While Israel fears a new holocaust from a nuclear armed Iran, President Obama seems only to be worried about a preemptive attack on Iran or the talk of war raising oil prices and thereby harming the U.S. economy and his re-election campaign.

Despite his reassurances at the AIPAC conference that he “won’t hesitate to use force to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon,” in reality, he is bluffing to woo Jewish voters and stop an Israeli unilateral attack on Iran.

Less than two days after his AIPAC campaign speech, Obama had already begun backsliding from his commitment. When asked what he meant by his comments that “we have Israel’s back,” the president answered that “it was not a military doctrine that we were laying out for any particular military action.”

Israel should realize by now that Obama will never attack Iran or support an Israeli attack before the election because such a war in the oil-rich region would send gasoline prices even higher than they are now, exacerbating the economy he perceives to be recovering and hurting his chance for re-election.

The price of gasoline has been rising daily over the last month due to the sanctions and tensions over Iran, averaging $3.79 a gallon. Since 1976 in the United States, there has been a correlation between rising oil prices and falling presidential approval ratings. Jimmy Carter lost the presidency when gas averaged $3.37 per gallon when adjusted to the current value of the dollar.

Not only is Obama warning against an attack but he has also been warning against any talk of an attack. In his AIPAC speech, Obama literally blamed high gas prices on his Republican critics and Israel’s supporters saying “Already, there is a loose talk of war. Over the last few weeks such a talk has only benefited the Iranian government by driving up the price of oil, which they depend on to fund their nuclear program. Now is not the time for bluster.”

Despite Obama taking credit in his AIPAC speech for the new “crippling” sanctions against Iran and asking the Israelis to wait a few months to allow them to take effect, in reality he has tried to weaken them. In December the Kirk-Menendez amendment, passed by a rare 100-0 vote in the Senate, directed the administration to take punitive measures against foreign entities that do business with Iran. However, the administration tried to pressure top ranking Democrats, thankfully to no avail, to delay the implementation of the sanctions by a few months arguing that such an amendment could raise oil prices and hurt the U.S. economy. Moreover, President Obama failed to begin enforcing the sanctions on Feb. 29 as the law intended.

The nightmare scenario for Barack Obama would be the revelation, in the midst of an improving economy during the next eight months, of an Iranian nuclear breakthrough forcing him to either act or back down and then be judged by the voters.

The only scenario under which Obama will attack Iran is if he believes he has a chance of losing the election because the economy deteriorates, unemployment rises and Romney, the Republican presidential candidate, is gaining in popularity. Two days after Bin Laden was killed in 2011, Obama’s job approval ratings rose by 9 percent to its highest level since 2009 despite the stagnant economy.

If he is re-elected, President Obama, in his second term, will not attack Iran even as a last resort. Not needing Jewish votes or re-election and true to his ideology of appeasement, he will re-adopt his “containment policy” of useless diplomacy and engagement policies, leading eventually to a nuclear armed Iran.

By then, the Middle East will be an explosive powder keg, waiting for the Iranian trigger. Israel’s only deterrence option to stop Iran from attacking would be the threat of retaliation through total annihilation by its nuclear weapons arsenal.

Watching Benjamin Netanyahu’s AIPAC speech, it seems clear that he realized after talking to Obama that Israel is alone in this fight. Israel’s only remaining hope is if Obama loses the election and the Republican candidate becomes president. The only time that the extremist Iranian leadership decided to suspend its nuclear program was in 2003, after the U.S. invaded Iraq, because it truly believed a Republican president’s warnings that they would be attacked next.

Shoula Romano Horing was born and raised in Israel. She is an attorney in Kansas City and a national speaker. Her blog: www.shoularomanohoring.com.

Take a lesson from history

When dealing with Iran, America needs to take a lesson from history. During the Cuban Missile Crisis (according to Evan Thomas’ biography “Robert Kennedy”) the hawks surrounding President Kennedy were calling for air strikes while Kennedy decided on a blockade combined with negotiations. Though it was true that toughness and unbending resolve were the ways to handle the Soviets, recognizing that Khrushchev needed to be met with firmness, at the same time it was important that he be allowed to save face.

Marvin Fremerman
Springfield, Mo.

“Mom, when can we change the kitchen over to being kosher?”

It was a warm June evening as I absently prepared dinner for Allen, my husband of 38 years, and Michael, our 19 year old son.

Michael, our youngest child, a wonderful gift in our early 40s, has always kept us on our toes with his interests. This time he asked us for something that could have the impact of an earthquake, rocking our familiar, comfortable world.

“Michael, this isn’t something one does lightly,” I said. I glanced over at Allen and saw his eyes agree. “Let’s just take it one step at a time.”

We expected Michael to change once he returned home from Israel where he spent the past school year. We knew that observant practices are not unusual for someone just home from living an Orthodox Jewish life at Yeshiva Reishit Yerushalyim in Beit Shemish. We knew he would eventually want to make some changes at home because bringing in food from the kosher deli was quickly becoming tiresome and expensive.

I glanced at our kitchen, the small but efficient room that served us well while raising our three children. Did we want to make such a dramatic change at this point in our lives? Would our tiny ‘50s-era kitchen hold two sets of everything? Most importantly, would Allen be able, and willing, to give up his beloved cheeseburgers?

Neither Allen nor I previously considered kashering our kitchen but keeping kosher wasn’t completely foreign to us. We both learned the finer aspects of maintaining a kosher kitchen from Allen’s mother, a Conservative Jew. Several of our friends keep kosher too, and all our get-togethers involve observing kashrut.

But as much as Allen and I thought we knew about keeping kosher from our family and friends, in reality we knew very little about the practice. Starting online and in the synagogue library, we researched the practice of kashrut looking for answers to our questions. Then we consulted rabbis, rebbitzens, friends and family too, seeking answers to the questions that remained.

In the end, we realized that Conservative standards, the same standards followed by our family and friends, made us the most comfortable. This was not surprising since Conservative Judaism has always been central to our family life. While in Israel Michael experienced Orthodox glatt kosher meals, or those with a more restrictive kosher standard. We hoped he could accept a different one at home.

I wanted to support my son yet I felt I had to be true to my own beliefs too. I knew that asking Michael to make this compromise might push our son away. How would he react to our decision?

Weekday dinners became special to us as a family during this time since Michael stayed with friends close to his synagogue over Shabbat. During those meals we sat at the same table using plastic and paper tableware but consumed different foods.

While this practice was a necessary compromise, it seemed divisive to all of us. It was during one of these dinners that I chose to inform him of our decision. Maybe he would feel more compromising then.

“Michael,” I said as he looked up from his dinner preparations, “I think it’s time to talk about kashering the kitchen.”

“Excellent! Thanks Mom!” he beamed.

“Well, before you get your hopes up I have one request. Dad and I agree that if and when we convert the kitchen, we want to do it to Conservative standards. It’s really important to us.”

“I can handle that.” In the moment of stunned silence that followed, our relief flooded the room like a spring breeze. How he was able to be so conciliatory?

“One of the rabbis at Reishit taught that we should make some compromises in our homes in the name of Shalom Bayit,” he said. Shalom Bayit, peace in the home, a concept taught by a wise and understanding yeshiva rabbi who readily acknowledged the barriers students might face back home. I am eternally grateful to this Rabbi for his foresight.

Before I began the project, I learned about the biblical and historical underpinnings of kashrut. One fact intrigued me: Many Jews keep kosher as a way to elevate the mundane act of eating to a religious event. I wondered if our meals would ever reach that level and began to look forward to the day when we could eat in our own kosher kitchen.

I searched for information about the specific steps involved in kashering a kitchen that had never been kosher. How should I plan my time? Surely some tasks must be done before others to assure that the whole project is completed efficiently. I asked our kosher friends and family for their opinions regarding these issues and I met with two rebbetzins. While everyone gave sound suggestions and valuable guidance, no one truly answered my “logistics” questions. I learned as I went.

The more I learned, the more questions I had. One question stayed in the background of all I did: Was my kitchen big enough to accommodate two sets of everything?

I also wondered if the kitchen would ever be kosher enough. Would I, could I, do it right? Would people judge me harshly if I limited the physical labor, expense and time involved in taking the cookware, dishes and silverware to the mikveh and instead, boil utensils or use our dishwasher instead?

One rabbi, for whom I have the utmost respect, offered wonderfully sage advice “In The Name Of Leniency.”  Those were important words for me to hear because my desire to make my kitchen perfect started to become a barrier to the project’s timely completion. The project moved forward.

We made several discoveries on this journey. Most amazingly, we have enough space; our tiny kitchen can hold two sets of everything and accommodate separate milk and meat preparation. While our meals have not elevated to a religious event, we discovered that keeping kosher is a nice daily reminder of one’s Judaism. While we do not know if Michael will continue with his Orthodox practices in the coming years, we are pleased that we supported his commitment to a mitzvah-centered life.

At last, six months of planning and a week of kashering were complete in time for Shabbat dinner. I looked at our masterpiece — our kitchen — compact, organized and kosher. Before sitting down to the meal, we lit candles and said the blessings. Blessed are you, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has kept us alive and sustained us and enabled us to reach this occasion.

Encourage interfaith dialogue

The Greater Kansas City Interfaith Council (GKCIC) is saddened by recent events that have occurred between two schools in the Blue Valley School District. A skit depicting a Jewish dance caused unintentional harm. Subsequent reactions revealed latent anti-Semitism, expressed in person and through social media.

These incidents demonstrate a need for interfaith dialogue at every level of our community. We encourage school administrators, teachers and parents to impart respect for people of all faiths and cultures.

We invite high school students to participate in the Kansas City Interfaith Youth Alliance (KCIYA). It is a group of high school students of different faiths who meet to perform community service while getting to know each other. In turn, myths and stereotypes are dispelled. More information about the KCIYA may be found at www.kciya.org.

The GKCIC also offers a Speakers Bureau, book clubs and other programs to help our community become more knowledgeable and respectful toward people of all faiths. For more information, visit www.kcinterfaith.org.

Robert Bacic
Convener
Greater Kansas City
Interfaith Council

I am disappointed by what I see as the lack of pro-Israel activism in the Kansas City Jewish community. Israel is facing an existential threat from Iran, the Middle East region is becoming increasingly radicalized, and the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement continues. Yet there seems to be no coherent strategy in our community, or even nationally, for dealing with these threats from an educational and public relations standpoint. In fact, I’d wager that more has been said and written locally about the religious pluralism issue in the last six months than the Iranian threat. I agree that respect for religious differences in Israel is an important issue, but shouldn’t be our first priority in these dangerous times.

American Jews used to look back at the 1930s and 1940s and wonder why more wasn’t done to rescue Jews from the Holocaust. Many Jewish organizations got their start after those terrible years to protect the welfare of Jews around the world. Now, with a plethora of organizations, who is doing what to strengthen Israel? The organizations I’ve observed as very effective advocates for Israel have a limited focus, such as AIPAC, StandWithUs, and CAMERA. Other organizations, while they care about Israel, are multi-faceted in their missions and it seems to me that Israel does not float to the top of their priority list.

Kansas Citians show strong support for Israel through visits and donations. Israel emissary Lilach Nissim, who left her post recently at the Jewish Federation, is a strong advocate for Israel, and used social media, programming and articles in the Jewish Chronicle to make the case. AIPAC is very effective locally and nationally. But in my opinion we need to do more.

What if every synagogue, Jewish organization and youth group in town commits itself to having one serious program on Israel in 2012? What if some of these programs are advertised to the wider community and held in a non-Jewish venue, such as a public library or college campus? What if when rabbis write in the Kansas City Star, they use the opportunity to advocate for Israel? What if more positive letters about Israel are written to the Kansas City Star? What if more individuals put pro-Israel links and messages on their Facebook page? What if the organized community dialogues not only with non-Jews who support Israel, but with those who are ambivalent or uneducated on the subject? What if all of our congregations form Israel Solidarity Committees or Israel Affairs Committees, or make pro-Israel activism a part of the Social Action function? What if we have a letter-writing day to our members of Congress and President Obama urging them to realize the Iran threat is a threat to all?

I think it is time we re-examine our priorities and use our time as a community for serious issues, as well as lighter programming.

Judy Press was executive director of the Mid-Kansas Jewish Federation from 1996-2007 and focused attention on Israel advocacy. She is currently president of Congregation Ohev Sholom Sisterhood, which recently sponsored the film “The Case for Israel: Democracy’s Outpost,” followed by a panel discussion..
.

Ignorance is disappointing

The rivalry between Blue Valley North and Blue Valley Northwest has been raging for years. Recently though, this friendly competition has turned into a disgusting display of anti-Semitism.

In a cafeteria packed with roughly 800 students, Blue Valley Northwest mocked Blue Valley North for having Jewish students. Kids were seen dancing around to a popular Jewish song and doing a popular Jewish dance. This is not the first time anti-Semitism has been directed toward Blue Valley North. The administration put a video up of this little “skit” for everyone to see. The ignorance displayed by the administration after and during this event has been disappointing to say the least.

The event has shown to be a popular topic on social media websites. Although a few are admitting to the wrongs, many others are defending Blue Valley Northwest’s actions. To make things even worse, a student involved in leading this skit was Jewish.
This is a problem because if we as Jews make fun of ourselves, we are indirectly allowing others to do the same. As Jewish people, we cannot accept to live in a world where anti-Semitism is acceptable and such events can be blown off.

As we write this and the controversy rages on, we are attending BBYO International Convention with 900 Jewish teen leaders. The immense passion displayed here is both inspiring and hopeful. Meeting incredible people, like the only Jewish teen in Albania, makes us prouder to be a Jew than ever.

That being said, it is important to learn from these mistakes and grow as a Jewish people as well as a human race.

Maddy Friedman
Zach Kaseff
BBYO Kansas City Council Presidents

This week has been the most heart-wrenching I have spent so far as editor of the Jewish Chronicle. I am a parent of a student at Blue Valley North. I didn’t just write about the incident between “our school” and the “other school,” I heard about it from my close circle of friends who also have children in the school system.

I learned a lot and not just about anti-Semitism. I’ve thought for a while now that this generation of teens has no respect for each other and I saw that first-hand through posts on Facebook. Foul language is common. I’ve been told it’s easy to attack people on social media because it’s relatively anonymous. You don’t have to look at the person you are saying downright horrible things to or about.

The incident I’m speaking about was a skit students at Blue Valley Northwest presented to make fun of the Jewish students at Blue Valley North.  (See full news story) Many believe the skit was anti-Semitic. One Jewish student who participated in the skit has apologized and said he now believes it was out of line. Other Jewish students at BVNW don’t see anything wrong with the skit. Their “I’m loyal to my school” attitude appears to be more important to them, and the outside world that has seen their pronouncements, than being loyal to their religion and Jewish heritage. Can’t these students be loyal to their school but admit that a mistake was made in this case? It was shocking to see the posts from Jewish kids on Facebook and television defending the skit.

This reminds me of what happened in Nazi Germany. Wasn’t it common for a lot of Jews in Germany to believe that they were German first and Jewish second, therefore believing that they were safe and nothing could possibly happen to them? We all know how that turned out.

I’m not suggesting this incident comes anything close to the Holocaust. But the Holocaust did become a part of this debate, at least on Facebook. One girl ranted that she didn’t understand why Jewish people continue to talk about the Holocaust. She believes nobody still living could be affected by what she obviously believes is ancient history. We know that’s not true either. So it’s apparent to me that agencies like the Midwest Center for Jewish Education have their work cut out to continue to make the Holocaust relevant to young people living in 2012.

The Jewish Community Relations Bureau|American Jewish Committee should also be thanked for stepping in to help diffuse the situation.

After talking to a lot of parents and students, I agree that this situation may have been blown a bit out of proportion. But it still shouldn’t be taken lightly. Warning sirens should be going off that this generation doesn’t know what anti-Semitism is. Maybe parents and teachers don’t understand it either. And they should, especially the adults who are supposed to be in charge. Heil Hitler salutes, which supposedly were made at a basketball game last year, should never be used as a joke. That should have raised flags with administrators immediately. I’m told it did and administrators handled it on a case by case basis. Will more discussions take place now? The district says they will. I hope they follow through.

As I said earlier, I can be counted as a Jewish member of the Blue Valley North family. At some point I think we, the Jewish community, have to shoulder at least a little of the blame for this “joke.” We let our children joke about the school, calling it “Jew Valley North.” I’ve heard parents say it also. It’s not funny. It leads to incidents just like the one we’re all abuzz about right now. As parents we need to make it clear to our children that we should NEVER say anything that we would not want to hear from other people, especially non-Jewish people. And if you think the phrase “Jew Valley North” is harmless, I urge you to re-think those thoughts and take it out of your vocabulary.

This incident brought to light a lot of hatred. It wasn’t just hatred aimed at Jews. It was hatred aimed at other human beings. The students at BVN are not blameless here. They have said horrible things as well, alluding to suicide and drug use. None of those comments are funny, either.

It’s clear to me the school district has a big problem on its hands, and most likely other school districts do also. It has to educate all those involved, especially the teachers and administrators who should have already learned these lessons, the difference between good clean fun and unnecessary attacks. Clearly these kids have no respect for each other. The district had a virtues program when my children were young, but it apparently doesn’t go far enough to teach these children — teens now who will eventually become our community’s leaders — that words and actions do hurt. It’s not just a saying, it’s the truth. Kindness is Contagious! Catch It!

QUESTION: My brother is an observant Jew in Chicago and has had a disagreement with his business partner who is not quite as religious as he but definitely a synagogue-going, somewhat observant Jew. My brother informed me that they are going to try to work out their differences in a Jewish court rather than an American civil court. Is that possible? What is this all about?

ANSWER: That is absolutely correct. A brief overview of the Jewish court system and its development over the centuries and millennia is in order to appropriately answer your question. In other words, 2,000 ago when we were really a Jewish Commonwealth and controlling our community (in Israel until the destruction of the Second Temple in the year 70 C.E., some 2,000 ago,) our courts dealt with everything, every area of Jewish Law.

The Talmud and the Code of Jewish Law deal with virtually every area of civil AND criminal law. In many countries where Jews resided over the centuries, the Jewish communities were forced by the secular society to run their own community. Jews were not allowed to testify in court in most countries just like blacks and other ethnic minorities. Even in the United States it was only shortly into the 19th century that Jews had full civil rights in all courts of our country. So often Jewish communities around the world for hundreds of years were forced, out of necessity, to deal with every area of legal life except for perhaps capital punishment in our Jewish world. We have many volumes that deal with every area you can imagine concerning both civil and criminal law. We are now Americans and live in an American democracy where civil and criminal laws are dealt with in the public court system.

Despite everything I have said until now, there is at least one area where Jewish courts function on a daily on-going basis and that is in the area of Jewish divorce. Even though we are required by law to obtain a divorce in our civil courts in Johnson or Jackson County, we are also mandated by Jewish Law to obtain a Jewish divorce. We have Jewish courts that deal with that area of our tradition. Similarly, one has the right in this country to settle civil matters without going into an American court in most cases.

For example, if there is a disagreement between partners, even if there are legal partnership documents drawn, they have the right to go to a Jewish court to settle whatever differences they may have. The Jewish court probably would require that those partners agree at the outset that whatever judgment is rendered by that court will not be appealed to a civil court or the whole trial process will have been in vain. Such a court (and there are a number of them functioning in major Jewish cities like New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Miami) will adjudicate matters of civil laws brought before them according to Jewish Law. The process is quicker than in civil American courts and I will add that the civil courts of this country are all too happy not to have more cases come on their docket.

Several years ago, we saw the documentary, “The Case for Israel,” based on the Alan Dershowitz book. The film was produced by Gloria Z. Greenfield, president of Doc Emet Productions (founded in 2007) and Field Advocacy and Advancement Strategy Manager for the Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education in the Greater Boston Area.

Once again, she has produced a winning documentary, “Unmasked: Judeophobia, The Threat to Civilization,” which was shown recently at the Jerusalem Cinemateque.

Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel opens the documentary stating, “Since 1945, I was not so afraid as I am now. I am afraid because anti-Semitism, which I had thought belonged to the past, has somehow survived. I was convinced in ’45 that anti-Semitism had died with its Jewish victims at Auschwitz and Treblinka, but I see now the Jews perished, but anti-Semitism in some parts of the world is flourishing.”

For 81 minutes, prominent writers, academics and leaders including Former Minister of Justice from Canada Irwin Cotler, Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, human rights activist Natan Sharansky, former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton, Harvard professor Ruth Wisse, Wall Street Journal columnist Bret Stephens and 33 other experts discuss this political assault against Israel and the attempts to isolate and delegitimize the state of Israel.

Prior to its January 2012 premiere in Winnipeg, Greenfield was interviewed by Dr. Catherine Chatterley, director of the Canadian Institute for the Study of Anti-Semitism. Greenfield explained that she intentionally chose the term Judeophobia because “it is a more suitable term to convey the intellectualized and ideological hatred of Jews that is encompassed in the anti-Jewish phenomenon flourishing in many parts of the world today.”

What was Greenfield’s purpose in producing this film? To state the clear and impactful message “that all decent people — Jews as well as non-Jews — would muster the determination and commitment to both recognize the reality of the situation and to find ways to squash it.”

This film exposes and vividly illustrates the increase in Jew hatred that is threatening Western civilization.

One sees how anti-Israel and anti-American is the Islamist Arab and Muslim world. The message about the history of this “lethal obsession” is vivid and those who view this film need to address the problem and articulate it. Andrea Levin, executive director of Camera (Committee or Accuracy in Middle East Reporting which monitors anti-Israel coverage) says: “The mainstream media does not cover the story of the resurgence of anti-Semitism. Many media outlets contribute to the problem.”

In an Arutz 7 (an Israel media network) op-ed article by Professor Phyllis Chesler, author of the book, “The New Anti-Semitism,” she writes, “Even if you are not Jewish, even if you do not support Israel, you should see Gloria Greenfield’s ‘Unmasked: Judeophobia.’ It directly concerns you. ... It is the visual antidote to this false hatred, which visually through the internet, in films, in the media, emblazoned on T-shirts and signs at every rally (no matter the topic) scapegoats Jews for the world’s every sorrow. ...”

“One cannot stop watching the film,” says Chesley. “The music engages us, the manuscripts, lithographs, film footage, stills, are shocking, tragic, illuminating, beautiful, important, haunting. We have not seen many of these images before. Taken all together, they are entered into evidence. The amount of information packed into this fast-paced documentary is astounding.”

These include Medieval images of the Crucifixion; covers of the forgery, “The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion,” Christian anti-Semitism through the ages; the Mufti of Jerusalem and Hitler; anti-Semitism in the Arab world including “Palestinian” cartoonists portraying Jews in vicious ways; hate speeches on American campuses; anti-Semitism in France; and the violations of international law by the Mavi Marmara heading for Gaza.

Professor Chesley adds, “Gloria Greenfield, her production company, Doc Emet, and her supporters are to be commended for bringing such eloquent voices together.”

This DVD can be purchased online from Doc Emet Productions for $14.95 and needs to be viewed by Christians and Jews alike, especially in view of the forthcoming Israel apartheid week activities.

Thanks to the Vaad

Over the past two weeks, Oakwood Country Club has had the privilege of hosting two kosher events —- one, a private celebration and one, a community fundraiser — at which more than 400 dinners were served. We were thrilled to meet the challenge and provide this service.

One of the key reasons we were able to successfully accomplish this to the great satisfaction of our guests is the positive and cooperative assistance of the Vaad HaKashruth. Rather than focusing on why things could not be done, the Vaad’s goal was to explore how the menus could be crafted creatively and the food prepared deliciously.

We are grateful to the Vaad’s leadership, and specifically to Rabbi Mendel Segal, Bruce Daniels and Binyomin Mazer for their onsite supervision. Who knows, soon Chicken Tikka Masala may replace chopped liver as a kosher staple!

Chef Mike Storm
Oakwood Country Club