|
24-30 Shevat,
5770 Feb, 8-14,
2010 -- THE JEWISH
OBSERVER, LOS ANGELES -- 373rd Web
Ed.
|
THREE TENORS TRUMPED BY
3 MULLERS AT MANHATTAN SYNAGOGUE
By AARON I. REICHEL
You
don't have to be a music buff to recall the
concerts of "the 3 tenors" that began about two
decades ago, featuring an Italian opera star and
two Spanish counterparts. This past Shabbat, a
Manhattan synagogue just presented an event that
was even more meaningful and exciting for Jews
with even the mildest interest in cantorial
music. This even trumped the three tenors in a
variety of ways. The international event
featured not just three random great voices, but
three cantors who are brothers and who have
distinguished themselves in three different
parts of the world. Zev Muller inspires and
enchants the members of the West Side
Institutional Synagogue on a regular basis as
their cantor; Moshe Muller is the Chief Cantor
at the Heichal Meir Synagogue in Tel Aviv,
Israel, and Shmuel Muller serves as cantor in
Krefeld, Germany. While the three tenors merely
sang different selections on different
occasions, the three Mullers collaborated on the
Friday Evening and Saturday morning services.
Cantors traditionally sing alone or with choirs,
but to have three prima donnas in one
pulpit at one time is an occasion that can
happen once in a lifetime, for most people. This
was the first time the three Mullers performed
together in such a fashion. What made it extra
special was that they didn't just harmonize, but
they also took turns as soloists throughout the
services, so the congregants were kept
spellbound, not knowing at any second which of
more than half a dozen different inspirational
sounds they would hear -- each cantor
individually, or any combination in harmony. It
was all the brainchild of the youngest brother
-- Zev Muller, the host cantor, and the only one
born in Israel. What adds to the significance of
the event even more is that the family was an
internationally prominent cantorial family even
before these three Muller brothers were born!
Their father performed in prayer around the
world, and their uncle is the renowned Cantor
Benjamen Muller, Chief Cantor of Antwerp,
Belgium. The advance publicity showed each
Muller brother attired in the traditional round
black tasseled hat, but when they appeared,
together, only one of them wore it at any given
moment. There is still only one cantor in a
traditional service, even if they passed the
baton, or rather the hat, from one to the other
in the course of the Shabbat prayers.
Appropriately enough, the unprecedented event
took place on Shabbat shira, the official
Shabbat of song, commemorating the song sung by
the Jews upon successfully crossing the Red Sea
and escaping from their Egyptian pursuers.
Cantor Zev
Muller, a Spinto Tenor, formerly served as the
chazzan at the Israelitische Kultus Gemenide in
Baden Switzerland, where his father is the local
Rabbi, and now learns in the Lakewood Yeshiva in
New Jersey. More importantly than his key role
in organizing this event is his ongoing role in
blending traditional cantorial renditions with
the contemporary and "Carlebach" melodies,
lending themselves to enthusiastic and spirited,
as well as spiritual, participation of the
congregation. This past Shabbat, you could hear
a pin drop during some of the solos, but by the
time the morning service drew to a close, in a
packed house of worship, the place was rocking
with the sound of music and prayer! It was truly
an event for the ages, hopefully to be repeated
and emulated.
A historical footnote. A
few decades ago, two chazzanim
collaborated at the same synagogue on an
occasion that was extremely memorable in its own
right. Cantor Zalmon Yavneh (the synagogue likes
its cantors with a first name beginning with Z,
evidently) was becoming advanced in age, and
there was a question whether it would be too
much of a strain for him to lead the High
Holiday Services on his own. So his son, Cantor
Murray Yavneh, who had a lucrative position as a
cantor in Florida, joined his father to support
him emotionally, spiritually, and physically, in
leading the services that year. Their voices and
styles were similarly moving and breathtaking,
and this event was not only an example of
musical and spiritual heights, but of a supreme
act of self-sacrifice by a son for a father, to
the eternal appreciation of not only the father
but every congregant fortunate enough to have
participated in this event, and to have been
able to hear Cantor Zalmon Yavneh, in good
health, after he was fully recuperated, for
years to come!
Aaron
I. Reichel, New
York
* * *
SUPREME COURT CAMPAIGN
FINANCE RULING UNDERMINES FREE AND FAIR
ELECTIONS
By JOHN BURTON
Today’s Supreme Court
decision opens the floodgates to allow
corporations to spend freely on ads and voter
contact, basically giving corporate America the
loudest and most far-reaching voice in the
democratic process.
The ruling
undermines free and fair elections and will
further erode voters’ confidence in our system
of democracy. When a candidate’s message is
bought and paid for by Wall Street and other
special interests, everybody loses.
In
California, Democrats will work hard to make
sure that our candidates, like Senator Barbara
Boxer, are elected no matter how much special
interest money is used to attack
them.
John Barton,
Sacramento, CA
* * *
WE REMEMBER
By ELI LIPMEN
In the Jewish tradition,
we are commanded to remember (zachor) and not to
forget (lo tishkach). On January 27, we
commemorate[d] International Holocaust
Remembrance Day. On this solemn occasion, 65
years after the liberation of Auschwitz: We
remember the six million Jewish martyrs,
including 1.5 million children, who were
exterminated in the Holocaust.
We remember the entirely
new alphabet created by the Nazis for the Final
Solution — from the letter "A" for Auschwitz to
the letter "Z" for Zyklon-B. We remember not
only the tragic deaths of the six million Jews,
but also their vibrant lives—as shopkeepers and
craftsmen, scientists and authors, teachers and
students, parents and children, husbands and
wives.
We remember the richly
hued and ancient Jewish civilizations that were
destroyed—from Salonika to Vilna, from Amsterdam
to Prague. We remember the slippery slope that
began with the rantings of an obscure
Austrian-born anti-Semite named Adolf Hitler and
led, in the course of less than 15 years, to his
absolute control over Germany.
We remember the fertile
soil of European anti-Semitism—cultivated over
centuries by cultural, political, and religious
voices—that created an all-too-receptive climate
for the Nazi objective of eliminating the Jewish
people.
We remember the courage
of Denmark, as well as Albania, Bulgaria, and
Finland, for their extraordinary efforts to
protect their own Jewish communities.
We remember the courage
of thousands of Righteous Persons --whom we
call, in Hebrew, Hasidei Umot
Ha’olam—who risked their own lives that
others might live. We remember the millions of
non-Jews -- Poles and Russians, Roma and the
disabled, political opponents and homosexuals --
murdered under the relentless Nazi
onslaught.
We remember the valiant
soldiers of the Allied nations who, at such
great human cost, vanquished the Third
Reich.
We remember the survivors
of the death camps, who endured such
unimaginable suffering and who have inspired us
all with their indomitable courage, spirit, and
will to live. We
remember the absence of an Israel in those
war-time years—an Israel that, had it existed,
would have provided a haven when so shamefully
few countries were willing to accept Jewish
refugees. We shall never forget those who
perished.
We shall never forget
those who saved even a single life. As it is
written in the Talmud: "He who saves one life
has saved the world."
We shall never forget the
importance of speaking out against intolerance,
whenever and wherever it occurs. We shall never
forget the inextricable link among democracy,
the rule of law, and protection of human rights.
We shall never forget the age-old prophetic
vision of a world of justice, harmony, and
peace. And we shall never forget that each of
us, in ways large and small, can help bring us
closer to the realization of that prophetic
vision.
Eli Lipmen, Los Angeles,
CA
* * *
TELEGRAPH ARTICLE FUELS
HATRED?
By JARED
FELDSCHREIBER
Last week I had the
regret of reading Stephanie Gutmann's satirical"
piece called "Israel Builds a Field Hospital,
anti Zionists Don't be Fooled" in the Telegraph
about the Israeli Defen[s]e Force's involvement
of saving lives following the Haitian
earthquake. While reading this intentional
drivel, which farcially writes to those whom
deny anything positive coming out of Israel, I
feel it still gives added incentive to potential
and existing Israel haters.
Clearly, Gutmann is
self-aware enough (and oh so pithy) to know the
article's consequences. If she meant it as
satire, she failed, as many of her talk-backs
were outraged with her. She seemed to lampoon
the very things that anti Zionists often do,
like the Israelis acted "disproportionately," (a
clear reference of Operation Cast Lead in Gaza)
and her inclusion of old anti-Semitic adages,
like "clever, those Jews."
Gutmann is writing to us
from a London-based newspaper; as we know, this
city is a seedbed for homegrown Islamists who
seek to eradicate the Jews. It takes this
attempt of a modern-day's "Protocols of the
Elders of Zion" to be another catalyst to incite
more acts of terrorism. And yet, she cynically
devotes wasteful space to her reader playing.
Ultimately, it becomes apparent it is we realize
it is merely farce. Too late, I believe.
While clearly meant to
disparage those whom write such nonsense on
discussion boards with nothing better to do,
(going after a blogger in Los Angeles who hides
behind a pseduonym for instance, "Smart Alex:"
"a clever fellow and brave too! It takes guts to
make such a deduction and publish it from behind
the cover of a moniker like mart Alex" ),
Gutmann should know she
is also just as culpable being such an arrogant,
and even worse a cynic. She is indifferent or
oblivious to the fact that her piece is the
perfect generator for virulent anti-Semites.
They never care that they are perpetuating lies.
As a writer, she is
misunderstood here; one can only deduce future
writings will also be, and why should we ever
take her seriously? Strangely, in the past, she
has even written a book about the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In the wake of over 100,000
potential deaths by the Haitian earthquake, I
find Gutmann's "satire" so distasteful and
ineffective. To many, if you tell a lie long
enough, it ultimately is true. Either Gutmann is
too cynical or in her mind, too brilliant to
care.
Jared
Feldschreiber, Tel Aviv Israel
69209 |
DEFAMER OF ISRAEL?
By STEVEN
STOTSKY
In 1505, a
Moravian Jew named Joseph Pfefferkorn denounced
his faith and undertook a campaign to get the
Talmud banned by claiming it blasphemed
Christianity. Pfefferkorn was unschooled and a
criminal, but that didn't stop the Dominicans in
Cologne, who at the time were eager to cast
aspersions on the Jews, from employing him. They
recognized the value of a Jew accusing other
Jews.
The practice
of finding Jews to bear false witness against
other Jews has been repeated in many venues.
Today, in America and Canada, some mainline
Protestant churches have eagerly adopted this
practice in an effort to demonize Israel.
A Jewish
anti-Israel activist who has recently gained
some visibility in this regard is Anna Baltzer.
She is an acolyte of the International
Solidarity Movement (ISM), a group that recruits
Westerners to interfere with Israeli anti-terror
operations and whose leaders speak approvingly
of suicide bombings. Baltzer's message consists
mostly of rehashed accusations against Israel
made by Palestinian speakers. But she uses her
Jewish heritage to accrue credibility before
predominantly non-Jewish audiences who often
fail to see through her deception.
Her core
message is to delegitimize Israel. She foists
upon her audience absurd charges, claiming for
example, that Arab armies who invaded the Jewish
state the day after its founding were merely
reacting to Israel's expulsion of 350,000
Palestinians from their homes. This assertion is
false on two accounts; the Arab states attacked
Israel to make good on their threat to destroy
the nascent Jewish state, while Palestinian
flight was stoked by their own leadership.
Despite
claiming to be a peace activist, Baltzer is an
apologist for Hamas, whose founding charter
invokes Islamic doctrine to sanctify killing
Jews. She tells her audiences that Hamas is
willing to accept a ceasefire if Israel will
withdraw to the pre-1967 lines, but conceals its
repeated affirmation to never accept Israel's
right to exist.
Baltzer
accuses Israel of imposing apartheid on the
Palestinians and analogizes jailed Palestinian
terrorists with the famed South African leader
Nelson Mandela. She mocks Israeli measures to
protect its population and shows equal contempt
for the lives of Palestinians by urging them on
to further intifadas knowing full well that this
will only result in bloodshed. She denounces
Israel's decision to build the Wall, denying its
protective purpose. Yet, the protection provided
by the security barrier is clear. In the year
prior to the decision to build the barrier,
Palestinian terrorists murdered 452 Israelis,
mostly in suicide bombings. Since the barrier
was erected, that figure has diminished more
than 90 percent and in 2009 there were no
successful suicide bombings. Meanwhile, the
reduced violence has allowed the West Bank's
economy to recover.
Baltzer
promotes blood libels against Israel. In a talk
at a church in New Jersey, an attendee asked why
her blog carried for months a false story
accusing Israeli soldiers of shooting several
Palestinian children in front of their mother.
Baltzer retorted that she removed the story upon
learning it was false, but added that although
this case turned out not to be true, "I don't
think its hateful to hold a nation accountable
for targeting civilians." So while admitting one
story was a lie, she levels another baseless
accusation.
The question
is why, given such extreme and baseless attacks,
churches invite her to speak. If the goal is to
educate congregants about the conflict between
Israel and the Palestinians, church leaders
could consult with knowledgeable members of the
Jewish community about speakers invited to
comment on Israel. If a speaker has a record of
inflammatory accusations against Israel, the
church may choose to look elsewhere or balance
the program with an additional speaker. There
are many legitimate speakers presenting
different viewpoints. They do not need to rely
upon defamers like Anna Baltzer.
Steven Stotsky
, Boston, MA
* * *
SUPREME COURT’S RULING MOST
DISTURBING IN RECENT MEMORY
By CONGRESSMAN
JOHN GARAMENDI
To suggest
that corporations should have a limitless
ability to finance elections is one of the most
disturbing Supreme Court rulings in recent
memory. Today the Supreme Court essentially
ruled that corporations have most of the same
constitutional rights as human beings. What
next? Do they have the right to vote? Do they
have the right to marry?
Large
corporations in America already have far too
much influence over our public discourse, and
there should be no doubt that bottomless
corporate accounts can crowd out the free speech
of individual Americans. This ruling even
permits businesses controlled by foreign
governments to spend as much money as they want
influencing American elections.
I have begun
discussions with my Congressional colleagues to
see if there is anything we can do curtail the
damage to our country that will result from this
ruling.
Congressman
John Garamendi, Walnut Creek, CA
* * *
SUPREME COURT’S RULING: A BIG VICTORY
FOR BIG BUSINESS
By CHUCK
MANN
The Supreme
Court has just passed a huge '' corporation
stimulus package.'' Five Supreme Court justices
have decided that companies, unions, and other
corporations can spend millions of dollars
supporting, or opposing, candidates who are
running for president or congress. This is a big
victory for Big Business, Big Labor, and any
individual that wants our country to be a
plutocracy.
Suppose a
candidate runs for Congress and his main goals
are to eliminate bank bailouts, and increase
taxes on banker's bonuses. Banks all over the
country would be allowed to spend millions of
dollars opposing him. Suppose a candidate for
president states that since the people own the
airwaves, all TV and radio programs should be
part of the public domain. Every TV, radio, and
cable station would be allowed to spend millions
of dollars opposing her.
The Supreme
Court believes that corporations should have a
special Constitutional free speech right to
spend more money on political campaigns. They
already have the rights to advertise, lobby, and
contribute money to political events. They have
more free speech rights we citizens have. By the
way why does the Supreme Court consider
corporate spending on politics to be free
speech?
Companies,
unions, churches, and all other corporations
should be banned from contributing money to
political parties and candidates.
Chuck Mann,
Greensboro, NC
* * *
CONFERENCE OF PRESIDENTS
CONGRATULATES THE U.S. SENATE FOR UNANIMOUSLY
ADOPTING IRAN SANCTIONS ACT
By ALAN P.
SOLOW & MALCOLM HOENLEIN
This statement
is a resounding declaration by members of the
Senate who joined their counterparts in the
House of Representatives, who passed by an
overwhelming vote the Iran Refined Petroleum
Sanctions Act last month, reflecting an
overwhelming consensus in the United States that
Iran must not be allowed to acquire nuclear
weapons.
Leaders of
Iran have rejected every offer, including last
week again turning down enrichment of uranium
outside of the country, and are racing ahead in
all aspects of their nuclear weapons program,
including missile technology and weaponization.
The measure now goes to the House-Senate
Conference and we urge them to return the bill
to both Houses as quickly as possible
Leaders of
Iran must see the clear determination of the
United States as expressed by the President and
now members of both Houses of Congress. Iran
cannot and will not be allowed to achieve the
goal of its nuclear weapons program. The
adoption of this act by unanimous consent
demonstrates the determination of our
Congressional elected representatives and will
strengthen the hand of the Administration in its
attempt to achieve more stringent sanctions at
the Security Council in the coming days. This is
an important step forward in the critical effort
to prevent a nuclear arms race in the Middle
East, further destabilization in the region, and
threats against Iran’s neighbors
By Alan P.
Solow, By Malcolm Hoenlein, New York,
NY
______________________
|
EDITORIAL
MASTHEAD
Bard, Mitchell G. -- contributing
columnist
Baum, Jennifer -- editorial
assistant
Casey, Steve -- contributing
columnist
Cravatts, Dr. Richard L. -- contributing
columnist
Mann, Charles (Chuck)-- contributing
columnist
Michelson, Dr. Joseph
-- contributing columnist
Phllips, Moshe -- contributing
columnist
Proebsting, Tom - contributing
columnist
Reuben, Liz --
editor
Smith,
Moshe -- contributing columnist
_________________________________
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