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taxpayers' investment in
key foreign companies that invest in the Islamic Republic of Iran," he said.
Commentary The other possible reason for Prime Minister Olmert's eagerness for discussion with Syria is to deflect from his own popularity rating, which stands within the margin of error, which is to say it is less than three percent. But if we understand the Prime Minister's motivation, what about Syria's motivation to talk even as it continues to threaten Israel, make Jordan nervous, and undermine Lebanon and Iraq? The Arabic newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reports that Syria is awaiting an "invitation to begin peace negotiations with Israel from the United States or other parties." A senior diplomat at the Syrian Embassy in London was cited as saying that, "although Syria is willing to renew peace talks, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's government cannot be a partner for peace with Syria." In other words, Syria doesn't want to talk to Israel, but to the U.S. government. Bashar Assad wants to find a way to receive assurances that the U.S. will not topple his regime. The Administration should not only not provide such assurances - nor should Israel presume to discuss this on our behalf - but we should strongly suggest that the longevity of the current regime is of less than no interest to us. America is vitally interested in security and the democratic governments in Lebanon, Israel and Iraq, and has a keen interest in Jordan. To the extent that Syria undermines those, Syria is our adversary. America is vitally interested in minimizing the support an aggressive and radical Iran is providing to terrorists in Lebanon, Iraq and the Palestinian territories. To the extent that Syria is allied with Iran in support of terrorism against American soldiers in Iraq, Iraqi allies of the U.S., Lebanon or Israel, Syria is our adversary. And America is vitally interested in democracy advocates, human rights and civil society in Syria itself. To the extent that Syria undermines those, Syria is our adversary. The Iraq war has surely damaged America's deterrent capability, but we should still be capable of making Assad understand that the demise of his regime would be no great loss. It is the extended hand of Iran and operates through a brutal, repressive, minority Shiite-aligned sect at odds with the rest of the population. It is not our job to save the regime - nor is it Israel's.
The preceding article was provided by
the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA). “The Secretary-General was shocked and dismayed at the remarks attacking Israel attributed to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, on 3 June, in which he says repeatedly that the world could witness the “destruction of the Zionist regime” soon. “The Secretary-General points out that the State of Israel is a full and long-standing Member of the United Nations with the same rights and obligations as every other Member. He reminds that, under the United Nations Charter, all Members have undertaken to refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State. “The Secretary-General has repeatedly made his views clear on this issue.” The
foregoing article was provided by the office of the Secretary General of the
United Nations
By Noah Silverman In this instance, Republicans used this procedure to add language to a bipartisan bill reauthorizing economic and development aid to Afghanistan. Republicans wanted to include language that would require the Pentagon "to report twice a year to Congress on Iranian-made weapons provided to the Taliban, and any evidence the sales are endorsed by the government of Iran." The motion to add these provisions, authored by GOP Arizona Rep. Trent Franks, was approved by a majority of House members with 71 Congressmen - all but 3 of them Democrats - voting against it. The issue of Iranian-made weapons crossing into Afghanistan is especially
timely given
an ABC News report this week detailing NATO commanders' claim to have
intercepted an arms shipment from Iran to the Taliban that included "heavy arms,
C4 explosives and advanced roadside bombs...for use against NATO forces."
 WASHINGTON, DC (Press Release)— Believing that one of the greatest threats to our security today is the detonation of a nuclear weapon or the use of a radiological device, Rep. Adam Schiff introduced legislation to strengthen efforts in the Department of Homeland Security to develop techniques for “fingerprinting” nuclear material. The Nuclear Forensics and Attribution Act will also encourage the President to negotiate international agreements to govern international nuclear forensics activities. “If we can determine the source of the material, we can better attack smuggling networks and plug the security holes that allow deadly material to be obtained in the first place,” said Schiff. “Moreover, nuclear states like North Korea may be deterred from transferring nuclear material if they believe it can be traced back to them. The asymmetrical threat to end all asymmetrical threats is terrorist use of a nuclear device. All our efforts must be directed to making sure this never happens. This bill gives us another important tool.” In the event of
nuclear material being intercepted at a border crossing or in a sting operation,
there may be few clues to assist investigators in determining where the bomb or
material originated. The radioactive material itself may be the only lead. Each
sample of nuclear material has a unique elemental fingerprint that can
theoretically determine its source. However, current efforts to trace materials
are often incomplete because the technology is still in development and
information on foreign reactors and stockpiles is not available.
Putting the Middle East dispute in chronological context Targeted killings? But each targeted killing was preceded by terrorist attacks that murdered and maimed dozens of Israelis. The security fence? But before that we had the Second Intifada, with the indiscriminate murder of many Israelis. The failure of the Oslo Accords? But they had enabled the Palestinians to blow up buses throughout Israel. Israeli incursions into the Gaza Strip? But before that, in 1994, Israel had allowed Yasser Arafat to return from exile and establish a Palestinian police force, with joint Israeli-Palestinian patrols. After Israel opened the tunnel leading to the Western Wall the Palestinian policemen turned on their Israeli counterparts in an orgy of killing. The occupation of the western bank of the Suez Canal? But that was preceded by the Yom Kippur War of 1973, when Syria and Egypt attacked Israel in an attempt to wrest the 'occupied territories' away from it. The occupation of the W est Bank and the Sinai Strip? But that was preceded by the Six Day War of 1967, when the combined forces of Syria, Egypt and Jordan attacked Israel in an attempt to obliterate it. Israel’s Declaration of Independence in 1948? But that was preceded by the UN resolution proposing that the problem be resolved by partitioning the disputed territory. The rejection of this by the Arabs led to the War of Independence, when Jewish forces overcame armies that greatly outnumbered it. The White Paper issued by the British Foreign Office in 1939, which sought to appease Arab anti-Jewish feeling by restricting Jewish immigration to Palestine? But that condemned millions of European Jews to death at the hands of the Nazis. Jewish immigration to Palestine in general? But that was preceded by centuries of exile, persecution, pogroms and poverty. Or do you agree with those who say there should be no Jewish State?
The
foregoing article was reprinted from the
AJR Journal (Association of Jewish
Refugees) in England.
Date: June 8, 2007 QUESTION: Apparently, Israel has told Syria that it's willing to trade land for peace, the (inaudible) have discussed the Golan Heights and they're waiting to -- Israel is waiting to hear from President Assad whether he's prepared to cut ties with Iran and also with various sort of hostile groups in return. Do you have any comment on this and is the United States offering to become involved in sort of -- some sort of mediation? MR. CASEY: Well, look Sue, I think the answer on this question today is the answer on similar questions over the last few days. It's up to Israel to determine how it's going to conduct its diplomatic relations with Syria or with any other country. We would certainly note that with respect to Syria, Syria has not to date taken any of the kind of positive steps that we would like to see happen with respect to Lebanon, with respect to its support for Palestinian rejectionist groups, with regard to the need to police its borders with Iraq to prevent foreign fighters from moving across. And certainly, we think that would be something that Israel would like to consider. In terms of what Syria would commit to, we would certainly welcome Syria responding to our continuous request that it do those kinds of things -- that it does take steps to limit its contacts with the Palestinian rejectionist groups; that it, in fact, close those offices and throw out the leadership of those groups that are most responsible for terrorist attacks in Israel; that it disengage with it and Iran's continuous support for Hezbollah; that it move away from its turning a blind eye to foreign fighters coming into the airport in Damascus and then passing through the border into Iraq. But what we continue to see with the Syrians, and have seen over time, is a lot of words and a lot of promises, but no actions. So I think it's a skeptical jury that's listening to Syrian words on any of these subjects and we want to see the Syrians take real and concrete steps to deal with some of these problems. QUESTION: But did the Secretary discuss this issue with Syria, maybe land for peace during her discussions with the Israelis this week in the Israel-U.S. dialogue? MR. CASEY: I'm not aware that that issue came up. I think Sean discussed the meeting between the Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister Mofaz, and I believe he described the general issue of Syria coming up in passing. QUESTION: Do you think it's time to start discussing the Golan Heights? MR. CASEY: Again, it's up to Syria to determine how it's going to proceed in its diplomatic relations. Ultimately, in addition to an Israeli-Palestinian settlement and a two-state solution, there needs to be a broader regional settlement with all of Israel's neighbors, and that includes Syria. But I think for us, certainly, discussions with Syria wouldn't be a substitute for what we consider to be the most important focus, which is furthering the cause of peace and furthering the development of a two-state solution with Israel and the Palestinians. QUESTION: But it's an important part of the puzzle. MR. CASEY: It is ultimately one of the issues that needs to be addressed as part of a broader regional settlement, yeah.
SAN DIEGO—Reply to Rabbi Dosick’s article “Rabbinic Insights” – This year must not be 586 BCE, 70 CE or 1933 which appeared in the Thursday, June 8, edition of San Diego Jewish World. While I agree with his formulation of the problem, with all due respect, I differ with the conclusion. The world has never cared about the Jews -ever. And never will. Time and again we were used to jump start an economy in this or that empire or city then thrown out when that had been accomplished. We have always made the mistake of thinking "this time it will be different." It never is. How to explain self-hating Jews? It is a misguided self-inflating desire to curry favor with the majority community and thus set oneself apart much like the kapos who aided the Nazi killers. They bore much the same blame then as the Jews who bash Israel today. While I wish I could agree with Rabbi Dosick’s opinion that peace must be sought at the peace table – I can’t. In order for there to be peace – two sides need to want peace with only the means to peace at issue. In this case, the enemy has declared over and over again both with words and deeds that the desired result is not peace but the destruction of Israel and its Jewish population. How many times do they have to tell us before we believe them? They proclaim it loudly, clearly – from the speaker’s podium at the United Nations, in their school textbooks, in their television programs, from their mosques, in news conferences. What does it take for us to understand they don’t want peace? We pride ourselves on being an intelligent people – and yet we fail to believe them when for decades they’ve told us they want Israel’s destruction. When one of them does make peace, such as Sadat, he is murdered. When Mubarek is gone who knows if Egypt will honor the peace treaty? We have no problem producing Nobel laureates….but we need realists for survival. The world doesn’t love us because of our scientific and artistic contributions. The world was only with us when Israel was strong and defeated its enemies – and even that was a passing phenomenon. The world will always side with a winner – not who’s “right.” Sometimes niceties of response, fine tuning a response to a murderous intent, ends up killing more of those dedicated to those niceties than it does the murderers. They go on a bus or launch a bomb intending to kill as many as possible, but if Israel kills one non-militant – the world condemns the defender. America is experiencing the same problem. Surgical strikes are now expected with no room for error - and that, only after the defender can prove that the target was “legitimate.” Israel’s (and America’s) – technology will be its downfall. Peace only comes after one side is absolutely convinced it cannot win – as in Japan after Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Israel’s outlook on several fronts is not good. Demographically it is at risk. The growing Moslem population in Europe (and America) is changing the political and cultural landscape and more and more tilting the balance against Israeli (and American) cultural values. This does not bode well for the peace table approach. I don’t know what the answer will be, but it cannot happen over a table where one of the seats is empty. We are told that if we lose our moral compass we will become like our enemies. Well, our enemies will survive and we – while still moral – will be dead. A great history of moral values is worthless if the entire nation dies a moral death. The question is not “survival at any cost” but “moral values at all cost?”* * 'Israel is playing a no-win game' By Norman Mann SAN DIEGO—Israel should stop playing nice guy to the Palestinian onslaught of Sderodt. It is time to stop the Russian roulette game it subjects its citizens to. The tit-for-tat reprisal game Israel plays is a loser and should be implemented with a move into the vast Gazan area west of Sderodt to create cordon sanitaire deep enough to make current rockets harmless. Further shelling should be cause to deepen the incursion even if it has to occupy the whole Gaza strip and furthermore take back the Philadelphia Road. Without these plans put in to effect, Israel is playing a no-win game. As the years go by without shelling or other incursions Israel will gradually relinquish Gaza territory back to the Gazans. No other tactics or reprisals will work and the sooner the better that Israel comes up with a long neglected missile defense, the sooner Israelis can feel secure in their homes.
*State senators Darrell Steinberg (Democrat, Sacramento) and Tom McClintock (Republican, Thousand Oaks) were debating a bill to require regional planning boards to favor urbanization over suburban sprawl, when McClintock asked, 'who the hell are you?' That prompted Carole Migden to protest what she called "profanity" on the Senate floor, prompting a debate over whether "hell" indeed was a swear word. Eventually it was ruled it wasn't. The Associated Press account of the debate is in today's San Diego Union-Tribune. *Songwriter Ben Weisman, whose pop clients included Elvis Presley, has died at age 93. The obituary by the Associated Press is in today's San Diego Union-Tribune. *Los Angeles City Councilman Jack Weiss has written a letter to the Police Commission urging it to reappoint Police Chief William Bratton as soon as possible. The story is in today's Los Angeles Times. *U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman (Democrat, California) said during committee debate on an alternative energy bill that would encourage use of coal and other fuels will do little to combat global warming. The story by David Whitney of MCT News Service is in today's San Diego Union-Tribune. _________________________________________________ The Jewish Grapevine 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------AROUND THE TOWN—Amnon Ben-Yehuda, who fought in Israel's Independence War, is the subject of an upcoming Fred Lewis interview on the cable television program, Heart of San Diego. For Cox cable viewers, the interviw may be seen on Channel 16 at 5 p.m. Sunday, and again at 8:30 p.m. Monday. It is scheduled to air once again at 8:30 p.m. Friday, June 15. SAN DIEGO-ISRAEL CONNECTIONS— If you're interested in learning Hebrew, Ami Dalyot now is teaching at the Language Door, 7565 Mission Gorge Road, San Diego. He was raised in Kibbutz Ramat Yohanan, northeast of Haifa, Israel. He graduated from Nahalal Teacher's College and taught general education at public elementary schools. In the afternoons he also taught Hebrew Ulpan to new immigrants. In 1971 he immigrated to the USA and continued his education at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles. At various locations in Southern California, he taught Hebrew and Jewish studies at different religious schools. Married with three grown daughters, Dalyot currently works as a bus driver for senior citizens. His love for Modern and Biblical Hebrew language continues on.(Return to top)
_________________________________________________________________  Torah
on One FootBy Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal Tifereth Israel Synagogue, San Diego ___________________________parshat Shelach _________
This week’s parasha contains the third
paragraph of the Shema, the section which instructs us to put
tzitzit, ritual fringes, on the four corners of our garments.
Our sages believed that we could find hidden meanings in Hebrew words by figuring out their Gematria, or numeric equivalents. Our sages taught that every Hebrew letter has a numeric value. For example, alef is "1" one, bet is "2" and so forth. That is how the number 18 came to represent "life" for Jews. The word in Hebrew for life is chai. It is written חי. The chet is 8 and the yud is 10. Together they make 18 = "Chai" or "Life." The word tzitzit equals 600 in Gematria. Each fringe has 8 threads and 5 knots. 600+8+5=613 = the number of mitzvot in the Torah. This helps us understand not only the construction of the tallit, but why it is good for Jews to study math! There is another Gematria about the tzitzit. In tying the tzitzit, there are specific numbers of windings that go between the 5 knots: 7, 8, 11, and 13. If you add the numbers of the first windings together ) 7+8+11( you come up with 26. 26 is the numerical equivalent of the name of God in the Bible - Yud-)10( Hey )5( -Vav )6( -Hey )5( - 26: Adonai. The last number of windings is 13. 13 in Gematria corresponds to the Hebrew word echad meaning "one." So in Gematria, the windings of each tzitzit spell out Adonai Echad, God is One. When we wear our talitot with their tzitzit, we not only think about all of the commandments that Jews are obligated to perform, we also meditate upon God, the Source of All Blessings. Some "Jewish adults" wear their tallitot on their Bar or Bat Mitzvah day, but rarely thereafter. This always saddens me. The tallit is not a costume to be donned for a performance and than retired to the bottom of ones’ drawers. The tallit is a very special Jewish garment that should be worn with pride and with love whenever we pray as Jews. It keeps us mindful of the Source of Life and Love in the Universe, and of the mitzvot given to us to guide and sanctify our lives.
___________________________
A rabbi
teaches colleagues the meaning of hospitality
by
Carol Davis Hairspray is filling the ozone at the Civic Theatre SAN DIEGO—Hairspray is back for yet another go around at the Civic Theatre through June 10 by way of Broadway/San Diego. From the sound and enthusiasm of the audience on opening night, it will be back again in summer’s to come.
Hairspray
takes place in Baltimore, 1962 where things ‘they were a changin’. (Welcome
to the 60’s) For those Baby Boomers and younger who may not remember the ‘60’s here are a few dances that thrived then: ‘Stricken Chicken’; ‘The Madison’; The Locomotion’; ‘The Handjive’; ‘The Bug’; ‘The Pony’; ‘The Mashed Potato’ and ‘The Twist’. Words like Afro, Beehive, Extensions, Perm, Pig Tails, Pompadour, Skunking and Teasing were made popular. The Civil Rights Act, Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, JFK, Bay of Pigs, Peace Core, Cuban Missile Crisis and the death of Marilyn Monroe were a few items that made history in the early 60’s. That we were in for some trying times, would be an understatement for years to come. The originators of Hairspray were able to incorporate some of these social changes into the musical with out so much as blinking an eye and all done in fun. Would that it were so easily accomplished in real time. It isn’t every day a musical comedy becomes a hit when the fat girl (Brooklynn) with the two tone bouffant, teased to hilt gets the hunk (Constantine Rousouli as Link the wannabe Elvis look a like), or the bigot’s daughter ends up with the ‘black guy’, or a TV station whose lily white advertisers don’t see black as a color becomes integrated. This one did. And not everyone’s family is that, well different. In particular Tracy’s parents are as odd as they come with Jerry O’Boyle in drag as Edna and Dan Farretti as her husband. They become the adored couple of the show. They are such fun to watch together. He/she towers above him and (Edna) outweighs Wilbur by at least 100 lbs. During one of their duets they have somewhat of a laugh in breakdown joking about who’S Jewish (me thinks it’s all about that circumcision ritual) and who’s not. They manage make it to the end of the show unscathed. Edna and Wilbur are indeed, out of the ordinary. It’s such fun, that the more we saw the more we wanted to keep rooting for the good guys. With the magic of musical theatre, Hairspray starts off with a bounce and never once looks back or stops to take a breath. Jerry Mitchell’s original choreography is recreated by Matt Lenz and Danny James Austin and Brooklynn Pulver as our Tracy is as good as it gets. The story line is simple: Tracy Turnbald, an overweight, 15 year old high school hopeful loves to dance. The popular television show, The Corny Collins Show, a trendy daytime dance show is having a contest to see who the best dancer in the city of Baltimore is. Tracy wants to be a contestant, but we know the show has a fix in for her rival, Amber Von Tussle (Pearl Thomas). And anyway, fat girls usually come in last. Amber’s mother, Velma (Kristen Stewart) is the macher who gets to make all the important decisions, including who can audition or not, and there is no way it’s going to be Tracy. Together they are as effective as chopped liver on white bread with mayo. And the struggle of ‘Who’s to be or not to be on the show,” continues through two acts with no less than nine scenes of high octane music, ‘Tight Hold’ Hairspray, an array of dancing in Act I, and five scenes in Act II. By the time the show is over the audience is so involved in the lives of these characters that they collectively stand and with little dance steps of their own at their seats show the cast how much they loved their performances by hooting and shouting. No one really cared that there were some sound glitches in the second act. The young and lively cast, with Alyssa Malgeri as Penny, Tracy’s best friend is one of those understated actors who acts goofy until the last act when she belts out her “Without Love” along with Christian White as Seaweed, her boyfriend of color. Singing with Tracy and Link (Pulver and Rousouli) this gal is packed with talent and it shows throughout as it does in the rest of the cast members. And when Edna and Wilbur sing “You’re Timeless To Me” it sums up the feeling of the show. The New York Times said about the show: “If life were everything it should be, it would be more like Hairspray.”
As a footnote: The musical was based on the New Line Cinema film written and
directed by John Walters who was also the creative consultant for the musical.
Mark O’Donnell and Thomas Meehan wrote the book. The original score was by
Academy Award nominated Marc Shaiman, and lyrics were by Scott Wittman and Marc
Shaiman, For more information call (619) 570-1100: Civic Theatre Box Office or 619-2200-TIXS:Ticketmaster for tickets. See you at the theatre |
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News Sleuths: 
Jews
in the News
Winner of eight 2003 Tony Awards including Best Musical and directed by our own
Jack O’Brien of Old Globe fame, the Broadway cast starred Marissa Jaret Winokur
as Tracy Turnbald and Harvey Fierstein (the King or Queen of drag and the
quintessential Edna Turnbald) as her mother, Edna. Both won Tony’s for their
respective roles.