed, Rabbi Moshe Soloveichik was embarrassed publicly and many kosher consumers are confused: is the stuff kosher for Pesach, or not?
Everyone seems to agree that it is.
But local Va’ads, the agencies responsible for local kosher practices and certifications, were worried that Rabbi Soloveichik did not keep up the quality that his father, who had built a reputation for his hashgacha, or inspection practices.
“Its very important that you understand that the question is not whether one trusts the Streit’s company,” said Rabbi Daniel Senter, the kashrus administrator of the Kof-K. “[They] are very honorable people. The question is … do they feel comfortable with an individual rabbi supervising something of this scale.”
For several years after Rabbi Soloveichik took over the hashgacha from his late father, he shared the responsibility with the Kof-K, a nationally recognized kosher supervision agency. The relationship ended amicably, according to both parties, after the company made a business decision to have just one hashgacha. For the past three years Rabbi Soloveichik has worked alone, with a team of five mashgichim (kosher supervisors).
...
The problem with Streit’s lack of a national hashgacha is that “we don’t know enough about Rav Moshe Soloveichik,” Rabbi [Yoel] Schonfeld, [co-president of the Vaad HaRabonim of Queens] claimed. “He just doesn’t swim in the kashrus world … we’re not saying he’s bad; not at all. We just don’t know.”
Alan Adler, director of operations at Streit’s, called the questioning of the kashering practices at the matzoh plant just weeks before Passover “an ambush.” He would have liked to have seen recommendations and inspections take place in the fall, when there was time to address any concerns.
So where does that leave us? If you’ve got Streit’s matzoh and you’re worried about whether it’s safe to put on your seder table, don’t be. The rabbis involved agree it’s kosher for Passover, they just want to see more of a national hashgacha presence in the future.
Howdy, pardners! Who ever knew that dreidel could be so, um, sexy? Anyone seen Rabbi Slim?
From our very own Seattle Men’s Chorus Ensemble, at a Yuletide festival (they took a break from the Christmas music, I guess).
That’s the kosher cowboy way. Yippee kayochaiyay…
There was a lot in the news yesterday about a negative “push poll” — in which the survey’s sponsor asks leading, negative questions about an opposing candidate or viewpoint — targeting Jews specifically, with allegedly negative information about Obama. Well, JTA has found out who sponsored it.
RJC admits sponsoring negative Obama poll
The Republican Jewish Coalition admitted it sponsored a negative poll about Barack Obama. Politico reported that the RJC took responsibility for the phone survey in swing states that asked voters their response to negative statements about Obama. Those statements included reported praise for him from a leader of the Palestinian terror group Hamas and a friendship early in his career with a pro-Palestinian university professor. RJC Executive Director Matt Brooks told the publication that his organization conducted the poll to “understand why Barack Obama continues to have a problem among Jewish voters.” Brooks denied that the poll was a “push poll” meant to influence Jewish voters, and said it was a traditional survey meant to gauge the opinions of Jewish voters. A top Jewish Obama supporter slammed the RJC. “Peddling lies and hateful distortions to scare Jewish voters is reprehensible and deeply disrespectful to Jewish Americans,” said U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Fla.).
After going over some more issues and confirming the fact that I was likely to vote for Obama, the caller made a series of rather pointed inquiries. Would it affect my vote, he said, if I knew that
Obama has had a decade long relationship with pro-Palestinian leaders in Chicago
the leader of Hamas, Ahmed Yousef, expressed support for Obama and his hope for Obama’s victory
the church Barack Obama has attended is known for its anti-Israel and anti-American remarks
Jimmy Carter’s anti-Israel national security advisor is one of Barack Obama’s foreign policy advisors
Barack Obama was the member of a board (sic) that funded a pro-Palestinian chartiable organization
Barack Obama called for holding a summit of Muslim nations exlcuding Israel if elected president
My notes are pretty close to verbatim. (I started typing as soon as I realized I was getting polled.) When the caller was finished, I got a supervisor on the phone and asked if he would tell me who was sponsoring the survey. He said he couldn’t reveal that information.
Trying to “understand why Barack Obama continues to have a problem among Jewish voters”? Unless I’m missing something, it looks to me like between this and the ads they’re running in Jewish newspapers across the country (though not, at least as of yet, ours) that they’re trying to propagate this problem among Jewish voters.
We did some debunking ourselves in an earlier post sent from the National Jewish Democratic Council, and now it’s the Republican Jewish Coalition’s turn! It’s quoted in its entirety, but with a little help in getting the facts straight.
Smears Debunked: The Truth About Gov. Sarah Palin
Smear: Democrats lie about Governor Palin supporting Pat Buchanan for President
Facts: Gov. Sarah Palin endorsed Steve Forbes in 1996 and 2000, not George W. Bush or Pat Buchanan.
While Mayor of Wasilla, AK, Gov. Palin had a policy that if a candidate came to her city, she would wear that button on the day they were there. Pat Buchanan came to Wasilla so the day he came, she wore a button. On July 26, 1999, then-Mayor Palin wrote the Anchorage Daily News to clarify the record because a wire service story the paper had published nine days before “may have left your readers with the perception that I am endorsing” Buchanan because she had welcomed his visit to her town. “As mayor,” she explained, “I will welcome all the candidates in Wasilla.” (Anchorage Daily News, 7/26/99)
That the Democrats lie is a strong, if not misleading statement. Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Fla.), who is a part of Obama’s campaign team, made that statement after the announcement of Palin as VP nominee. It seems credible that Wexler would not have seen the clarification before he went on the attack. Nonetheless, he has not propagated the statement since he initially said it, and the Obama campaign has backed away from it. Putting the “fact” in the present tense is unfactual.
Smear: Democrats lie about Governor Palin endorsing the views of a Jews for Jesus speaker that spoke once in her church.
Facts: Gov. Palin did not know this speaker would be at her church and emphatically rejects his views.
This is based on concerns about a sermon presented last month at the church she usually attends. The Jewish news agency JTA investigated and reported that 1) Palin would have had no way of knowing that this person would be speaking at church that day, 2) Palin rejects the Christian speaker’s offensive views, and 3) Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, has seen “no evidence” that she shares those views. (JTA, 9/3/08)
Also, this speaker spoke once at Palin’s church. Democrats should be cautious when their candidate, Barack Obama, embraced an anti-American, anti-Semitic pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright who was both a personal friend and mentor for 20 years. Democrats are absolutely attempting to smear Gov. Palin with distorted facts. Democrats are doing a disservice to themselves if they think with one or two distorted facts that they can fool the Jewish community.
Some items are correct, some are untrue, some are unclear. So yes, JTA did investigate.
A spokesman for the McCain campaign, Michael Goldfarb, said Palin did not know Brickner would be speaking that day and did not share his views.
Church pastor Larry Kroon confirmed that Palin, the governor of Alaska who was chosen last week by U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to join his GOP presidential ticket, would have had no way of knowing that Brickner was slated to speak.
“Governor Palin does not share the views he expressed, and she and her family would not have been sitting in the pews of this church for the last seven years if his remarks were even remotely typical,” Goldfarb wrote in an e-mail.
But we didn’t hear Palin’s beliefs in the matter from Palin herself. As for the visit by Brickner, the RJC got the facts wrong. According to the transcript of Brickner’s sermon, which I got from the Wasilla Bible Church’s Web site (The 8/17/2008 sermon), Kroon says that Brickner had visited the church once before, four years ago (whether Palin attended that service we’ll likely never know), which means that she likely would have known who Brickner was. And Brickner was on the church’s calendar for three years, and I presume that any speaker of this stature would have been heavily promoted within the church.
The Lord put David Brickner on our calendar almost three years ago, put it in ink, said “David Brickner, August 17th, 2008, Wasilla Bible Church. He’s an international speaker—his schedule ends up being two to three years out. He’s a leader of Jews for Jesus, a ministry that is out on the leading edge in a pressing, demanding area of witnessing and evangelism.
In addition, the Wasilla Bible Church supported Jews for Jesus financially by taking an offering. We do not know if Palin participated by giving the organization money.
We’re gonna conclude our service in a little unusual way. First we’ll be taking the offering; we’ll be praying for this ministry when we do that. So I’ll ask the ushers to come forward, and we’ll be taking that offering for Jews for Jesus. And then we’re gonna close in kind of an adaption of our usual closing. You know our blessing song, right? Got it. David’s gonna sing it in Hebrew to us. Then we are going to sing it in return, in English, upon David and his ministry, ok? You guys got it? Alright. Let’s pray.
But they are right about Obama and Rev. Wright, and he has been fighting an uphill battle on that front, even after he severed ties with his former friend and pastor.
Smear: Democrats lie about Governor Palin censoring library books.
Facts: The Anchorage Daily News found that then-Mayor Palin never proposed to ban a single book. (Anchorage Daily News, 9/4/08) All other rumors and innuendo on this topic are outright smears.
Here’s the headline from the Democratic party’s Web site: “Wasilla: Sarah Palin Sought to Purge City Officials and Censor Public Library Books.” Yes, there are questions. No, they are not saying she did try to censor any books, at least not from the Obama campaign itself. Yes, there’s some ugly stuff going around on the viral e-mail circuit, with a list of books she had sought to ban, some of which had not yet been published when this list was purported to have been created, but there’s no evidence it came from the Democratic party (though it presumably and likely came from people who vote that way).
But, it is important to note that Palin did ask a town librarian whether she would support the banning of any books, and that librarian was later fired (as were several town officials but the two events may not be related. There were no books, as far any credible sites have stated, that were singled out, and none were banned. According to FactCheck.org:
Palin initially requested Emmons’ resignation, along with those of Wasilla’s other department heads, in October 1996. Palin described the requests as a loyalty test and allowed all of them (except one, whose department she was eliminating) to retain their positions. But in January 1997, Palin fired Emmons, along with the police chief. According to the Chicago Tribune, Palin did not list censorship as a reason for Emmons’ firing, but said she didn’t feel she had Emmons’ support.
The whole loyalty test thing makes me very uncomfortable, but I’m also not the executive of a relatively small town at the edge of the known world.
Smear: Democrats lie about Governor Palin seeking to have creationism taught in public schools.
Facts: Gov. Palin took no action to add creationism to the state’s curriculum throughout her term in office.
The Associated Press investigated and found that Gov. Palin “kept her campaign pledge not to “push the State Board of Education to add creation-based alternatives to the state’s required curriculum or look for creationism activists when she appointed members.” The AP also quoted a political observer in the state who observed, “She has basically ignored social issues period.” (Associated Press, 9/3/08)
There’s no smear here, and the RJC is guilty of sins of omission. They’re right. Palin did not push to have creationism taught in schools. But — and here’s where there needs to be an important distinction — she isn’t against it. And she uses the playbook of the Discovery Institute in this matter, in saying that the evolution and creationism (or, in their case, intelligent design) are on an even plane. This from FactCheck.org, based on a debate on Oct. 25, 2006 when she was running for governor.
Teach both. You know, don’t be afraid of information. Healthy debate is so important and it’s so valuable in our schools. I am a proponent of teaching both. And you know, I say this too as the daughter of a science teacher. Growing up with being so privileged and blessed to be given a lot of information on, on both sides of the subject – creationism and evolution. It’s been a healthy foundation for me. But don’t be afraid of information and let kids debate both sides.
The next day she added to that statement in the Anchorage Daily News, quoted here, noting that she wouldn’t require creationism being taught.
I don’t think there should be a prohibition against debate if it comes up in class. It doesn’t have to be part of the curriculum.
And the RJC asks for more, if you got ‘em.
The RJC is determined to set the record straight in the face of frenzied attacks on Gov. Palin and Sen. McCain. Please let us know if you hear about a smear that needs to be addressed.
I have, and we’re running neck and neck, Obama and Palin are. The National Jewish Democratic Council has sent us a handy e-mail on why we should hate Sarah Palin, or at least not allow her into the White House. It’s quoted in its entirety (except for the part where they ask for money), but with a little help in getting the facts straight. I am doing this with an e-mail from the Republican Jewish Coalition, lest anyone thing I’m being one-sided about things. All bold belongs to them.
This election is going to be VERY close and it will come down to a few key battleground states!
While the religious right is happy with the selection of Governor Sarah Palin, the Jewish community is not.
Many in the Jewish community are not, but they fall into the trap of assuming that the Jewish community votes as one big bloc. Not so.
As The Palm Beach Post noted this week with Palin’s “socially conservative views and absence of any record on Israel, Palin remains a question mark for many Jewish voters.”
NJDC continues to expose Palin’s extremist positions:
- Palin supports teaching creationism in our public schools.
She does. And she uses the playbook of the Discovery Institute in this matter, in saying that the evolution and creationism (or, in their case, intelligent design) are on an even plane. This from FactCheck.org, based on a debate on Oct. 25, 2006 when she was running for governor.
Teach both. You know, don’t be afraid of information. Healthy debate is so important and it’s so valuable in our schools. I am a proponent of teaching both. And you know, I say this too as the daughter of a science teacher. Growing up with being so privileged and blessed to be given a lot of information on, on both sides of the subject – creationism and evolution. It’s been a healthy foundation for me. But don’t be afraid of information and let kids debate both sides.
The next day she added to that statement in the Anchorage Daily News, quoted here, noting that she wouldn’t require creationism being taught.
I don’t think there should be a prohibition against debate if it comes up in class. It doesn’t have to be part of the curriculum.
Since being elected governor, she has not pushed that agenda.
- Palin has an extreme position against reproductive rights including being against abortion even in cases of rape and incest.
“Extreme” might be extreme. What Palin herself said, in an interview with Newsmax.com:
I’m pro-life. I’ll do all I can to see every baby is created with a future and potential. The legislature should do all it can to protect human life.
The Anchorage Daily News wrote that when she was running for governor, her stance was “should be banned for anything other than saving the life of the mother.”
- As mayor of Wasilla, AK, Palin asked the librarian about having books banned in the public library and subsequently fired the librarian who reacted negatively to the idea because she was not “loyal.”
Yes, this is true. But, it is important to note that the questioning about books (there were none, as far we can tell, that were singled out) and the firing happened at two different times. According to FactCheck.org:
Palin initially requested Emmons’ resignation, along with those of Wasilla’s other department heads, in October 1996. Palin described the requests as a loyalty test and allowed all of them (except one, whose department she was eliminating) to retain their positions. But in January 1997, Palin fired Emmons, along with the police chief. According to the Chicago Tribune, Palin did not list censorship as a reason for Emmons’ firing, but said she didn’t feel she had Emmons’ support.
Take the loyalty test for what you will. It sounds like even though she made a big deal of breaking up the “old boys’ network,” she didn’t hesitate to create her own. Remember Bush’s cabinet members that have fallen aground over the years because their loyalty was stronger than their qualifications.
- Palin believes that climate change is not man made.
True. She said it herself, again on Newsmax:
A changing environment will affect Alaska more than any other state, because of our location. I’m not one though who would attribute it to being man-made.
Her take on energy, also on Newsmax, is that also that we should drill it all out of the Alaskan wilderness:
We have so much potential from tapping our resources here in Alaska. And we can do this with minimum environmental impact. We have a very pro-development president in President Bush, and yet he failed to push for opening up parts of Alaska to drilling through Congress — and a Republican-controlled Congress, I might add.
I thought when we hit $100 a barrel for oil it would have been a psychological barrier that would have caused Congress to reconsider, but they didn’t. Now we are approaching $200 a barrel. It’s nonsense not to tap a safe domestic source of oil. I think Americans need to hold Congress accountable on this one.
Alaska is the richest state in the nation when it comes to resources, each resident receives an oil dividend, and her husband works in the oil business. So yes, she has a vested interest in drilling and not seeking alternative energy solutions.
With these views, Palin is clearly out of step with the vast majority of the American Jewish community.
We need to get out the facts to Jewish voters.
To outreach to Jewish voters in this critical election year, NJDC must expand our work throughout the country where the Jewish vote can make a difference!
It had to happen sooner or later, but the folks over at Rustybrick.com, have created the siddur, the daily prayerbook, for the iPhone. And it’s not just a standard listing of prayers, either. They’ve got your Ashkenazic, they’ve got your Sephardic, they’ve got your nussach, they’ve got your z’manim — based on your location!. Even if you don’t know what it is (and I’m not naming any names, particularly myself), it’s in there.
If you’re interested, there’s a link from the site to get the prayer book from ITunes (it’ll set you back $9.99). Of course, it begs the important question:
What do you do when it’s Shabbos?
That’s right - JTNews now has a blog — and it’s a citizens’ blog! Sometimes we’ll be posting items related to the Jewish world, sometimes we’ll be posting concurrently with sister site Jew-ish.com, and in the event of things in the community that need ongoing updates, check them out here — but beyond that, this is a blog for you, our readers!
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