The office of Israel's President Shimon from time to time releases accounts of his official activities. We have been publishing them as they are made available.

Peres appeals for Arab help in recovering kidnapped soldiers

JERUSALEM, July 25—The President of Israel, Shimon Peres, to the Foreign Ministers ofJordan and Egypt: “Increase your efforts for the return of Shalit and help us receive a sign of life from Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev”

The President of Israel, Mr. Shimon Peres, held an official working meeting with the Foreign Ministers of Jordan and Egypt (on Wednesday, July 25.) At the commencement of the meeting the President said that all Israel welcomes the representatives of the Arab League, is committed to work for peace and does not want to miss the window of true opportunities which has now been opened.

President Peres clarified that, in order to make progress, a two-sided track must be used in parallel:

1. Quiet political negotiations between Israeli and Palestinian representatives
2. Active economic cooperation between Israel and the Palestinians, Jordan and Egypt.

“All Israel, the right and the left, are united in the wish for peace and understands that at the end of the conflict there will exist two states for two peoples,” said President Peres and added that he has great respect for the Palestinian leadership.

“Abu Mazen has confronted many difficulties with honor and esteem and he is leading his people towards progress based on a combination of the economy and technology. This leadership is a partner for true negotiations for peace.”
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Regarding the Hamas, President Peres said that the situation in Gaza is unbearable. “Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip in a difficult and painful process while all the time missiles and rockets are being fired at us. If the Hamas think that they will continue to fire missiles and that the world will continue to pay and the civilian Palestinian population will be used as a cover and a fig leaf, they make a bitter mistake.”

The Foreign Minister of Egypt opened his remarks by saying that it is a great honor to meet Mr. Peres as President and convey to him warm wishes from President Mubarak and said, “I was sent together with my colleague by the Arab League to propose to Israel the peace initiative of the Arab League. I believe that a true opportunity has been created for peace between Israel and the Palestinians and between Israel and the entire Arab world. I am full of hope that we will return to the Arab League conference next Monday with clear and positive conclusions. At the basis of the initiative is peace for land. It is an easy arrangement, known and clear.”

The Foreign Minister of Jordan said that he warmly adopts the opinion of the President regarding peace negotiations alongside active economic cooperation. According to him: “The Palestinian street is screaming for a change and wishes to feel and touch the fruits of peace.” He also added that Palestinian economic development must include freedom of movement, return of law and order and full functioning of the Palestinian Authority. “We must create a concrete momentum. The public opinion is a pendulum and the power of the moderates on both sides of the barricade must be maintained.”

At the conclusion of the meeting the President asked for the help of President Mubarak and the King of Jordan in the fight for the return of the captured soldiers and requested that the two countries increase their efforts to obtain a sign of life from Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev. He also requested that Egypt increase its efforts for the release of Gilad Shalit.
 

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Torah on One Foot By Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal Tifereth Israel Synagogue, San Diego

Left: Erez and Nesiya Strasberg at home in Israel after their stint in San Diego where Erez had served as
a shaliach at the United Jewish Federation. Middle: Judy and Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal admire mosaics
at home of Yosef Lugasi.  Right: Selections at a spice farm at Beit Lechem Ha Glilit. 

Tales of a shaliach, a muralist, and spices


Editor's Note: Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal of Tifereth Israel Synagogue of San Diego recently led members of his congregation on a trip to Israel, then stayed afterwards on personal time.  When at home, the rabbi writes a column on the Torah portion of the week, but in this one he shares some experiences and reflections about Israel.

Europe

 

Rabbis protest construction atop Jewish cemetery

BRUSSELS (Press Release)—The Conference of European Rabbis (CER) has staged a protest and prayer vigil in Brussels over a 600-year-old Jewish cemetery in Vilnius, the capital of the Baltic state of Lithuania, which is being built over.

Construction of a residential and commercial complex recently began in an area of the former Snipiskes cemetery which the city had sold to developers. The city government claims there are no graves under the area, but experts from the London-based Committee for the Preservation of Jewish Cemeteries in Europe (CPJCE) have repeatedly said that bodies were located under the ground in question. CPJCE estimates that some 10,000 Jews have been buried in what was one of the region's largest Jewish cemeteries.

In May, a task force including Jewish leaders and government officials met and reportedly agreed that construction would be halted until further surveying was done, but CPJCE and CER say that instead, bulldozing and digging has begun in the area.

Some 100 Chasidic and Orthodox Jews held a prayer meeting and protest on Thursday outside of the European Commission headquarters in Brussels to protest the desecration of the cemetery. Meanwhile, a rabbinic delegation delivered a formal complaint at the office of the Lithuanian ambassador to the European Union. Among the delegation were Brussels chief rabbi Albert Guigui,, CER member Rabbi Jonathan Guttentag of Manchester, and CPJCE executive director Rabbi Abraham Ginsberg.

The preceding story was provided by the World Jewish Congress

 

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Adventures in Cruising Aboard Holland America Ryndam San Diego  to Mexico cruising Theatre staircase aboard the Ryndam Thanks to Abe & Bea Goldberg of San Diego and Ruth Kropveld of Cincinnati for sharing their family cruise photos! This was the last of the series.

Poland's prosecutors investigating old regime communists who instigated anti-Semitism

LODZ, Poland (Press Release)—Prosecutors are investigating members of Poland's former Communist Party on suspicion of inciting racial hatred through anti-Semitic comments that sparked an exodus of Polish Jews in the late 1960s, a state institute has said. Based on extensive archive research, prosecutors from the Institute of National Remembrance, a state-run body that investigates crimes by Communist and fascist regimes, said they held ample documentation showing communist leaders' “public calls” for hatred against “Polish citizens of Jewish ethnicity in 1968-1969” in the central city of Lodz.

“In the light of gathered documentation, there is no doubting the fact that at the beginning of 1967, central Communist Party authorities started calling for hatred ... directed against people of Jewish descent, and the operation then moved to the local level, setting in across the country,” the statement was quoted as saying by the AP news agency.

The institute notes that the then-leader of the Communist Party, Wladyslaw, Gomulka launched the anti-Semitic push in a speech on 19 June 1967, in which he pointed to the existence in Poland of an “imperial-Zionist fifth column”. Spurred on by Gomulka's speech, the Lodz Communist Party leadership published two “anti-Zionist” pamphlets, entitled “Zionism, its genesis, political character and anti-Polish faces” and “The Policies of the Party and its Opponents.”

Prosecutors say documents indicate that the Lodz Communist Party leaders were the “main instigators” of the anti-Semitic drive in the industrial city and environs, which saw businessmen, academics, and journalists out of jobs after tagging them with “Jewish roots or Zionist views”.

According to the statement, more than 11,000 Jews applied for immigration papers during the anti-Semitic purge, a dramatic increase from the early 1960s. No charges have been pressed and prosecutors said they are still working to identify those who were involved. People convicted of public incitement of racial hatred face up to two years in prison.

The preceding story was provided by the World Jewish Congress

Rulings expand class of Nazi victims entitled to compensation

KASSEL, Germany—A German court has ruled in favor of two Jewish men regarding their Holocaust survivor pensions. The rulings will likely expand the number of Holocaust survivors eligible for benefits from the German government. Two Jewish men appealed the rejection of their pension claims to the Federal Social Security Court in Kassel. The tribunal overruled lower court decisions and said the men were entitled to their claims. Germany pays monthly pensions to tens of thousands of Nazi victims, most of them people who spent at least six months in one of Nazi Germany's concentration camps. The payments are calculated based on the length of the person's persecution.

The first case involved a man who contested the date his persecution started. He argued it began when Nazis forced him to wear a yellow Star of David on his sleeve. That occurred after German forces invaded his hometown in Poland in September 1939. The tribunal ruled the man should obtain a credit for this part of his ordeal. The man's lawyer said thousands of people would benefit from the ruling.

The second case involved an 82-year-old Israeli who was confined to the Jewish ghetto in Trans-Dniester in the Soviet Union, a region then controlled by pro-Nazi Romanian forces. The man was told that Holocaust pensions were not available to Soviets and were only given to people in places invaded by German troops. The tribunal overruled this decision, saying that the man was entitled to a pension from Germany.

The preceding story was provided by the World Jewish Congress
 

United States of America

Anti-Defamation League pleased by Munley's ruling overturning local immigration ordinance

PHILADELPHIA  (Special)—The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) applauded Thursday's ruling by U.S. District Judge James Munley that an anti-immigration ordinance enacted in Hazleton, PA is unconstitutional.

Judge Munley voided the ordinance following a nine-day bench trial that was held in March. 

The ordinance sought to prohibit the hiring of and leasing of property to illegal immigrants. The ordinance also mandated that all official city documents and communication be conducted or written in English-only.

ADL originally condemned the City of Hazleton's Illegal Immigration Relief Act ordinance through a letter to Hazleton Mayor Louis Barletta in July, 2006. According to ADL Regional Director Barry Morrison, the Ordinance makes numerous unsubstantiated generalizations and assumptions that are, "offensive and wholly inconsistent with out long tradition as a nation that has welcomed immigrants and celebrated their contributions to America."

ADL is an advocate of comprehensive immigration reform legislation that focuses not only on enforcement and control but also the protection of the basic human rights of immigrants. The Hazleton ordinance runs contrary to ADL's humanitarian approach as it usurps jurisdiction for enforcement of the nation's complex immigration laws from the federal authorities and places it in the hands of local authorities with little experience or training in the matter.

"We are pleased with this ruling, confirming that the enforcement of the nation's immigration laws rests with federal authorities. This is especially important in light of the fact that this case has implications beyond the local community," said Morrison. "We hope that this ruling loudly communicates the message that a balance must be struck between the economic and security interests of our communities and the rights of immigrants."

The preceding story was provided by the Anti-Defamation League

(Return to top)

HIAS says Hazleton ordinance was 'mean-spirited'

NEW YORK (Press Release)—HIAS, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, applauds the July 26th ruling by a federal judge in Scranton, Pa. against the City of Hazleton in a landmark challenge (Lozano v. City of Hazleton) to local immigration-related ordinances aimed at punishing landlords, employers and immigrants.  This decision represents a victory of common sense over vitriol during a time when states and localities are feeling the pressure to react to congressional inaction on immigration reform.

Facing a vacuum of leadership from Congress on fixing our broken immigration system, many state legislatures and localities have responded by crafting and passing immigration-related measures, many of which are anti-immigrant and which may ultimately be ruled unconstitutional.  As of May 2007, nearly 1,200 immigration-related bills and resolutions had been introduced in state legislatures, and dozens of localities have passed anti-immigrant measures.  Many of these measures aim to restrict access to rental housing, employment, and government services, and authorize enhanced authority to state and local law enforcement over immigrants in their communities for non-criminal activity. Rather than fixing our broken immigration system, these ordinances only serve to invoke fear, suspicion, and anti-immigrant fervor in our communities, as well as ostracize and mistreat immigrants.

Conjuring fear of the other and sensationalizing an onslaught of immigration does not contribute to sound and humane policy making, whether at the federal, state or local level.  Immigrants and their families are good for our economy, good for our communities, and contribute to the overall development of our nation. America would not be the dynamic and prosperous nation that it is today were it not for the immigrants who came and continue to come to our shores seeking opportunity and freedom.

Yet today we see an anti-immigrant backlash in our communities that is reminiscent of the same backlash that Jews have historically faced upon reaching America’s shores. American Jews are especially familiar with the undercurrent of fear and suspicion of newcomers that exists in our country today.  Since the first Jewish immigrants arrived in America three hundred and fifty years ago, the Jewish community has understood well what it means to come to this country in search of opportunity and freedom. 

Having reached American shores, Jewish immigrants benefited from these freedoms and opportunities and in the process made contributions to American society – economically, politically, culturally, and in many other ways.  The wave of Jewish immigrants to America in the early 1880’s who were fleeing poverty and murderous pogroms, anti-Jewish uprisings in Russia and elsewhere in Eastern Europe, was eventually met with an anti-immigrant backlash that resulted in the National Origins Quota of 1924, which severely restricted immigration from Eastern Europe and Russia after that time. In 1939 a Roper poll found that only thirty-nine percent of Americans felt that Jews should be treated like other people. Fifty-three percent believed that “Jews are different and should be restricted” and ten percent believed that Jews should be deported.

The anti-immigrant sentiment that we see today is not unlike the anti-Semitic sentiments Jewish immigrants who came to the United States experienced in the past.  From this experience and based on Jewish religious and ethical values that provide the firm foundation for Jewish involvement in immigration, the Jewish community recognizes today’s immigrants as a part of our national fabric and as Americans who contribute to our country and make it stronger, and has advocated for fair and human policies, nationally and locally.  They fill jobs that would go otherwise unfilled, they support their families, they participate in religious communities, and they contribute to the economy by starting businesses and paying taxes. 

These mean-spirited state and local measures aimed at driving immigrants away are not the solution to fixing our broken immigration system – a system based on ignoring illegality rather than creating rational opportunities for new immigrant workers. Anti-immigrant measures at the local and state level, such as those recently passed in Prince William and Loudon Counties in Virginia and those rightfully struck down in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, will not improve our communities but instead tear them apart. What is needed is a careful, considered, and compassionate federal approach to immigration policy that incorporates the pressing security concerns of all Americans, while maintaining America’s historical essence as a welcoming haven.  

Toward that end, HIAS has consistently urged Congress to adopt comprehensive immigration reform that offers a path to citizenship to the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants living in the shadows; creates wider legal channels for future workers and worker protections; reunites families; and includes enforcement and border security measures that are meaningful, effective, and humane.  Only then will we as a nation be able to both welcome newcomers and enhance our security.

The preceding story was provided by the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society 

Judaism

Rabbi Baruch Lederman Amazing tales of Judaism                 Congregation Kehillas Torah, San Diego

DVAR TORAH: Va'eschanan

Breaking one commandment led to violation of ten


Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, his field, his slave, his maidservant, his ox, his donkey, and all that belongs to your neighbor  (Deut. 5:18)
 
Chapter 14 of the Orchos Tzaddikim tells us that envy is the worst of sins - so severe, that one who is caught in the grips of envy is liable to violate all of the Ten Commandments.  The Orchos Tzaddikim illustrates this with the following parable:
 
There once were two next-door neighbors who had a wall separating their dwellings. One of the men envied his next-door neighbor's wife and possessions. One day he heard his neighbor telling his wife that he was about to leave on a business trip. He and his wife wished each other farewell and he set off on his journey.
 
What did this wicked man do? He waited till Friday night when everyone was asleep in their own homes and no one was around to see. He broke through the wall between their dwellings, transgressing the commandment "Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy."
 
Against her will, he had his way with the woman, violating her and violating the commandments "Thou shalt not commit adultery" and "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife." He then eyed the house and began to gather some things to steal.
 
At this point she shrieked and screamed, so he killed her, thereby transgressing "Thou shalt not kill." He made off with the stolen property in violation of the commandments "Thou shalt not steal" and "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbors possessions."
 
His parents got wind of this and confronted him. As they gave him rebuke, he not only failed to heed them - he actually struck them physically, transgressing the commandment "Honor thy father and thy mother."
 
He was eventually brought to court where he testified that the articles that he took were his all along. He stated that the neighbor refused to give them back to him, so when he
became aware that burglars broke the wall and killed the woman; he too entered through the hole in the wall, seizing the opportunity to retrieve his possessions. Thus he
transgressed "Thou shalt not bear false witness."
 
After that point, wherever he would go, he would swear in G-d's name, to anyone he saw and to anyone who would listen to him, about his innocence and righteousness,
transgressing "Thou shalt not take the L-rd's name in vain."  Eventually it became clear to everyone that he was a guilty liar. Out of embarrassment he fell out of society and got involved with a very bad element to the point that he denounced G-d altogether, transgressing "I am the L-rd thy G-d." Before long he even worshiped idols, transgressing "Thou shalt have no other gods before me."
 
All of this was precipitated by envy. Envy can cause a person to throw away the entire Torah.

Dedicated by Rabbi & Mrs.  Zvi Fruend on the occasion of the upcoming Yahrtzeit of his father Abe Freund, Avraham ben Moshe Yechiel. Dedicated by Rabbi & Mrs. Yerachmiel Gettinger to a refua shelaimah for Devora Michal bas Baila Rachma.

Commentary & Letters Please send your opinions to sdjewishheritage@cox.net

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