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16 SA JEWISH REPORT Around the Jewish World 18 – 25 November 2016 Refusenik book scores Prime Minister Award SYDNEY - A book chronicling the landmark campaign by Australia, and notably the Jewish community, to help free Jews from the Soviet Union so they could emigrate to Israel and other destinations, has won a major literary prize. Co-authored by Sam Lipski and Professor Suzanne Rutland, Let My People Go: The Untold Story of Australia and the Soviet Jews 1959-89, launched last year, has been jointly awarded the 2016 Prime Minister’s Literary Award in Australian History. The book shares the Prime Minister’s award in the Australian History category with historian Geoffrey Blainey’s The Story of Australia’s People. Judges stated Lipski and Rutland “have produced a pathbreaking book about the struggles of the Soviet ‘refuseniks’. Replete with new information, [it] draws on a vast array of primary and secondary sources. “These include ASIO files, Rutland’s painstaking research on Australia and Soviet Jewry, as well as unfettered access to the massive archive about the campaign for Soviet Jewry of Lipski’s friend Isi Leibler, who is a former president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry and activist for Soviet Jews.” Lipski, chief executive of the Pratt Foundation and a former editor-in-chief of The Australian Jewish News, described news of the award as “an overwhelming moment - to hear that I and co-author Suzanne Rutland had shared the Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Australian History with Geoffrey Blainey, the doyen of Australian historians”. At the awards presentation, Lipski reflected the book was an appropriate recipient of a PM’s Award “because every Australian prime minister for 30 years, notably Malcolm Fraser and Bob Hawke, had had to deal with the Soviet Jewry issue”. Rutland, an associate professor and chairman of the Department of Hebrew, Biblical and Jewish Studies of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Sydney, learnt she had won, while attending a meeting of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance in Romania. - Australian Jewish News Lord Sacks warns of dangers of ‘politics of anger’ LONDON - Lord Sacks, the Emeritus Chief Rabbi, has warned of the dangers of the “politics of anger” following the election of Donald Trump as United States President and the Brexit vote. In an op-ed in the Daily Telegraph, he instead urged a new politics of hope built on “capitalism with a human face”. Rabbi Sacks said this year’s events were “not politics as usual. The American Presidential election, the Brexit vote and the rise of extremism in the politics of the West are warnings of something larger, and the sooner we realise it, the better. “What we are witnessing is the birth of a new politics of anger. It is potentially very dangerous indeed.” He warned that anger was “a mood, not a strategy, and it can make things worse not better. Anger never solves problems, it merely inflames them. The danger down the road, as it has been throughout history, is the demand for authoritarian leadership, which is the beginning of the end of the free society.” He said the first step was to recognise “how bad” things were, with many people failing to benefit from economic growth. A politics of hope was, he said, “within our reach. But to create it we will have to find ways of strengthening families and communities, building a culture of collective responsibility and insisting on an economics of the common good. This is no longer a matter of party politics. It is about the very viability of the freedom for which the West fought for so long and hard.” - Jewish Chronicle, London On the road to solving biggest healthcare problem JERUSALEM - It’s one of healthcare’s biggest ironies: going to a hospital for life-saving treatment can actually cost you your life. More than one million people in America each year get sick from infections they contract in hospitals, resulting in about 100 000 deaths. Fighting these infections costs the healthcare system about $30 billion every year. The main reason, says Efrat Raichman, is poor hand hygiene of the hospital staff. In response, Raichman has developed Hyginex, a new hitech system to keep hospital workers’ hands clean. If everyone from nurses and doctors to orderlies and candy-stripers - even food handlers in the cafeteria - are required to use it, hospital administrators can help ensure the highest sanitary standards. At its core, Hyginex is an online software solution that communicates with a bracelet resembling a sports watch. Worn by every shift worker, the bracelet is equipped with gyroscopes and other movement sensors and emits a gentle red LED light to remind personnel to wash their hands between patients - or however frequently the system is programmed to provide alerts. Hyginex aims to improve hand-washing compliance and quality without requiring any special training. “Today the hand hygiene in hospitals is so poor, that when I talk to [the managers] they report that the staff is just doing it about 20 per cent of the time it is required,” says Raichman, the founder and CEO of the company. “They say even a 50 per cent compliance would be great. The system can be programmed to meet any requirement.” Raichman tells ISRAEL21c that other products with the same goal are on the market. “But we have a patent and they can’t match us. Ours is the only system that can test the compliance of the staff and also test the quality of the hand washing. Simply opening the tap doesn’t mean you’ve washed your hands, or if you stand near the hand sanitiser, that they are sanitised,” she claims. The Hyginex system incorporates sensors on the bracelet, in the dispensers and in the tap to measure the duration of vigorous hand washing, and then transfers that information to a computer. In the future, the bracelet will be equipped with an optional watch that can be programmed for other functions including security - so that staff might be able to open or close doors using the bracelet as a remote control device. - ISRAEL21C Grant a get - or it’s jail time in Israel! JERUSALEM - A Jewish man in Israel who refuses to grant his wife a religious divorce after being ordered to do so by a rabbinical court could face criminal charges and be jailed. Under a new policy directive issued on Monday by the state prosecutor Shai Nitzan, his office will seek a significant prison sentence for a husband convicted of violating the rabbinical court’s order to give his wife a “get”, or religious divorce, Haaretz reported. A religious court cannot impose a get, and a man must give the religious divorce of his own free will. Nitzan said the state will adhere to those conditions by only threatening criminal charges after the rabbinical court has ordered the get and after consulting with the legal adviser to the rabbinical courts, according to Haaretz. The husband can still be jailed even if he subsequently agrees to grant the divorce, however. A woman who is unable to obtain a get is known as an agunah, or chained woman. Under Jewish law she cannot remarry. Husbands who refuse to grant a religious divorce have been shunned socially and refused honours, such as being called to the Torah in synagogues, in an effort to pressure them to change their minds. Though 131 women are listed officially as having husbands who have refused them a religious divorce, groups that provide help for such women say they get thousands of requests for assistance each year, The Times of Israel reported. (JTA) Recipe Mouth-watering pumpkin spice macaroon cookies SANDY LEIBOWITZ NEW YORK In the autumn in America, we see pumpkin everywhere. Sometimes it goes overboard into foods in which pumpkin doesn’t belong. In this recipe, though, it adds a subtle creaminess and does double duty to moisten the (sometimes) dry macaroons. French macaroons are thin, flavourful meringue cookies that are sandwiched together with some kind of filling. Not to mention, pumpkin has some nutritional value. It is a good source of vitamins and dietary fibre - we all need that in our desserts, trust me. I shaped them more like cookies because they seem to bake more evenly. If you like them with more of a crunch and less of a chewy centre, just flatten them out more. Once you let them cool out of the oven, they will crisp right up. I topped mine with crushed, sliced almonds, but feel free to substitute with pecans or, even better, pumpkin seeds. Ingredients: • 2 1/2 cups shredded coconut • 2 tablespoons maizena • 3 egg whites • 3/4 cup granulated sugar • 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice • 1/8 cup maple syrup • 1/4 cup pumpkin puree (from a can, not pumpkin pie mix) • Almonds, pecans or pumpkin seeds for garnish Directions: • Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a baking tray with parchment paper. • Combine coconut, pumpkin pie spice and maizena. Set aside. • In a double boiler (place a small amount of water in a saucepan, and put a bowl on top. Put the heat on low and the steam will gently cook), whisk the egg whites until foamy. • Add sugar and keep whisking until you get soft peaks (the egg whites can almost hold shape on the tip of your whisk and then melt again) and the sugar has melted. • Take coconut and maizena mixture and add the maple syrup, pumpkin puree and combine gently. Fold in egg whites gently until everything is evenly combined. • With a tablespoon, form cookies and place about 25mm apart on a cookie sheet. Top with nuts of your choice. • Bake for approximately 25 minutes, or until golden brown on the edges. Remove and allow to cool (they will crisp up even more). (The Nosher via JTA) Sandy Leibowitz trained at the Culinary Institute of America and worked at top non-kosher restaurants in New York City such as the Russian Tea Room and Spice Market.
18 – 25 November 2016 Opinion and Analysis SA JEWISH REPORT 17 SA Jewry: Ring the bells that still can ring TAKING ISSUE Geoff Sifrin The death of musician-poet Leonard (Hebrew name Eliezer) Cohen and the concurrent ascent to power in the United States of billionairepolitician Donald Trump fits in with the confusion of our era. The former is mourned by millions, with his legacy of songs touching the core of what it is to be human. It is hard to imagine iconic songs such as “Hallelujah” ever being bettered. We don’t know what President Trump’s legacy will be when he leaves office. Amidst dismay at his election, people who find him dangerous look for an elusive “silver lining”. His attitudes resonate with the rise of right-wing, fascist figures in other countries. Ultra-nationalism, xenophobia, racism and other social ills that had become unacceptable in the last few decades, are respectable again with the rise of the new right. Perhaps one positive aspect is that change is sometimes inherently a good thing as it moves people out of stale comfort zones and creates new energy. In the lyrics of his song “Anthem”, Cohen wrote: “Ring the bells that still can ring / Forget your perfect offering / There is a crack in everything / That’s how the light gets in.” It is hard imagining Trump as a bringer of light, but perhaps the crack in the political order he has shattered was the left’s complacency. In its enthusiasm for globalisation and multiculturalism, it neglected masses of ordinary local people in countries worldwide who were left behind and became poorer, while wealthy international elites were creaming it. With his contempt for everything the “enlightened” establishment regarded as proper political behaviour, Trump became the voice of those angry masses. In times of upheaval, Jews instinctively ask: “Is it good or bad for the Jews?” There is cause for concern: The rise of the new right coincides with ominous stirrings of racism, which always goes hand-in-hand with anti-Semitism and hatred of other minorities. In countries where it was taboo not long ago to speak publicly against the Jews - even if some people disliked them privately - open expressions of Jew-hatred have become common. In France, for example, masses of Jews are emigrating after attacks on them. Even in South Africa, which still clings to the memory of tolerance and multiculturalism of Mandela’s “rainbow nation”, signs are worrying. Earlier this month, for example, graffiti appeared at Wits university campus, saying “Kill a Jew” and “F*** the Jews”; last month, a kippah-wearing student was called a “Motherf***ing Jew” by fellow students. Jewish organisations say anti- Semitism remains low in South Africa compared to other countries. But the rise of populists such as Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema, who claims to speak for millions of angry, poor and jobless black masses, brings dangers. His populist tactics are similar to Trump’s, but from a leftwing, albeit nationalistic, perspective. In their drive to power, demagogues willingly use any tools, often couched in simplistic terminology which promises to solve everything. While he has not publicly expressed anti-Semitism, Malema’s vitriol against whites and his refrain that “white monopoly capital” is the root of the country’s problems could easily be tweaked to “white and Jewish monopoly capital”. Sinister bedfellows would jump from the sidelines to support him in this line. Jewish South Africans must be prepared for this. Trump may turn out to be less catastrophic than doomsayers predict. In politics, yelling viciously from the sidelines is easy, but once a person gets his hands on the steering wheel, things look different. And US politics has so many checks and balances, it is hard for any leader to go completely off track. For Malema, however, South Africa’s political restraints are less robust. Either way, we’re in for an interesting few years. • Read Geoff Sifrin’s regular columns on his blog sifrintakingissue.wordpress.com World News in Brief Leonard Cohen buried in Montreal before announcement of his death MONTREAL - Singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen was buried in his hometown of Montreal hours before his death was made public. Cohen died Nov. 7 in Los Angeles and was buried on November 10 at his family’s plot in the Shaar Hashomayim Cemetery, according to reports citing a statement from Congregation Shaar Hashomayim, an Orthodox synagogue in the Westmount neighbourhood. “Leonard’s wish was to be laid to rest in a traditional Jewish rite beside his parents, grandparents and great-grandparents,” the statement said. He maintained “a lifelong spiritual, musical, and familial connection to the synagogue of his youth”, The Cohen family plot is located just through the front gates of the Jewish Cemetery near the base of Mount Royal, The Toronto Star reported. The only evidence of Cohen’s burial is unsettled earth covered by fallen brown leaves in front of an unmarked gravestone, according to the newspaper. “Hineni, hineni, My Lord” and other lyrics to the song “You Want It Darker” from his latest album released in September were read during the traditional Jewish graveside funeral attended by family and close friends only, the French news agency AFP reported. The announcement of his death was made on November 10 after the funeral. “My father passed away peacefully at his home in Los Angeles with the knowledge that he had completed what he felt was one of his greatest records,” Cohen’s son, Adam, wrote in a Facebook post. “He was writing up until his last moments with his unique brand of humour.” An official statement November 10 on Leonard Cohen’s Facebook page said there would be a funeral in Los Angeles in coming days. Mourners have laid flowers and lit candles at the doorstep of Cohen’s Montreal home, The Globe and Mail newspaper reported. Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre reportedly has pledged to find an appropriate way to honour “one of our greatest Montrealers”. 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