16-22 Tammuz, 5778 • June 29-July 5, 2018 Connect. Inform. Inspire.BY THE BOOKBY THE BOOKPJ Library started as an idea to mail children’s books. Today it’s a movement of Jewish continuity.PJ Library started as an idea to mail children’s books. Today it’s a movement of Jewish continuity.by Esther D. KustanowitzDrama/Germany/1999/126 minutesIn German with English SubtitlesExplicit ContentThe Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival and Laemmle Theatrespresent a Special Screening ofIn 1943, while the Allies are bombing Berlin and the Gestapo is purging the capital of Jews, a dangerous love affair blossoms between two women. One of them, Lilly Wust (“Nowhere in Africa” star Juliane Köhler), married and the mother of four sons, enjoys the privileges of her stature as an exemplar of Nazi motherhood. For her, this affair will be the most decisive experience of her life. For the other woman, Felice Schragenheim (Maria Schrader), a Jew with an alias and member of the underground, their love fuels her with the hope that she will survive.A half-century later, Lilly Wust told her incredible story to writer Erica Fischer, and the book, AIMÉE & JAGUAR, first published in 1994, immediately became a bestseller and has since been translated into eleven languages. Max Färberböck’s debut film, based on Fischer’s book, is the true story of this extraordinary relationship. The film was nominated for a 1999 Golden Globe Award and was Germany’s submission for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. Both actresses received Silver Bears at the prestigious Berlinale Film Festival for their portrayals of “Aimée” and “Jaguar.” With an outstanding score composed by Jan A.P. Kaczmarek (Oscar-winner for Best Film Score for “Finding Neverland.”)Tickets: Early Bird special price: $13 (first 36 tickets only)General Admission $15.For tickets and reservations, visitwww.LAJFilmFest.org or call 800.838.3006.Ahrya Fine Arts by Laemmle8556 Wilshire BlvdBeverly Hills, CA 90211Discussion IN PERSON with renowned German actress/director MARIA SCHRADER (Director of “Stefan Zweig: Farewell to Europe” (LAJFF 2016)Special introduction by the honorable Consul General of Germany, HANS JöRG NEuMANN (Mr. Neumann is completing his term in Los Angeles. We are grateful for his service and commitment to the LA Jewish Community)AIMEE & JAGuARMonday, July 9, 20187:30 PMJEWISH JOuRNALPARTNERSPRESENTED BYThe Israel Defense Forces: Settlers to Soldiers JERRY HIRSCH was born in Chicago, raised in a traditional Jewish home, and aware of his Jewish roots at an early age. His father spent half his life searching for the family that he always knew was in Israel, and contacted several Jewish organizations in hopes of locating them. Finally, one of his many letters was received by a relative, and he discovered a large family living in Zichron Yaacov, the place founded in 1882, by Jerry’s great-grandparents in the First Aliyah. Inspired by the story of his pioneering family, Jerry can trace his ancestors back seven generations. He has written three books: Aliyah to Zichron, Call to Zion and Settlers to Soldiers. Jerry is a direct descendent of original settlers in Israel. He is a genealogist, historian, speaker, and was a docent for many years at the Museum of Tolerance. All his extensive research has led to having considerable knowledge of the courageous pioneers, original settlers, and dedicated Zionists, who played an important part in Jewish history. Over the years, Jerry has made numerous trips not only to Israel, but Zichron Yaacov, where members of his family still live in the same house built by his great-grandparents. He currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife, and two daughters.Limited Seating, RSVP: info@beverlyhillsjc.orgFor more information visit: BeverlyHillsJC.org | 310.276.4246JEWISH PLATFORM FOR ADVOCACY AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PRESENTSShabbat Service 9:30 am • Lecture 11:30 amThe Beverly Hills Hotel9641 Sunset Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90210Saturday, July 28Koral FamilyFoundationinside the journal20 » PJ LIBRARY GROWS UP over the last 10 years, Pj library has grown from a little startup that mailed books to jewish children to a movement that creates communities and strengthens jewish connections. how was that done? esther d. Kustanowitz reports. 9 » COLUMNISTS Karen Lehrman Bloch says colleges should be teaching students how to think, not what to think; Marcus J Freed wrestles with how to celebrate the Fourth of july as a Brit in america; Ramona Schindelheim looks at why there aren’t enough skilled workers available for the jobs on offer; Richard Sandler turns to the torah to suggest how our communities can move from conflict to consensus; and Ben Shapiro argues that the unhinged reactions against President donald trump only push more people into his corner. 14 » ANATOMY OF JEWISH L.A. steven Windmueller explores the unique kaleidoscope of los angeles jewry, from its size and composition to its history and diversity. 16 » FLYING KITES OF LIFE amid the incendiary kites from Gaza that have caused a rash of fires, a group of kids from sderot launches a colorful Kite Festival. 19 » PEACE IN OUR TIME? senior Political editor shmuel rosner argues that President donald trump’s yet-to-be-revealed plan for Mideast peace is virtually doomed to failure.25 » THE SUNFLOWERS OF SUMMER Food editor Yamit Behar Wood shows how the humble sunflower — seeds and all — can help shine a light during dark times. 27 » TABLE FOR FIVE: PARSHA BALAK accidental talmudist salvador litvak, rabbinical student natasha Mann and rabbis ari schwarzberg, stephen lewis Fuchs and Kerry M. olitzky share their insights on this week’s torah portion.28 » INTERFAITH PROTESTS leaders and laity took part in several protests over the past week, decrying the trump administration’s policies of separating migrant children from their parents on the southern border. nicole levi reports. 35 » ‘SACRED RESISTANCE’ Vicki juditz’s one-woman show at the Braid explores her transition from nice Christian girl to jewish activist. Wendy Paris reports.39 » PHILOSOPHY VERSUS POLITICS in her new book, Martha nussbaum argues that a little philosophy is exactly what we need in the chaotic age of trump. Book editor jonathan Kirsch reviews.50 » LAW OF THE LAND? immigration attorney helen sklar talks with senior Writer Kelly hartog about the nuts and bolts of immigration law as it pertains to the separation of children from their migrant parents.28 8 » Letters 16 » Nation/World 25 » Yamit’s Table 28 » Community 32 » Movers & Shakers 34 » Arts 40 » What’s Happening 47 » Jonathan Fong Style 50 » Just Asking SHABBAT CANDLE LIGHTING Fri June 29 7:50 p.m.Shabbat ends June 30 8:53 p.m.»1620June 29-July 5, 2018 jewishjournal.com Jewish Journal | 550Listen in on some great conversations.The DAVID SUISSA PodcastAvailable on iTunes“This is what non-profits try to do today: ‘Bring people in from business. They know the answer. Turn to our lay people who are big donors, who have lots of money and run businesses. They have the answers.’ No, they don’t. This [non-profit] is a completely different animal.” - Gary Wexler, Co-Founder of the Red Table,in conversation with David SuissaJune 29-July 5, 2018 JewishJournal.com Jewish Journal | 7Here in AmericA, we HAve A HAbit of turning national holidays into barbe-cues. Whether it’s Memorial Day or Labor Day or July Fourth, a day off means, above all, a time to chill out and party. This party reflex used to bother me: Shouldn’t we be a little more serious about commemorat-ing important moments of our national story? Shouldn’t we incorporate some formal rituals besides fireworks and beer kegs? Maybe because Judaism takes its own holidays so seriously, I figured Ameri-ca should do the same.This year, though, I’ve changed my mind. Right now, more than anything, America needs a time out from the seri-ous. When I see what the serious world of politics has done to our national conver-sation, I’m all for a renewal of our pursuit of happiness. Put another kosher hot dog on the grill and let’s talk about the Lakers. Anything but politics.This won’t be easy, of course, because the serious has a way of obliterating the light-hearted. The serious, in fact, can obliterate everything, even basic civility. Look at how Rep. Maxine Waters took her serious hatred for Donald Trump to call on her supporters to publicly confront and harass members of his administration.“Let’s make sure we show up wherever we have to show up,” she exhorted her supporters. “And if you see anybody from that Cabinet in a restaurant, in a depart-ment store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd. And you push back on them. And you tell them they’re not welcome anymore, anywhere.”That’s serious stuff. And it works both ways. Both sides of the aisle have taken the ugly side of politics so far that it has left a bad taste in all our mouths. When it comes to political discourse, we are in a national race to the bottom. One of our greatest political commen-tators, Charles Krauthammer, who passed away last week, knew how to put politics in its place.“What matters?” he asks at the begin-ning of his book “Things That Matter: Three Decades of Passions, Pastimes and Politics.” His answer: “Lives of the good and the great, the innocence of dogs, the cunning of cats, the elegance of nature, the wonders of space, the perfectly thrown outfield assist, the difference between historical guilt and historical responsibil-ity, homage and sacrilege in monumental architecture, fashions and follies and the finer uses of the F-word.“What matters? Manners and habits, curiosities and conundrums social and ethical: Is a doctor ever permitted to kill a patient wishing to die? Why in the age of feminism do we still use the phrase ‘wom-en and children’? How many lies is one al-lowed to tell to advance stem cell research?“What matters? Occam’s razor, Fer-mat’s last theorem, the Fermi paradox in which the great man asks: With so many habitable planets out there, why in God’s name have we never heard a word from a single one of them?”Krauthammer, a man who built his rep-utation through political commentary, was telling us that his life went way beyond the seriousness of politics. It went into ideas, philosophy, beauty, mystery. “These are the things that most engage me,” he wrote. “They fill my days, some trouble my nights. They give me pause, pleasure, wonder. They make me grateful for the gift of consciousness.”And yet, Krauthammer was also deeply aware of the fundamental importance of politics.“Politics, the crooked timber of our communal lives, dominates everything because, in the end, everything — high and low and, most especially, high — lives or dies by politics. You can have the most advanced and efflorescent of cul-tures. Get your politics wrong, however, and everything stands to be swept away. This is not ancient history. This is Ger-many 1933.”We must pay attention to politics, he wrote, “because of its capacity, when be-nign, to allow all around it to flourish, and its capacity, when malign, to make all around it wither.”But when political discourse is so ma-lignant, politics can’t make anything flour-ish. At this moment, tribalism and emo-tionalism are mixing with social media to create a lethal brew. Our feckless politi-cians, instead of modeling civil discourse, are leading this race to the gutter. And here’s the worst part: All of the unhinged discourse is, ultimately, useless, corrosive venting. Not only does it not seek solu-tions, it may not even help these politi-cians come election time. Krauthammer’s genius, and his legacy, was that he could take politics seriously without ever losing his dignity or his lust for life. He knew that “manners and hab-its, curiosities and conundrums” were the stuff of a winning life.That’s worth pondering this year as we watch the fireworks and get sloshed on margaritas. nCharles Krauthammer and July 4th» by David SuissaPublisher & editor-in-chief David Suissa editoriAlSenior Political editor Shmuel RosnerAssistant editor Richard Core book editor Jonathan KirschFood editor Yamit Behar WoodSenior writer Kelly HartogStaff writer Ryan Torokcopy editors Linda Whitmore, Chris Woldtcontributing editors Tom Tugend, Jane Ulmancontributing writers Michael Berenbaum, Karen Lehrman Bloch, Debra Eckerling, Steve Greenberg, Esther D. Kustanowitz, Kylie Ora Lobell, Gerri Miller, Gina Nahai, Ari Noonan, Judea Pearl, Ben Shapiro, Raphael J. Sonenshein, Tom Teicholz, Michelle K. Wolf, David Wolpemanagement Supervisor Eli FinkJewiSHJournAl.comdigital team Aaron Bandler, Armando Koghandigital director Shoshana LewinAdvertiSingexecutive director, AdvertisingMartin FinkelsteinSenior Account executivesShoshana Cohen, Arlyn Isen, Marc KatzJunior Account executiveGinger Vicktraffic manager Sara BudisantosoSales coordinator Angela Haydesign consultant Jonathan Fongexecutive Assistant Shanni SuissaProductionArt director Lynn Pelkeygraphic designer Paul TakizawaAdminiStrAtionchief Financial officer Adam Levinebookkeeper Andrea AlonsoAdministrative Assistant Tova Suissaisrael Advertising Partnersimp group ltdPOB 7195, Jerusalem 91071 ISRAELTel: 972-2-625-2933Fax: 972-2-624-9240E-mail: info@impmedia.co.illegal counsel/Accountants Jonathan Kirsch of Law Offices of Jonathan Kirsch O’Melveny & Myers LLP (pro bono legal services on employment law matters)Past PublishersRichard Volpert (1985-1986)Ed Brennglass (1986-1997)Stanley Hirsh (1997-2003)Irwin S. Field (2003-2011)Rob Eshman (2011-2017)TRIBE MEDIA CORP. 3250 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1250, Los Angeles, CA 90010. (213) 368-1661Annual subscription rate: $75 for home delivery (restricted in certain areas); $160 for mail both in California and out of state; $350 outside of the United States. For all subscription services, visit JewishJournal.com or call (213) 368-1661, ext.129. The Jewish Journal does not endorse the goods and services advertised in its pages, and it makes no representation as to the kashrut of the food products and services in such advertising. Published weekly by TRIBE Media Corp. All rights reserved. © 2018Volume 33, Number 17June 29-July 5, 2018jewishjournal.comeditor’S note When I see what the serious world of politics has done to our national conversation, I’m all for a renewal of our pursuit of happiness. Krauthammer’s genius, and his legacy, was that he could take politics seriously without ever losing his dignity or his lust for life.Jefferson’s Views MisrepresentedI read with surprise (“Jeffersonian vs. Jacksonian Jews,” June 22) the assertion that Jewish voters who support today’s Democratic Party candidates are the heirs of Thomas Jefferson because he “view[ed] the role of government as enhancing and promoting social change.”Actually, of all the Founding Founders, Jefferson was the strongest in his dislike of a large, expensive, hyperactive central government. He wrote that the specific enumeration of Congress’ powers in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution was the “foundation” of the Constitution and “to take a single step beyond the boundaries thus specifically drawn around the powers of Congress is to take possession of a boundless field of power, no longer susceptible of any definition.” Jefferson warned that a federal government without defined powers would degenerate into “the most corrupt government on earth,” a “field for jobbing, speculating, plundering, office-building and office-hunting.”Jefferson wrote in 1799, “I am for a government rigorously frugal and simple, applying all the possible savings of the public revenue to the discharge of the national debt.” In his first inaugural address, he spoke of “a wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor [by taxation] the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government.”Jefferson wrote in 1800, when the country was a fraction of its size today, “Our country is too large to have all of its affairs directed by a single government.” Incurring debt of trillions of dollars? Jefferson believed it was immoral for one generation to incur public debt that another generation had to repay. He posited as a law “never to borrow without laying a tax sufficient to pay principal and interest within a fixed period, and I would fix that period at 10 years.”Daniel J. FriedmanRancho Palos VerdesAnthony Bourdain’s SuicideUnfortunately, it is typical of liberal Jews to write a long, glowing article about Anthony Bourdain, except writers neglected to mention that he said in 2017 (as cited June 8, 2018, in the Washington Examiner) that he would poison President Donald Trump if he had to cook for him. Poison him? The paper said he was joking. Oh, really? Did Robert De Niro, Brian Sims or Kathy Griffin also joke? It is a shame, Jewish Journal! If you report anything, at least report it all. Have we lost all decency, that anybody we disagree with has to be hated, scorned, ignored, ridiculed or eliminated?Robert ReytoLos AngelesAnthony Bourdain committed suicide, and the speculations and judgments haven’t ceased. Speculations are part of everyday life. However, public judgments of the individual because of such an act are often nasty, spiteful and lacking knowledge about the person. Even when you think you know someone, you often don’t know what’s going on inside his head.Years ago, a friend of mine killed himself. I mourned his passing. I did not think what he did was selfish, as some really stupid, uncaring people do when someone chooses to leave this world. Let it be. Stephen J. MeyersWoodland HillsFighting Kite TerrorismShmuel Rosner’s column “The Kite Gunner” (June 22) was the first I had read about Israel’s best response to this situation: Arab terrorists — usually children — living in Gaza sending kites and balloons carrying fire over the barrier to destroy Israeli farms and other property, burning it to the ground. But using live ammunition against the perpetrators must be a last response. I had listed some concepts based on my years of engineering experience (I am 91). Use radar (I was in charge of the radar on my ship during World War II). After locating the kite, send a message to a nearby drone to attack it, perhaps using a stream of water.Use wind power along the barrier to blow the air into Gaza, away from Israel. The photo accompanying Rosner’s column suggested yet another: a series of wires above the barrier to catch and retain the kite so it could not move beyond that point.But I learned from The Jewish Press that Israel has not been sitting idly by. The Israel Defense Forces are using optical sensors powered by lasers to spot kites and balloons rising from the Gaza Strip. Developed by Rafael, “Sky Spotter” alerts rescue teams about the calculated trajectory so they can quickly go to the expected landing area to extinguish the fire before it engulfs the entire area.A tip of my hat to the Israeli engineers, but there is one significant problem with this approach. It can destroy the kites/extinguish the fire only after they have already set down on Israeli farmland. Perhaps one of my suggestions would be better — especially the use of wind power so that the kite will fly back into Gaza. I like the use of wind power the most; it’s the simplest. George Epsteinvia emailFamily Separation at the BorderAryeh Cohen’s story (“The Cries of a Child,” June 22) has only aggravated the misinformation that the mainstream media have been foisting on all of us about the current immigration situation. He refers to John Moore’s picture of a crying Honduran 2-year-old girl who appears to be the face of the family separation news coverage in the mainstream media. It turns out the little girl, Yanela Denise Hernandez was never separated from her mother, Sandra. According to Buzzfeed, the mother was deported from the U.S. in 2013 by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). She went back to El Salvador, had a baby and this time tried to come back using the baby to manipulate the system to get into the U.S. The father of Yanela and husband of Sandra, Denis Javier Varela Hernandez, told the U.K.’s Daily Mail that Sandra had taken their daughter Yanela on a dangerous journey to the U.S. without telling him. She left him with their other three children: Wesly (14), Cindy (11) and Brianna (6). He told the Daily Mail, “I don’t have any resentment for my wife, but I do think it was irresponsible for her to take the baby with her in her arms because we don’t know what could happen.” He stated that she planned to apply for political asylum. He didn’t mention any political persecution at home that might justify the claim. He also was employed and stated, “I thank God that I have a good job here.”Sandra Hernandez could have tried to enter the U.S. legally, comply with the system and eventually become a citizen like my zayde and bubbe did over a century ago when they came legally through Ellis Island with my father and his siblings. Instead, she and others chose to ignore the law and create chaos, knowing that people like Cohen will probably give them cover by pretending that there is a moral imperative overriding a legal obligation to enforce the law.Marshall LernerBeverly HillsWhen Lies Are BelievedKaren Lehrman Bloch’s excellent, though alarming, column “The Gaslighting of Jews” (June 22) suggests American-Jewish liberals are accepting the leftist demonization of Israel because they’re “hearing these lies starting in middle school.” But Jews have heard Blood Libels for centuries; the real question is, why are some Jews now believing them, instead of refuting them?I applaud Bloch’s appeal to them to “get help,” but I’m not optimistic. There’s a long history of Jewish converts to Christianity betraying Judaism; today’s converts to “progressivism” are doing the same.Rueben Gordon via emailThanks for the MemoriesI am nearing the end of my two month stay in Los Angeles — here for the birth of our first grandchild. Throughout my stay, I have been a regular and enthusiastic reader of your excellent publication — often moving, sometimes infuriating, always informative and intelligent.Christopher WardUniversity of Exeter, U.K.your turnLetters should be no more than 200 words and must include a valid name and city. The Journal reserves the right to edit all letters. letters@jewishjournal.com.Don’t be shy. Send your letters to letters@jewishjournal.com8 | Jewish Journal JewishJournal.com June 29-July 5, 2018June 29-July 5, 2018 JewishJournal.com Jewish Journal | 9When I tell college students today that I don’t remember ever knowing the political leanings of any of my professors, they look at me as though I must have gone to school before the Civil War. So far down the rabbit hole has academia gone that not only do students know their professors’ political opinions from Day One, but entire courses are built on those opinions. And if a student wants to pass the class, he or she must regurgitate those opinions, even if those opinions are based on lies.Moreover, professors’ opinions are restricted to a certain leftist Orthodoxy. Indeed, such a censorious environment has descended upon academia that students and professors fear being labeled “racist” or “fascist” just for asking a question that falls out of the Orthodoxy of Approved Thought.To essentially save the academy from itself, Jonathan Haidt, a professor of social psychology at New York University, co-founded Heterodox Academy, a nonpartisan nonprofit committed to nurturing viewpoint diversity on college campuses. The members, now more than 2,000 professors and graduate students, are politically diverse with one common belief: The purpose of a university is to teach students how to think, not what to think.“A small range of socio-political views are communally endorsed as reasonable or valid,” writes co-founder Debra Mashek in a Heterodox mission statement. “Rather than doing the challenging work of thinking through how a novel position might contain a piece of the truth, difference is coded as offense. … Even trace amounts of ideological difference in a classroom can exceed somebody’s threat threshold and get labeled as bigoted or fascist.” A couple of weeks ago, Heterodox held its first Open Mind Conference in New York City. You can see it online. What’s clear is that the situation is worse than we thought. In the first panel, professor Richard Shweder discussed the insanely politicized attempt to get the American Anthropological Association to boycott Israeli academic institutions: “It felt like a disturbing political rally rather than an intellectual event.” He was “startled by the number of senior distinguished tenured faculty” who told him that they were very much opposed to a boycott, but to please not quote them publicly. These are tenured professors. What were they afraid of? They were afraid of students with baseball bats outside of their offices and classrooms, death threats to their families and vicious social media campaigns. In other words, leftist tantrums.No, this isn’t social justice at all, but authoritarian adherence to the Orthodoxy — what one panelist called “the new religion.” The university as political pawn; the students as stormtroopers.Indeed, the atmosphere at many colleges can only be described as mob rule: Students continually disrupt classes, shouting down anyone who doesn’t adhere to the orthodoxy; “non-approved” speakers are completely shut down, often accompanied by rioting; cowardly administrators tell police to “stand down,” leaving speakers, professors and students to fend for themselves. Although many panelists labeled what’s going on a “crisis,” the tone of the conference was optimistic — We can fix this. Why? Because they believe that the majority of professors are not Marxist fanatics who approve of any of this. Rather, the silent majority is waiting for the tide to turn. Heterodox’s goal is to increasingly embolden professors and force administrators to put clear guidelines in place about civil discourse: You cannot shut down or shout down anyone else. If you continue to engage in this call-out culture, there will be serious consequences. This all sounds great in slowly changing the climate: “Where humility and curiosity replace righteousness and indignation,” as Mashek put it.But a match needs to be lit on our side: Holding professors and administrators to higher standards. How? Pull your kid from any university that allows any of this. I transferred twice — it’s much easier than you might think. But don’t just transfer, publicize loudly and clearly why you are transferring. Dwindling endowments and bad PR talk. Meanwhile, don’t discourage your kids from being rebels. Rebels have changed the world, time and again. Rebels question orthodoxies. They “follow truth wherever it may lead,” as Thomas Jefferson put it upon founding the University of Virginia. In today’s culture of continual outrage, encourage your kids to be rebels of reason. nKaren Lehrman Bloch is an author and cultural critic.lIve from neW yorkThe purpose of a university is to teach students how to think, not what to think.Rebels of Reason» by Karen Lehrman BlochNext >