In Memory of 11 Israeli Olympic Athletes

Dear Friends,

I imagine many, if not most, of you will be watching the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympic Games when NBC begins airing it (on tape delay) at 7:30 tomorrow evening. Beginning with Queen Elizabeth II being received at the entrance of the Olympic Stadium by Jacques Rogge, the President of the International Olympic Committee, and followed by the famed parade of athletes from all over the world, this ceremony, put together by British Film Director Danny Boyle ("Slumdog Millionaire"), promises to be quite a spectacle.

What I am writing to you about, however, is something quite different: a much quieter, much smaller ceremony that will take place at the same time that this giant spectacle is commencing in London - and I am asking you to participate in it. The Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey has established 9:30 a.m. tomorrow morning, Friday July 27 th , as the time for each of us to take a minute to observe a personal moment of silence to remember the 11 Israeli athletes, coaches, and referees murdered at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.

The 2012 Summer Olympics, which begin in London on July 27, marks 40 years since that horrific moment. Since then, the bereaved families have repeatedly asked the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to observe a minute of silence in memory of the Munich 11. Although a petition has been signed by nearly 110,000 individuals, the IOC has refused to undertake this action. While it does not surprise me that IOC would disrespect the State of Israel and the feelings of the world Jewish community, it is sad and disturbing that they would ignore tragic death of Olympic athletes on this, the 40 th anniversary of the Munich massacre. If you would like to sign the petition click here.

We will also be reciting the names of the 11 victims of this tragedy at Shabbat services this Friday evening and next (July 27th and August 3 rd ), which begin at 6:30 p.m. (oneg at 6:00 p.m. before services). I hope you can join us.

The names of the 11 Israeli Olympic Team members are:

Mark Slavin, 18, Wrestler Eliezer Halfin, 24, Wrestler David Berger, 28, Weightlifter Ze'ev Friedman, 28, Weightlifter Yossef Romano, 31, Weightlifter Andre Spitzer, 27, Fencing coach Moshe Weinberg, 33, Wrestling coach Amitzur Shapira, 40, Track coach Yossef Gutfreund, age 40, Wrestling referee Yakov Springer, 51, Weightlifting judge Kehat Shorr, 53, Shooting coach

Even if you cannot make it to services, perhaps you would like to say kaddish for them yourselves.

I would like to thank Rabbi Neal Borovitz, the chairman of our Jewish Community Relation's Council (JCRC) and Joy Kurland, the director, for sending out this notice and making sure that we remember those who perished because they were Jews and represented our beloved State of Israel.

All the best and an early Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Jordan Millstein

P.S. I would also like to remind you that the joint local Reform Temple observance of Tisha B'Av takes place Saturday evening, July 28 th at 7:30 p.m. at Temple Beth Or, 56 Ridgewood Road, Washington Township. See below for other service information.

Terror and Terror

Dear Friends,
Iran is getting desperate so we shouldn't be surprised. The U.S. has orchestrated serious sanctions against Iran and due to a world boycott oil is piling up on Iranian vessels in the Persian gulf with nowhere to go. Israeli agents have, according to most analysts, managed to assassinate a number of key Iranian nuclear scientists and officials, as well as slow the Iranian nuclear program through cyber warfare. One would expect, then, for Iran to counter attack in the way they know how: through a terror attack against Israeli civilians carried out by their proxy, the Hezbollah. Prime Minister Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Barak, and by some reports, sources at the U.S. Pentagon, all agree that yesterday’s attack against Israeli tourists in Burgas, Bulgaria was the work of a member of a Hezbollah terror cell, acting under a broad directive of the Iranian government to attack Israelis. (Moreover, it cannot be a coincidence that the explosion occurred on the 18th anniversary of the terrorist attack on the AMIA Jewish center in Buenos Aires that left 85 people dead.) The death of 5 innocent Israeli tourists and the wounding of dozens more is a terrible tragedy. We will say kaddish for those murdered and pray for the healing of those injured at our services at 6:30 this evening. But, let us recognize that they did not die in vain. They are casualties in a necessary war being fought to stop a dangerous enemy from getting nuclear weapons.
Sadly, we will also be saying kaddish this evening for 12 Americans who were murdered and praying for the healing of scores of others who were injured in an attack last night by a heavily armed shooter at a showing of the latest Batman movie at a cinema multiplex in Aurora, Colorado, a suburb of Denver. While this incident is awful and shocking, should we really be surprised? As Chemi Shalev put it in today’s, Haaretz, the Israeli paper, “Mass, random shooting sprees are as American as baseball and apple pie. America’s ridiculous gun laws won’t change, but the ‘Batman Murderer,’ as he will come to be known, is sure to secure a multimillion dollar book and movie deal.” I don’t know about the book deal but Shalev is surely right about our gun laws. How ridiculous we must look to the rest of the world, especially to Israelis, who do everything they can to protect their citizens from terror, while we let any bozo who can walk and chew gum at the same time (or not) get their hands on semi-automatic weapons! The diabolical planning of the 24 year old shooter gives lie to the NRA claim that letting people carry concealed weapons would allow them to protect themselves from such madmen. No one was going to stop that man after he released smoke bombs and began shooting in the dark. Stopping these kinds of terror attacks means stopping the flow of weapons, both those currently legal and illegal, from being purchased by those who don’t have a special need for protection or desire a basic rifle for hunting. It is well known that our tradition teaches that to save one life is to save the entire world (Talmud). When will we find the personal commitment and political will to overcome our corrupt political process and end this madness? Let us not, as we have in the past, allow the victims of this terrible terror attack die in vain.
One final note: Those of a fatalistic, traditional spiritual bent might say that it is not surprising that these tragedies occurred at this time of year. We are currently in a period of semi-mourning on the Jewish calendar, the three weeks leading up to the fast day known as, “Tisha B’Av”. On Tisha B’Av we remember and mourn the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, both the First Temple, destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C.E. and the Second Temple, destroyed by the Romans, in 70 C.E. This year Tisha B’Av will take place a week from this Saturday evening, on July 28 th . As we have for the past few years, Temple Sinai will join with several other Reform Temples in the area to observe this day with a special program and the traditional reading of the Book of Lamentations. On July 28 th at 7:30 p.m. we will meet at Temple Beth Or in Washington Township (56 Ridgewood Road, Washington Township, NJ). Hope you can join us.
Shabbat Shalom,
Jordan

Services Inside Tonight

Dear Friends,

Our ancestors endured 40 years in the desert where they braved the searing heat and other elements in order to worship God.  But, something tells me if they had an indoor sanctuary with air conditioning they would have used it. 

Due to the heat, services this evening and tomorrow morning will be held in our lovely, indoor, air conditioned sanctuary instead of outdoors in the Dustin Drapkin Sanctuary, as we had hoped.  Our oneg and candle lighting this evening will be held before services in the lobby at 6:00 pm followed by services at 6:30.  Tomorrow morning we have Torah Study at 9:00 am followed by worship at 10:15 in Founders Hall.

We will try again next week to hold services outdoors in the new Dustin Drapkin sanctuary.

Shabbat Shalom,

Jordan

Midnight Ride of Francis Salvador

Dear Friends,
Had Henry Wadsworth Longfellow been Jewish he might have written, “Listen, my children, and you shall hear, of the midnight ride of Francis Salvador.” Longfellow, of course, was not Jewish, nor does the name, “Francis Salvador,” fit the rhyming scheme or meter of his famous poem, “Paul Revere’s Ride.” But, Salvador, a Jew from South Carolina, would certainly have been an apt subject for a Longfellow poem.
Born in England into a wealthy Sephardic family, Salvador came to South Carolina after his family’s wealth declined with the failure of the British East India Company. (His great grandfather was its first Jewish director.) In Charleston, Salvador was attracted to and quickly became involved in the patriot cause. Within a year, at the age of 27, Salvador was elected to the General Assembly of South Carolina, the first Jewish to hold that high an elective office in the English colonies. In 1774 he was also elected as a delegate to South Carolina’s revolutionary Provincial Congress, which framed a bill of rights and set forth the colonists’ grievances against the Royal Governor of South Carolina. He strongly pushed the Provincial Congress to vote for American independence.
Along with his political service, Salvador fought in the South Carolina Militia. It was there where he earned the nickname, “the Southern Paul Revere.” Urged on by the British, Cherokee Indians attacked colonial settlements along the frontier on July 1, 1776. Salvador jumped on his horse and rode 30 miles to sound the alarm. Later, he returned to the frontier to fight on the front lines. Sadly, on August 1 st he was shot and scalped. Francis Salvador thus became the first Jew to perish in the fight for American independence.
If you had never heard of Francis Salvador before you read this, let alone heard of his not so famous ride, do not feel bad. Most of us were never taught American Jewish history in any depth. Fortunately, there is an easy, fun way to vastly improve your knowledge. If you have not done so already, I urge you to take a day trip this summer to Philadelphia to the National Museum of American Jewish History. Watch future email blasts and the Sentry for information regarding both an adult and youth trip this fall to this museum.
In the meantime, I share Francis Salvador’s story with you on this July 4 th to remind us of the original meaning of this day and our special Jewish connection to it. Barbeques and the beach are a great American tradition. But, even greater is our tradition and commitment to the cause of liberty and equality of all people, whatever their faith, race, ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation. As Jews we should be proud of the role the small Jewish community of that time played in the American Revolution; most Jews in the colonies supported the revolution and we were instrumental to its success. And let us be grateful to those, Jews and non-Jews, who fought – and continue to fight - for our freedom to live as Jews without repression, discrimination or fear. God bless America.
Happy Fourth of July!
Rabbi Jordan Millstein