December 09-January - Washtenaw Jewish News

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I FeatureFalse witnesses' “vigil” continues into seventh year, continued from page 126not the last people they see before entering themain sanctuary to worship their God.Back across the street, also observing the protestersare a couple bicycling along the side streetswith their teenage daughter trailing close behind.They slow up at particular intersectionacross from one demonstrator when the fathersays “It’s a holiday, but those people are Jewishtoo,” in response to an inaudible question fromthe girl, no older than 15.“So, wait, the Jewish people are against Israel?”she asks, her eyebrows furrowed underneathher protective helmet.“Yes. Well those ones are,” he responds, pickingup speed as they whiz by, “But you’ve got toconsider the source.”Indeed.Though they’ve become visible fixturesalong that stretch of roadway on the Sabbath,not much is known of the individuals whoare loathed by some and strangely revered byothers in the community as examples of theConstitution in action.And most of them like it that way, happyto lend the soles of their shoes to a cause theybelieve in, but eager to operate in silence andvirtual anonymity. One hijab-wearing protestoron the synagogue sidewalk covered her facewith a placard when confronted by a photographer.Her sign alerted cars on Washtenaw Avenue:“Zionist Lobby Inside.” Peeking out to findthe photographer still there, she ducked backbehind the sign and screamed, “I know you’regoing to assassinate me!”Once at least a dozen strong—with otherswilling to come in the carload from neighboringYpsilanti and even Dearborn—the weeklyvigils are down to about four regulars.Resilient, and seeking as much attention aspossible along Ann Arbor’s main entrance-waythoroughfare, the group makes up for their lackof numbers, and over-abundance of signs byplacing them on car windshields, leaning themagainst fire hydrants, and making use of speedlimit signs and hulking tree trunks.Now well into their sixth year of standing,they have yet to gain any meaningful dialoguewith the synagogue’s leadership or base congregation.They have also fallen short on repeatedattempts with local elected bodies to boycottIsraeli goods or repudiate its sovereignty as aJewish state.The driving forceThat said, the core of the group remainscommitted to a belief that not just Israelis, butall Jews who support a Jewish national home,are responsible for inflicting tragedy upon tragedyon Palestinians.Despite their dwindling numbers and lossesbefore the University of Michigan Student Assembly,the U-M Board of Regents, the Ann ArborCity Council, the Ann Arbor People’s FoodCo-op, and the Interfaith Council for Peace andJustice, don’t let them hear you say they’ve lostAimee Smith of the Huron Valley Greens Party amplifies her objections to Celebrate IsraelDay outside the JCC on May 17, 2009. Though not Muslim, Smith who wears a hijab, scoldedthe crowd, “Stop pretending you’re from Arabia. Be proud of your European roots.” At aprevious JCC event she chanted, “Defecating on children’s drawings will not bring peace.”Smith, who brought her daughter to help shout down the Jewish community event, was herparty’s candidate for Congress.any momentum for their cause or activism on alarger, more meaningful scale.“We don’t measure it, but there is a preponderanceof support among passersby who honk,and increasingly so,” said Witnesses founder andvigil creator Henry Herskovitz.“Certainly, we get three or four middle fingerseach day, but no one’s running their car offthe road at us.”While most of the demonstrators prefer obscurity—manyrefused to be interviewed undertheir real names for this story—the same can’t besaid for Herskovitz, their unequivocal leader.Herskovitz, 63, is a long-time Ann Arborresident and recent retiree from an engineeringfirm in Tecumseh. He said he works part-timedriving a vehicle for a local car dealership he refusedto name for publicity purposes.Although he claims to have attended servicesat the synagogue he now pickets, an initial searchrevealed no member by that name. Perhaps it isbecause for much of his time in Ann Arbor thePittsburg native was known by his given name,Henry Henry. (“Can you imagineparents saddling a kid withthat?!” he once complained to amember of Beth Israel.) Thoughcoy about his previous career,Herskovitz is very comfortablesaying his advocacy on behalf ofPalestinians has become his life’swork and true calling.He first started demonstratingin 2003, he says, out of frustrationfrom being denied a forumamongst other Jews to discuss hisparticular view of the conflict,which he says was shaped greatlyby a visit to Palestinian refugeecamps in 2002.He said he hoped to appeal to the Jewishconsciousness after the suffering he saw, alterthe congregation members’ course of actionand have them question their support of Israel.If those motives were true, the extreme tacticsbackfired, delegitimized their mission and insteadgalvanized a Jewish community againstthem, Jewish and non-Jewish observers of thesituation said.“I’ve heard a pretty wide range of opinionsabout the Middle East [in the congregation] includingno lack of people very critical of theIsraeli government,” said Dan Cutler, an AnnArbor resident and Beth Israel member. Butthe picketers don’t care about actual opinionsamong real people in the congregation, he contends.They use the Jewish families simply as abackdrop to denouncing opinions they imaginecongregants hold. Cutler cites a disturbing encounterwhen the picketers first showed up. Onetold him, “Jewish prayers should be disrupted.You pray for genocide.” A white-haired womanholding a sign denouncing Israel rushed overto add, “It’s true! It’s true!” and when he turnedto enter the synagogue she yelled, “Come backhere. I’m not through with you yet!”Cutler’s disdain is shared by many, includingthose who have no connection to the synagogue,but who respect the congregation’s rightto worship free of outside disturbances. “Thething that twinges me is that it’s the improprietyof doing it in front of a place of worship,”said Stephen Pastner, a retired anthropologyprofessor at the University of Michigan, withan Islamic world focus that causes him to beparticularly irked by distortions of historical/cultural fact. Pastner has created his own commemorativet-shirts with caricature depictionsof the protesters, whom he likes to call “Herskovites.”They tend to label Herskovitz and othermembers of the group as “self-hating” Jews andhonestly question some members’ sanity.Herskovitz acknowledges regularly attendingsessions with a therapist over the years, butinsists he isn’t crazy.“I think that critics always want to find areal personality flaw and try to exploit thatand say, ‘that’s the reason,’” he said. “What thatdoes is create a cheap diversion of the public’sattention. Pay no attention to the Israeli atrocities,but focus on Henry so nobody wants totake up the issue.”The wingmanIf Herskovitz is the captain, then Sol Metz iseasily his first mate in the protest effort.No longer right by his side, Metz, cofounderof the group, typically stands two to three feetfrom Herskovitz each and every week, carryingMozhgan Savabiesfahinihis own signs and blown-up photo he took ofa Palestinian woman weeping over the rubbleof her demolished home. His long white hairand frothy, prolonged beard make Metz hard tomiss, and he isn’t hiding from anybody.Somewhat of a throwback from Ann Arbor’scounter-culture and anti-war movements, Metzoften spoke his mind on the Israeli-Palestinianconflict through frequent letters to the editorsubmissions to the Ann Arbor News, and has attemptedrational dialogue with opponents.But don’t expect much objectivity on thetopic. The retired computer programmer saidhe grew up in a Jewish home with blind love forIsrael instilled by his parents. But his disillusionwith the Vietnam War spread to the Arab-Israeliconflicts of that time and provided a new line ofthinking about the Jewish state.Decades later, his own journeys to disputedterritories after the second Intifada solidified hisdesire to take his ex-hippie wares to a new cause.But Metz’s story is replete with contradictions.He married his first wife, Rosemary, inDetroit in 1967, but only after she converted toJudaism, he said.“I had already pretty much rejected (Judaism)at that point and I didn’t really want herto, but she did, for me,” he said recently whenconfronted with facts from court records.Their marriage lasted nearly 20 years andtook almost another two years to dissolve, accordingto divorce records. Though not specificallydetailed in legal briefs, diverging views onJudaism had become a factor in the marriage,he said. They settled on joint custody, but Metzhad physical custody of the couple’s four children,ages 4 to 17, at the time of filing.Though he is now a Quaker, Metz—after along pause—acknowledges that two of his fourchildren are practicing Jews today and don’thave much respect for his efforts.It was right before and during that period oftransition through the divorce that finances becamea stiff challenge, he said. He insists that atRosemary’s urging, he turned to the local JewishFederation for help with clothing and otherneeds for his family.Along with the Shabbat protests, Metz is afixture with his signs outside the Federation’slarger gatherings and planned to picket thisyear’s Main Event, featuring nationally syndicatedradio talk show host Peter Sagal.He said groups like the Federation are whatneed to be stopped because of the money theyraise for Israel. He is convinced the majoritygoes to military projects and settlements ratherthan humanitarian causes, despite his own experiencewith them.continued on nextpageWashtenaw Jewish News A December 2009/January 2010Photo by Gregory Fox
continued from previous pageHe’s aware of the hypocrisy, but remains unfazedby it.“That’s fair to say, but I don’t see a big problemwith it,” Metz, 66, explained. “The U.S.government helps me too, but I don’t have anyproblem criticizing them either.“I didn’t want the (Federation’s) help and Ididn’t think they [his children] needed it.”Metz said he has recently remarried to someonenot as active in the cause, but a believer whostands firmly behind him.The othersAlso protesting is Gloria Harb, a resident ofGlencoe Hills apartments in Pittsfield Township.She said she participates because she believesthe United States’ political system is corruptedby Jews intent on furthering Israel’s agenda beforeAmerica’s. Though a staunch liberal, Harbsaid her greatest concern is that the pro-Israellobby is so prevalent and powerful in WashingtonD.C., that President Barack Obama willcave to pressure on the Middle East peace processand allow harmful concessions.She sat dumbfounded after a recent protestpondering the notion that hawkish right-wingersboth here and in Israel have the same fear.“I’m just one member of the group, and Ifocus on the American public and breaking thesilence,” she said. “I know there are some of uswho hold out hope of reaching some of thosepeople in the synagogue, but not me.”On most Saturdays, congregants and passersbywill also see Marcia Federbush holdingsigns. Though the smallest in height and theoldest at 75, Federbush brings some noteworthystature to the group.In 1988 she was inducted into the MichiganWomen’s Hall of Fame for her pioneering workbattling gender discrimination in education.She divorced her husband before their 32 nd anniversaryabout a year later. Until about a yearago, her daughter, Laurel, was a mainstay at theShabbat protests and staunch defender in localmedia and blogs.However, she no longer joins them and is nowa member of Beth Israel Congregation herself.“She had an epiphany, of sorts, I guess,” Herskovitzsaid. “Laurel’s gone to the dark side. Shequit the vigils, and voted for McCain.”Apparently no longer with the group are Dr.Katherine Wilkerson and immigration attorneyBlaine Coleman.Herskovitz said Wilkerson stopped participatingin the demonstrations after losing herposition with the Packard Community Clinic.She stood trial on misdemeanor charges of interferingwith police and emergency medicalpersonnel at a speech protest on the Universityof Michigan campus that also involved Coleman,police reports show.Wilkerson was acquitted by a jury in 2007, butshe was fired a year later over a contract dispute.The circumstances were less dramatic forColeman, who was asked to leave, Herskovitzsaid without really elaborating.“It’s accurate, we threw him out of the group,”he said bluntly about a rumor circulated aboutColeman’s departure. “I won’t say much elseabout it other than people have to be responsiblefor their own decisions. But he’s on the right sideof the issue as far as I’m concerned.”Pastner, an unpaid watchdog of the protesterson area blogs, said he knows Coleman’swriting after years of engaging it via on-linechatrooms and messageboards, and doesnot buy into reports ofColeman’s inactivity.Not just a JewishproblemWhat has becomeincreasingly clearover the years is thatthe group’s futilityin terms of swayingmainstream Jews totheir cause has notprevented them frombeing as ineffectiveoutside the local Jewishcommunity.Their membershave been removed bypolice from Ann ArborCity Council meetingsand their behaviorMarcia Federbushforced changes to Council’s public commentpolicies. The Interfaith Council for Peace andJustice decided to close down its Middle EastTask Force and disruptive behavior has beenbanned from ICPJ meetings and gatherings.According to Chuck Warpehoski, “Earlier thisyear the Interfaith Roundtable had Henry escortedout of their meeting by the police. Sincethen the Roundtable has changed their format toinvitation-only, in part to promote deeper sharing,but I think also to stop Henry’s disruptions.Henry’s actions have been very disruptive in thecommunity. I’ve heard him heckle speakers at arally organized by the Muslim community, andI’ve seen him counter-protest a candlelight vigilfor peace in Gaza and southern Israel.”Herskovitz and his group’s actions haveearned them a reputation, to say the least.“They are annoying, they are distasteful andthey sometimes can be painful, but ultimately,they’re not serious,” said David Shtulman, executivedirector of the Jewish Federation ofGreater Ann Arbor. “In medical terms, they’dbe hemorrhoids.”Yet in their search for legitimacy among AnnArbor’s progressives, they have been able to disrupta few Ann Arbor institutions where you’dleast expect. In one example, former protestersAimee Smith and Michelle Kinnucan ascendedto leadership positions in the local Green Party.Once focused on building-block issues likethe environment, instant run-off voting, anddomestic social justice, the party quickly becamelaser focused on Palestinian rights underSmith’s and Kinnucan’s leadership.“It was very difficult for the Greens to getany traction locally since we were blamed forlosing the 2000 election for (Democratic Nomineeand Former Vice President Al) Gore and wewere building it back,” said former local partymember, founder and city council candidatePeter Schermerhorn.“But it’s gone, and it’s been gone ever sincethey [Smith and Kinnucan] were put in charge”Schermerhorn, also a member of the AnnArbor’s People’s Food Co-op’s board of directors,saw the disruption they caused by trying to pusha boycott on Israeli products, and follow-up attemptsto join the group’s leadership in 2008.Because of their involvement, and specificallybecause of opposition to their tactics of protestinga house of worship, both efforts were defeated,soundly, Schermerhorn recalled.But with a newboard and unclarifiedby-laws on a boycottprocess, the Co-op wasnot prepared for thecontroversy those affiliatedwith the “Witnesses”and blowbackthat followed.“We spent about$5,000, lost a year ofwork and our outreachsuffered becausewe couldn’t focus onmuch else. It totallytook us off mission,”said former boardpresident Linda DianeFeldt. Again, theirtactics overshadowedtheir message.“It really just closeddoors, and that’s thetragedy in this,” Schermerhorn said. “An opendiscussion would’ve done some good, at leastsome educating,” he said.What’s next?After years of disrespect and public acrimony,the congregation and protesters are aspolarized as they’ve ever been, each resolute notto budge on principle and pride.Is there any room to maneuver toward someresolution?Herskovitz insists he won’t stop without adialogue with Beth Israel’s Rabbi Robert Dobrusin,and an incredible gesture on the congregation’sbehalf.“I speak for myself, but if they take the flagdown from the bima, I’m gone,” he said. “Showthe rest of the world that you are truly a placeof worship and not a place of national supportfor the State of Israel. Take the flag down, andHenry’s gone.”The request is absurd, Rabbi Dobrusinsaid.“It will not happen,” he insisted. “We haveno obligation to them to consider what they askus to do.”Though not a religious symbol, the flag hasa place in the synagogue in order to represent asovereign state, recognized by the world as theJewish homeland, he added. Dialogue with anyreligious, political, or humanitarian group ispredicated on mutual respect and acceptanceof the legitimacy of the State of Israel.Don’t bet on it, said Metz, reveling in thesupposed momentum gained by the grouplast year when Hiller’s Market made a minorchange to some print advertisements after afeeble boycott attempt.“I’m confident there will be a resolution to theconflict in the Middle East,” he said. “I’m not sure itwill happen in my lifetime but I think it’s happeningquicker now because of the work we’re doing.”Shtulman said dialogue with the protestersseems futile and he doesn’t mind takinga more direct approach to refute their claimsof effectiveness.If it didn’t break spirit of Shabbat, he’drun the sprinklers every Saturday while servicesare underway.“There’s a sense of entitlement they havethat everything they want to do is okay, and Idon’t think the Jewish community needs to acceptit,” Shtulman said. “It’s my wish that theyshall become pariahs in the community.”Herskovitz and the others said they feel ahardening of spirits from the congregation.“I think it’s unrelated to the tactics,” he said.“I think, I hope, that we’re humble enough tosee if there is another group reaching a synagogueor a Jewish community somewhere elseusing tactics different than ours, we’ll followtheir tactics. But I haven’t seen it.”In the meantime, the congregation will remainresilient.“What I tell people is to join us inside,” RabbiDobrusin said. “We live in a great country wherepeople have the right to free speech and wherewe can gather as a people to celebrate who weare. And that part is not going to change.” nMagen David Adombeneficiary of picketers'persistanceWJN staff writersSPURN (Synagogue Protest UNACCEPT-ABLE! Respond Now!) was created as a grassrootscampaign by Beth Israel congregants asa way to alleviate the frustration caused bythe picketing outside their shul. Congregantschose to respond by doing good deeds; specifically,raising money for American Friends ofMagen David Adom (AFMDA, website http://www.afmda.org/) to help fund Israel’s nationalemergency medical, disaster, ambulance, andblood bank service. They chose Magen DavidAdom because it is a humanitarian organizationserving all victims of violence withoutregard to ethnicity or religion.SPURN (website http://www.aaspurn.org/) has been raising money since July 30,2004. Thus far, they have raised over $141,000,and have received contributions from morethan 500 donors. A small cadre of SPURNdonors continues to contribute based on thenumber of picketers each week (or in a lumpsum each year). Other donors have given oneor more contributions unrelated to the numberof picketers. Many congregant families(and their relatives) have donated, but theyhave also received contributions from AnnArbor residents without a direct Beth Israelconnection, and literally from people all overthe world. “In the end,” states SPURN organizerBarry Gross, “we cannot control whatthose outside our doors are doing. What wecan do is to make sure that the prejudice theyflaunt every Saturday results in good actionsthat benefit Jews and others in need.”To stand with SPURN, send checks to:American Friends of Magen David Adom,ARMDI Midwest Region, 3175 CommercialAvenue Suite 101, Northbrook, IL 60062.Write SPURN on the check or on an accompanyingnote. Donors may also call AFMDAwith credit card information and specify thatthe donation is for SPURN. The toll free numberis (888) 674-4871. Also, donations cannow be made on-line at https://www.afmda.org/. The website has been revamped and thenew link does not go directly to “donate now.”A donor must sign up and log in before makinga donation. The donor needs to click thebox for this question—“Would you like thisdonation to be made in honor of one of ourcampaigns?” And then, a drop down menuappears. SPURN is one of the choices.Washtenaw Jewish News A December 2009/January 201027
Page 1 and 2: In this issue…Bicyclingin Israels
Page 3 and 4: ICommunityJewish Community Center t
Page 5 and 6: ISeniorsSPICE* of Life*Social, Phys
Page 7 and 8: Local couple visits Jewish groups o
Page 9 and 10: New kids’ books hitting the shelv
Page 11 and 12: continued from previous pageAdult H
Page 13 and 14: IArts and CultureREPORTER’S NOTEB
Page 15 and 16: Jean-Yves Thibaudet pianoSat, Dec 1
Page 17 and 18: JCC youth department offers full ra
Page 19 and 20: JCC Camp Raanana earns rave reviews
Page 21 and 22: Learning what is Jewish about a moo
Page 23: 8Wishes You aHealthy,Happy Chanukah
Page 29 and 30: Washtenaw Jewish News A December 20
Page 31 and 32: I CalendarDecember 2009Tuesday 1SPI
Page 33 and 34: Sunday 27Reading Hebrew through the
Page 35 and 36: Chanukah isDec 11-18Celebrate the F
Page 37 and 38: I CalendarSPICE of LIFE: JCC Senior
Page 39 and 40: I VitalsMazel TovEmilie Weisberg on

December 09-January - Washtenaw Jewish News

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