Lynn Schusterman tells all

Her heart's in Jerusalem
By RUTH EGLASH
August 25, 2009 The Jerusalem Post
It's clear almost immediately when one meets American-born Jewish billionaire Lynn Schusterman that she has two great passions in life: The first is her ability to change the way young Jewish people from around the world view Israel and their own Jewish identities; the second is Jerusalem.

"It's the spiritual capital of the world," exclaims the 70-year-old Tulsa, Oklahoma-based philanthropist, the proud owner of one of the Israeli capital's most luxurious residences with spectacular views stretching from the heart of Jerusalem all they way to the mountains of Jordan. "Jerusalem has huge potential and I want to encourage more young people - Israelis and others - to come and visit."

"Last spring I visited SCAN [Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia]. The college has renovated old buildings all over the downtown area, a move which has brought some 6,000 young people into the city, with more than a fourth planning to stay in Savannah after college," says Schusterman, seeming to veer from the topic of Israel and its capital completely, but then almost immediately returning to her true love: "This is something that I would like to see happen in Jerusalem as well. We have to start reviving arts and culture, encourage young people to come and visit here."

Of course her goals do not end with trips for young people; rather her vision expands to include the length and breadth of Israel, which she believes is the only way for the entire world to really grasp the issues here and, perhaps, one day find a solution.

"People outside do not understand the complexities here and the [international] media does not convey it properly," Schusterman observes. "I remember bringing five US senators and six congressmen to Israel and only once they were here could they really understand what is going on in reality.

"However, some of the worst offenders [of ignorance] are from within our own community - university professors or certain rabbis - and one of my goals is to get more young Jewish people involved in Israel advocacy. I want to see more and more young people coming here on birthright and going back to get involved in their communities."

AS ONE of the key sponsors of birthright, an undeniably successful program that has brought thousands of young Jews for a free 10-day countrywide tour, Schusterman takes great pride in this initiative and her other innovative projects, all designed to enhance Jewish identity through a connection to Israel.

"I will never forget the meeting I had with a 23-year Jewish man, who works on the New York Stock Exchange," she says as we sit in her high-rise apartment, Jerusalem sprawling out in seeming harmony beneath us.

"He told me he felt when the Second Lebanon War broke out that the war's only significance for him was that the price of oil was going up, but a few months later when he stood on the Golan Heights and understood the proximity of Lebanon to Israel, his whole perspective about the issue completely changed."

With no end to the stories of her interactions with the young people touched by her ventures, Schusterman goes on to recall a recent trip to India.

"[T]he Jewish tour guide took me to see a Jewish wedding there," she says. "The couple handed out a booklet describing how they'd met in 'their homeland' and it turned out they had met on a birthright trip. Seeing how the program had touched these people had a tremendous impact on me."

FOR SCHUSTERMAN it is this kind of effect on young Jews' perceptions and, ultimately, their Jewish identities that has spurred her to continue investing millions in the foundation that she established in 1987 with her husband, Charles.

Listed by Forbes magazine as one of the wealthiest people on the planet - with her inherited fortune still growing - Schusterman says that her and her husband's interest in Israel advocacy and Jewish identity was initially sparked by the experiences of their daughter Stacey, today the foundation's second director.

"We originally got involved in 1983 when Stacey was at Yale University," she explains, describing how Jewish students on the campus were learning to rationally debate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "We realized then the importance of US college campuses in changing opinions and perceptions."

Later, after the events of September 11, 2001, and with the second intifada in full swing, she realized that the already established foundation could be even more effective if it worked as a conduit for uniting the work of Jewish organizations.

Perhaps the most visible result of her work in this regard is Hillel: the Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, which supports more than 250 smaller affiliates at over 500 universities, mainly in North America but also in Israel, South America and the former Soviet Union. It has also been active in bringing thousands of young people to Israel on birthright.

Also, Schusterman's dedication to the B'nai B'rith Youth Organization, ROI (Return on Investment) Global Summit for Young Jewish Innovators and various other Israel-focused programs has brought the foundation closer to achieving its goals.

What are the biggest challenges faced by young Jews in the Diaspora today?

I believe that this has been the worst year ever in terms of anti-Israel sentiment on US college campuses; several universities even held anti-Israel apartheid week.

However, we are trying to use all this negative activity to our advantage and are offering certain campuses the chance to develop their Israel programs, including taking on Israeli professors to act as ambassadors for Israel.

Another program that that tackles this problem is the American Jewish Committee's Project Interchange, which brings university presidents to Israel so they can get a complete picture of what is happening and prevent problems from springing up on their campuses.

How has the economic crisis affected your philanthropic work?
We are definitely looking at the grants we are receiving very differently this year. We are asking organizations to pool resources and work together for a common goal.

In addition, I constantly travel around the country trying to raise funds for birthright and BBYO; I give conferences to get people involved and to help them understand the importance of Israel activities on college campuses.

How do you persuade people to support Israel or Jewish activities when there are so many other worthy causes?
It's very difficult, especially when you weigh the needs of a soup kitchen against sending a kid to Israel, but my comment is always that if you want someone to take care of that soup kitchen in the future, then it pays to send someone now on birthright because afterward they will likely get involved and look into giving back.

Another thing I do is to talk about a Jewish future. If they are concerned about intermarriage or Jews disappearing, then I talk to them about getting involved and putting their money where their mouth is.

What are you doing to reach out to non-affiliated Jewish youth?
In a world like ours that is diverse and diffuse, there is no way for us to know exactly where or what types of programs to invest in. It is becoming clear, however, that the days of investing in one singular institution are over and to be effective one must be everywhere and into everything. You need to be on the broadest playing field possible.

Our idea is not to find one single person or program to ensure the future of the Jewish people, that is why we have programs like ROI, which has created a whole network of young people working for the future.

There are many young innovators out there who are ahead of the curve, but we want to focus on encouraging as many people as possible to be involved in spreading the word.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?apage=2&cid=1251133671053&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Bernie's mad betrayal....

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-08-24/sex-with-madoff/?cid=hp:beastoriginalsR2

End of vacation blues

All good things must come to an end but before they do there are some sticky and tricky situations that one must deal with, especially when the good thing we are talking about is the school vacation.

Obviously while school vacation for some (children and teachers) is the holy grail, for the rest of us (namely young parents) its a turbulent time where acceptable codes of parenting go completely out the window. Where suddenly healthy children are allowed to eat chocolate spread sandwiches without end and have pizza for breakfast just to prevent more moaning and groaning from the little cherubs.

But the worst issue that raises its ugly head over the last few weeks of the summer vacation is the race by parents to pawn off their children onto other parents. The sheer desperation to be relieved of ones own children, even if it is just for a few hours.

We are all guilty of doing it, of having those feelings of elation when your child is invited to play at someone elses house and grimacing when somone elses kid wants to come to you, especially if its one that does not engage your child and you are the one who has to play with someone elses child until mummy or daddy comes to pick them.

Obviously it gets easier as they get older but the permanent dilemma is whether tocall our child's friend in a desperate bid to invite our own child over to play at there house but we also run the risk of allowing more savy experienced parents to convince us that their child has to come over to our house for that wonderful playtime. Then instead of getting rid of one child for a few hours you are actually gaining another one... one that usually does not listen to you cos you're not his/her mother.

There are few tips to help you cope with the dilemma. First, be assertive. Practise the conversation with the other mother... "hello, Ben really, really wants to come to your house and play with Sam... is tomorrow at 9am ok?" If she tries to suggest Sam comes to your house, tell her that you have a doctors appointment for one of the other children and its just not possible.

Second tip, 'help' your children select their friends. From the start of the school year identify children that are quiet and well-behaved, the ones that engage your children and make for a peaceful playdate. Then when you do get roped into taking someone elses kid, at least he/she is some harmonious.

Thirdly, know when to give in. There are times when you just have to give in. Have to agree to take another person's kid... but make sure to remind the other parent that they owe you one!!! hahahahahaha

deep breaths, deep breaths... its nearly over.

Tattoo musings

Stereotypes notwithstanding, the tattoo artist that drew stars on my ankle was not impressed at all that I am going to see Madonna in concert next week. Now why did that not surprise me? And why is it ever so cliched that Eyal (a German-Jewish immigrant to Israel) was far more excited by the Ozzy Osbourne track on the radio than by our middle-aged mummy banter or our rendition of Michael Jackson songs?

He did inform us at the start of his artistic endeavors that "tattoo artists are humans too." That was after we laughed at his farewell greeting to a fellow tattoo artist: "Regards to the wife, cat and kids." But as the time unfolded and he embedded the stars one by one into my lower leg it turns out that tattoo artists might not actually be human beings, not the ones that most of us are familiar with, but infact a different species unique unto themselves.

Either that or there is a strict code of conduct that all such artists must adhere to, an exclusive club that one can only join if you despise mainstream popular culture. There is also the standard appearance, first they must have at least one arm inked from wrist to shoulder. The tats must be some non-descript design with at least one scantily clad woman peeking through the faded green ink. Their hair must be ratty, clothes all tatty and, most importantly, they have to have an attitude.

That attitude includes, of course, hating the world at large (probably a world that has dismissed them for being weird). They try to be non-conformist but in doing so obviously conform to their own norms and values and hence we have our stereotypes. For a tattoo artist to hate Madonna and other iconic pop artists with a passion is sooooo cliched! I wish I could find one that is strong enough to admit they admire such musicians for making a packet and reaching the heights of fame.

One other trait so important in a tattoo artist is that they must also make their canvas (i.e. the client getting the tattoo) feel that they are not cool enough or worthy enough to join their ranks (unless of course they are wearing their own tattoo artist uniform -- ratty hair, tatty clothes and shoulder to arm ink). But thats ok... I am ok with being a 30-something woman, a mother and wife, wouldn't want to be a ratty, tatty, world-hating tat-artist and I would rather go to the Madonna concert!!!!

An image to be reckoned with

I don’t know what to do. I can’t get it out of my head.

The terrible images of a family (actually two families) evicted from their homes this week in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah. The television cameras show them standing forlornly on the streets, all their belongings strewn around them, crying they no longer have a roof over their heads.

As they stand there dazed and confused, removal vans arrive bringing the belongings of the building’s new residents – Jews – who have been permitted by a Supreme Court order to move into their former homes. They are powerless, there is nothing they or the hundreds of protesters, who have been trying to help them save their homes over the past few weeks, can do.

The CNN reporter highlights this weakness, interviewing UN officials, British government people – whose offices are across the street – and other internationals all frustrated that their ad-hoc unofficial pleas to the Israeli police not to evict the families are falling on deaf ears.

It’s a difficult scene to watch and my heart goes out to them, these Arab-Israeli or Palestinian families, it’s awful.

But then, the CNN reporter digs the knife in…. “The Israelis came to evict them by surprise in the early hours of a quiet Sunday morning,” she says.

What?! I hear you ask… how could the Israelis just show up and surprise this poor innocent family on a weekend. A quiet Sunday morning, the day and time that it happened suddenly seems even worse than the fact that it has happened.

How awful? Suddenly, I just can’t shake it. These powerful images leave me with tears in my eyes and the fact it happened on a quiet Sunday morning… well that is even worse.

WAKE up, wake up… you don’t live in the West anymore. You haven’t lived in the West for more than 15 years. You know that the early hours of Sunday morning in Jerusalem are like a busy mid-week day anywhere else.

The hustle and bustle of the day has already started at sunrise. People are up early in Israel because of the heat and already on their way to work. Sunday is a work day in Israel, after all.
Wait, so if the Sunday pun is a ruse, then isn’t it possible that CNN is only showing a slice of reality? Could it be that once again we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg being played out on TV and, despite the harrowing images, not really getting a full and colorful picture of the history to this particular battle, which is heightened amidst the larger Israeli-Palestinian conflict?

Of course, it is never acceptable to leave a family stranded with no place to live. Allow young children to see their toys strewn all over the floor, surely there was a better way for Israel to have approached this incident? Offered the families living there some sort of deal, compensation, or some other alternative? After all, this incident will only leave another generation of Palestinians hating Israelis based on their own personal experiences.

SENSITIVITY aside for a second, let’s talk some realism. This eviction cannot be treated in the vacuum that it has been portrayed by most of the international media have portrayed it. Obviously it makes for better ratings and a more heart wrenching story. It also highlights the growing conflict of ideology between Israel and the new Obama administration in the US and there is nothing better for the media than a really good fight.

But it also has to be put in context, there has to be a history and, in contrast to popular international believes, the Israelis did not just come and evict the families to allow Jews to move in. This happened after years and years of disagreements, court hearings and a long, long paper trail.

In fact, according to some reports, the dispute over this property goes back more than 100 years to Jews claim to have purchased the land during the Ottoman Empire and owned it until the 1948 partition plan put the area under Jordanian control.

A New York Times article suggests that the houses on the disputed land were built in the 1950s by the United Nations for refugees who had fled west Jerusalem during the 1948 war.

When Israel captured east Jerusalem in 1967 and united the city, according to some sources, the families were permitted to stay on as tenants. At some point, however, they stopped paying rent having become convinced that the Jews' deed to the land was a forgery.

Of course, it is almost impossible to know who is telling the truth but it is equally frustrating when a conflict such as this is not portrayed in the media with fairness and objectivity, when the facts are not presented in a straight and balanced way. When sensationalism and what sells dictates how what spin should be put on a story.

I am not sure how much longer we can forgive television for skimming over the facts of a story in favor of the colorful images that capture their viewer’s imaginations. Think about it.

Advocates for secular marriage use Tu Be'Av to highlight their struggle

For Olga Samosvatov, 29, the decision to marry her long-time boyfriend Nico Tarosyan in an unofficial secular Jewish wedding ceremony on Tu Be'Av, the Jewish day of love, was easy.

"We knew the Rabbinate would make problems for us, so we never even approached them," Samosvatov, who made aliya from Ukraine in 1995, told The Jerusalem Post on Monday. "In any case we are secular, not religious, and we just did not want to go through the battle of trying to get married here. Planning a wedding is supposed to be a happy process, and fighting for recognition from the Rabbinate is too stressful."

Tarosyan, 34, who emigrated from Moscow in 1995, does not have sufficient proof that he is Jewish. He is one of more than 300,000 Israelis, mostly immigrants from the Former Soviet Union (FSU), who cannot get married here because the Orthodox Rabbinate has the final say in such matters, allowing only those considered halachically Jewish to marry other Jews.

However, thanks to the efforts of non-profit secular Jewish organization Havaya, which represents several other movements fighting the Orthodox Jewish monopoly on marriage, Samosvatov and Tarosyan will officially tie the knot on Tuesday evening in a public ceremony in Tel Aviv's Dizengoff Square.

Aimed at highlighting the struggle faced by other young couples whose Jewish roots are not completely clear, the marriage will be officiated by a secular master of ceremonies and will include Jewish blessings from high-profile figures such as former Jewish Agency for Israel chairman Avraham Burg and past Knesset member Naomi Hazan, both vocal advocates for secular weddings in Israel.

"I'm so excited to finally be getting married," Samosvatov told the Post. "It is just a shame that it will not really be recognized by the state and that we will still have to go abroad to get properly married."

The two, who currently live in Holon, are planning to honeymoon in Prague, where they will have a non-religious civil ceremony that will allow them to be registered here as married by the Interior Ministry.

"I did not know I was Jewish until I was 12, when neighbors kept painting anti-Semitic graffiti on the door of our home," recalled Tarosyan. "I immigrated to Israel as soon as I finished college and feel very much at home here. However, this need to prove I am Jewish to the rabbis is humiliating."

He added: "In Russia we were hated because we were Jews and here in Israel we are discriminated against as Russians."

"It's a very hurtful situation," commented Diti Degani-Peleg, director of Havaya. "We meet so many couples, immigrants from Russian-speaking countries, who have made aliya, served in the army, but get this slap in the face when they try to get married here."

According to Degani-Peleg, Havaya's aim is to provide a suitably spiritual and Jewish alternative to those who are unable to get married here under current Orthodox directives.

"The situation needs to be changed and we want to encourage as many couples as possible to utilize our alternative experience so that the government cannot go on ignoring this problem any more," she said, estimating that 50 percent of those who turn to Havaya are prevented from marrying here because they are not considered Jewish enough, while the other half simply prefer to have a secular Jewish wedding.

"We also help couples who want a Jewish experience but feel that the orthodox ceremony is not for them," added Degani-Peleg.

While Havaya's main focus is reaching out to those who cannot get married here, it is also involved in lobbying the authorities for a real change. Even though the Ministerial Committee for Legislation last month approved a government proposal for a bill allowing Israelis classified as having no religion to be registered as a couple, Degani-Peleg said this change did not go far enough and would only affect a very small number of people.

"We need a different law that will allow any Israeli to marry any other Israeli," she said.

Israel needs for clearer refugee policy

Interior Minister Eli Yishai's cancellation of the controversial Gedera-Hadera policy on Thursday highlights the need for Israel to create a comprehensive and legally binding approach to helping thousands of asylum-seekers who have entered the country over the past five years, according to Anat Ben-Dor, an instructor at Tel Aviv University Law School's Refugee Rights Clinic.

A staunch critic of the government's treatment of those who arrive in Israel looking for a safe haven, Ben-Dor pointed out that in a High Court of Justice hearing on Wednesday - just hours before Yishai called on his ministry's Oz Unit to temporarily freeze its operations - government officials had virulently defended the Gedera-Hadera policy.

Set in motion a year-and-a-half ago, the Gedera-Hadera rule was aimed at preventing thousands of African asylum-seekers from settling in the Center of the country and taking jobs from Israelis. However, Yishai said on Thursday that the policy was actually more of a burden on towns in the periphery struggling with socioeconomic issues heightened by the current recession.

"Obviously I am delighted that [Yishai] has buckled to the pressure and made this change," Ben-Dor told The Jerusalem Post. "However, just the fact that one day this policy was being defended and the next day it was canceled shows how badly Israel needs a real refugee policy."

She added, "These rules are just not thought out properly. There is no research and no thought as to how such policies can negatively impact the lives of thousands of people."

Even though Israel is party to the UN's Refugee Convention, since 1951 it has only recognized a total of 170 refugees, even though more than 17,000 people from Africa, who claim they cannot return to their countries of origin, have been living here since April 2007.

According to Elisheva Milikowsky, public policy and activism coordinator for ASSAF - an aid organization for refugees and asylum-seekers - until these people are confirmed as refugees, they have no clear status, no healthcare benefits and no access to any government assistance.

She said that the organization, together with a collection of other NGOs, was attempting to generate broad-based political support for a bill that could eventually set a comprehensive policy on how to deal with refugees and asylum seekers.

The law, which was drafted by Ben-Dor, among others, is very short, said Milikowsky, but it gives clear directives on how refugees should be treated both before and after their status is official.

"The fact that policies toward them are constantly changing is very scary and unsettling for these people," commented Ben-Dor, who told the Post that the government was in the process of creating a body that would be able to look into peoples' claims that they could not return to their country of origin.

She continued, "Such legislation will hopefully put a stop to all the illegal activities that have been used to prevent refugees and asylum seekers from entering the country, including turning people back at the borders, throwing them into prison and moving them on to a third country."

Ben-Dor said she believed that Israel's policy until now seemed to have been based on a notion that "if life gets too comfortable for asylum-seekers, then many, many more will want to come here."

While a law protecting the rights of refugees and asylum-seekers is the only way forward to deal with this growing humanitarian crisis, Ben-Dor said its implementation had suffered delays due to the day-to-day battles, such as fighting the Gedera-Hadera policy and lobbying against the pending Prevention of Infiltrators bill. The bill has already passed its first reading.

"Many people do not realize how much harm this bill could do," Ben-Dor said. "It proposes to set into law the policy of turning people back at the border and wants to punish any person entering Israel illegally, without differentiating between those who might have arrived here to escape genocide."

She finished, "Before we can work on passing legislation to aid and protect refugees, we need to prevent bills such as this one from being made into law."

Artists unite to protest gov't policy on foreign workers

(Activestills.org)

A collective of Tel Aviv photographers joined forces this week to launch a visual protest campaign against what they believe is a cruel and misguided government policy to crack down and deport illegal foreign workers, The Jerusalem Post learned Wednesday.

Photos by the artists group Active Stills depicting treatment of illegal foreign workers have been posted on utility boxes and other public locations in TA.

Calling themselves Active Stills (www.activestills.com), the group describes themselves as "documentary photographers acting for social change, convinced in the power of photography as a vehicle of change through awareness.

"We believe in the capability and obligation of photography and all arts in general to make a statement and to stimulate conscience. Photography is a channel of self-expression. The camera is the mouth. The picture is the scream."

The group's latest campaign includes a graphic depiction of the National Immigration Authority's recently launched Oz unit at work detaining foreign workers and asylum-seekers in the Tel Aviv area.

"Most people in Israel are blind to what is going on," explained Keren, one of the group's members, who didn't want to be fully identified out of fear that she would be arrested for running this illegal protest - some of the visuals are posted in places without permission.

"We want to raise awareness to the plight of foreign workers and asylum-seekers. This policy is unfair, the government dealing with them outside of the law," she said.

Keren added that the government's theory that foreign workers and asylum-seekers are taking jobs that should go to unemployed Israelis is no justification for what some describe as the brutal treatment of the Oz unit.

"For all those that are deported, many more are still going to come in, so their situation has no bearing on the state of unemployment," she said, pointing out that it is time the government adopted a more concrete policy towards those who arrive here looking for a safe haven.

"As a country that is familiar with the plight of refugees it is unacceptable that these people are not being dealt with in a decent manner," said Keren.

The photography campaign is also aimed at warning migrant workers and other foreign nationals of the dangers posed by the Oz unit, she said.

According to figures released last week by the National Immigration Authority, an Interior Ministry division, more than 800 illegal migrants have left the country since the Oz unit started its activities earlier this month. Seven hundred people left the country on their own, and 100 were deported, a ministry statement said.

In addition, the unit has investigated the status of some 4,000 foreign citizens; 600 were detained and 400 were arrested.

Nongovernmental organizations working on behalf of migrants and refugees have criticized the unit's work, claiming that more than 60 percent of those being detained were African asylum-seekers who cannot be expelled.

Under a recently implemented Interior Ministry policy, however, African asylum-seekers are forced to live and work north of Hadera and south of Gedera. Those found in Tel Aviv are automatically taken in for questioning.

A spokeswoman for the Oz unit said that no specific groups were being targeted but that they were just making sure people were staying out of the Gedera-Hadera zone.

Pregnant pause: Will costly damages cases make employers think twice?

With the economic recession forcing more and more pregnant women out of the workforce, financial settlements in two labor disputes over the past week could serve as a warning to employers not to be so hasty in laying off such women, according to Nirit Toshav-Eichner, a doctoral student and government researcher who specializes in women and work trends.

Toshav-Eichner, whose most recent study published in March showed a surge in firings of pregnant women and those undergoing fertility treatment since the recession started last year, said the Woman's Law of 1954 has certain loopholes but the proper interpretation of that law by the judicial system could improve the situation.

Speaking on Wednesday, hours after a woman was awarded NIS 108,000 in damages after being dismissed from her job in the Dan region while undergoing fertility treatment and a few days after a pregnant Jerusalem woman who was fired after only four days on the job received NIS 70,000 in compensation, Toshav-Eichner said, "These cases will hopefully make employers think and rethink their intentions to fire women in such a condition."

"There is a big difference between the law and the ruling in these cases," said Toshav-Eichner, who is also a trained life coach and an organizational consultant.

She explained that under the Woman's Law, any employer who wants to dismiss a pregnant woman must first receive permission from the Industry, Trade and Labor Ministry. In today's economic climate, most employers claim the dismissal is out of financial concerns, even if that is not the case, she said.

A pregnant woman is usually considered the weakest link in a company because she will not be around for much longer, Toshav-Eichner said. Today's situation is very similar to what happened during other economic recessions such as in the 1980s and in 2001-02, she said.

"The courts look at these cases with a much wider perspective than the ministry does," said Toshav-Eichner, adding that she sees such cases as paving the way to reforming in the existing legislation.

A spokeswoman for the Israel Women's Network, which assisted the pregnant woman fired after four days on the job in gaining compensation, told the Post there is still a long way to go to improving the situation.

"Women are always the first to be fired during times of recession and even though implementation of the law is improving, it is still a big problem," she said. "There is still not enough knowledge among employers that this is simply not acceptable."

"I hope these cases will encourage other employees who have been victims of discrimination to come forward and speak up," said Orit Noked, deputy minister of industry, trade and labor, whose ministry oversees the Equal Opportunities Employment Commission. The commission represented the second woman, who was fired from her long-term position as a secretary for a large commercial firm while she was undergoing fertility treatment.

Attorney Sharon Avraham-Weiss, who represented the woman on behalf of the commission, said Wednesday that she hopes the case will send a clear message to employers not to discriminate against women in this way.

Photos from Chernobyl

Reactor No. 4, Chernobyl nuclear power station, Ukraine

The deserted town of Pripyat, Chernobyl, Ukraine.

Am I crazy going to Chernobyl?

I don't know but it was a once in a lifetime experience!

check out my article from there:

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?apage=2&cid=1246443820046&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Power of print

While at first I was perturbed by Jonathan Rosenblum's article Think Again: Those primitive haredim - yet again in this weekend's Jerusalem Post magazine condemning a story that I wrote last week about the growing problem of child abuse in the Haredi educational system and the unwillingness of the community's spiritual leaders to address the issue, I later realized that my job of raising awareness to particular issues, even delicate ones like this, is actually being done. It has started a discourse on a very difficult subject and made it very hard to ignore.

Rosenblum's was not the first response to that article. The version that appeared on line garnered some 53 talkbacks and on one Haredi blog http://lifeinisrael.blogspot.com/2009/06/local-sexual-abuse-headlines-in-jpost.html#links
that I was directed to there are nearly 200 talkbacks to the article. Some are good, some are bad and some downright offensive but at the end of the day I am just pleased to have ignited debate and got people thinking. Thats important.

Although Rosenblum's article was critical of our approach, saying that my article was one-sided and did show the full picture, he also acknowledged the problems faced by the community and outlined some of the measures being taken to address the issue.

He quoted rabbis from the community in Ramat Beit Shemesh who assured him that the problems of sexual abusers were being dealt with, albeit in a quiet and discreet manner so as not to cause embarrassment to those involved. Hopefully this will put some people's minds at rest or at least reassure them that their leaders are not totally ignorant. Hopefully these leaders are being truthful and will follow through with what they have promised.

I just also hope that his lashing out at my article or those quoted in it will not cause those individuals or organizations harm because that they are only trying to help and day to day do amazing work for the entire community in Beit Shemesh.

At the end of the day, I truly believe that these people had good intentions and it was for those reasons that I decided NOT to mention specific names of alleged sexual molestors or institutions that have been accused of doing little to address the problem. That is the job of the courts or the police and not of a journalist.

Jonathan Rosenblum's article:
Think Again: Those primitive haredim - yet again
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1244371074854&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

My original article:
Haredim take on sex abuse of children
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1243872320108&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull