JEWISH PERSONALITIES AND EVENTS

JEWISH PERSONALITIES AND EVENTS By Maximillien de Lafayette

NSUH and LIJMC Explore Medical Ethics and the Nazi Regime-North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System presents lecture on how Nazi corruption of medicine affects modern-day medical ethics codes

For the first time at a hospital in this country, the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System, in conjunction with the American Medical Association (AMA) and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM), will present, "The Nazis and Medical Ethics: Context and Lessons." The lecture examines how the Nazis co-opted science, turned healers into killers and used medical research as an instrument of torture. The goal of the program is to have physicians explore the most important issues of medical ethics today-from genetic testing and stem cell research to the treatment of POWs-and understand how they were shaped by the experiences of medicine leading up to and during the Holocaust. Presenter Alan Wells, Ph.D., a medical ethics expert with American Medical Association explained that physicians need to explore these issues without political agendas or the results could cause great harm.Part of the Maxim Brettler, MD Lecture on the Medical Humanities, that is presented annually during Grand Rounds to doctors, residents, fellows, and medical staff at the hospital, the series has been visiting nearly one dozen medical schools as well as selected universities nationwide. This is the first time this lecture has presented at a hospital setting in this country. Who: * Patricia Heberer, Ph.D., historian, center for advanced holocaust studies, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC. * Alan L. Wells, Ph.D., MPH, senior research associate, American Medical Association, Institute for Ethics, Chicago, IL. * Irving Roth, director, Holocaust Resource Center, Manhasset, author, lecturer, and survivor of Auschwitz extermination camp. * Holocaust Poster Series awarded the Presidential Design Award by the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA). The posters were co-designed by a North Shore-LIJHS employee. The posters are used by educators in the public school systems nationwide to provide a history of the Holocaust and its implications, using artifacts, documents, and photographs from the museum's collection. The series is exhibited in the USHMM, and in Holocaust centers, teaching facilities, and museums internationally. When: 8:00 a.m., Thursday, July 28, 2005, Rust Auditorium, North Shore University Hospital (Use Entrance #3 to park), Manhasset 9:00 a.m. Friday July 29, 2005 Gurwin Teaching Center, Long Island Jewish Medical Center, New Hyde Park.

Ambassador Arye Mekel greets Israel's Victims of Terror. NEW YORK- Ambassador Arye Mekel, Consul General of Israel in New York, met with 12 victims of terror on Thursday, July 28, 2005 at the Consulate General of Israel in New York. The victims are in the United States in behalf of the One Family Fund . At the meeting, Ambassador Mekel listened attentively to the experiences of each of the victims', some of whom have clearly visible scars, and are still receiving medical treatment for their injuries. In addition to the Israeli victims, Lauren Sokolow from Woodmere, Long Island, also participated in the One Family Fund event. Ms. Sokolow was injured in a terrorist attack on Jaffa Street in Jerusalem while she was visiting Israel with her family. The One Family Fund participants, who are either victims or family members of victims, are in the United States to raise money and awareness about the tragic effects of terrorism. Sarri Singer, the Director of One Family Fund’s Northeastern office, and herself a victim of terror in Israel, led the group in the US. One Family Fund was founded in September 2001 as a grassroots effort to respond to the unmet needs of victims of terror in Israel. Since its inception, One Family Fund has distributed more than 11 million dollars in various forms of financial, emotional, psychological, legal, and material assistance. (Communicated by David Prince Director of National Radio, Consulate General of Israel in New York)

JUNE WALKER ELECTED TO THIRD TERM AS NATIONAL PRESIDENT OF HADASSAH

91^st National Convention ends with a rousing day on Capitol Hill

Photo: June Walker

June Walker, of Rockaway, NJ, was elected to her third term as the 23^rd National President of Hadassah at the organization’s 91^st annual convention, which just concluded in Washington, DC. Since becoming President at the New York Convention in 2003, she counts among the major achievements of her tenure the opening of the state-of-the-art Judy and Sidney Swartz Center for Emergency Medicine at the Hadassah Medical Center in Ein Kerem, the near completion of the Judaean Youth Hostel in Jerusalem, and Hadassah’s largest ever advocacy program, SOS: State of Stem Cells, an initiative that saw Hadassah delegations visit 50 state capitals during the spring to advocate for favorable stem cell legislation. Also elected were: Ruth B Hurwitz, as National Treasurer, and Mona Wood, as National Secretary, both of Baltimore, MD. Elected as National Vice Presidents were: Sandra Alfonsi, of Bayside, NY; Karen Dannin of Middletown, RI; Seema Liston, of Phoenix, AZ; Ellyn Lyons, of Toms River, NJ; Susan Mark of Stamford, CT; Renee Resnik of Columbus, OH; Andrea Silagi of Encino, CA; and Roselle Ungar, of New Orleans, LA. Their election took place in the shadow of the U.S. Capitol, where on Tuesday some 1,500 Hadassah members from 37 states held 150 meetings with their local Congressional representatives, both on the House and Senate side to discuss Hadassah’s positions on foreign aid for Israel, stem cell research and genetic discrimination, and the Iran Freedom Support Act.

This year’s annual national convention of the largest women’s organization in the U.S., entitled “What So Proudly We Hail,” focused on policy and featured an extraordinary number of women elected officials and policy experts. Highlights of the convention included a major address by Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schwartz (D-FL), who announced that she would introduce legislation, the Life Insurance Fairness for Travelers Act, to prevent insurance companies from rejecting applicants who plan to travel to Israel, explaining that she herself had recently been denied life insurance because of possible travel to Israel. She also plans to propose federal legislation to name January as “American Jewish History Month.” In the course of a policy discussion on the state of U.S.-Israel relations with the Hon. Daniel Ayalon, Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S., Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr.(D-DE), the ranking minority member of the Senate’s Committee on Foreign Relations, expressed his steadfast support for Israel that dates back to his first trip there in the early 1970s, at the invitation of a Hadassah chapter in Delaware. He made news when he stated that he had recently contacted both Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Gen. William Ward, the top U.S. security envoy to the region, to encourage the U.S. to give $10-12 million directly to the Palestinian Authority. “The U.S. should give Abbas direct economic aid so he has something to deliver. He should be able to say that all kids whose tuitions have been paid for by Hamas, are now being paid for by the Palestinian Authority.” This year’s Henrietta Szold Award, Hadassah’s highest honor, was awarded to a husband and wife team: the Honorable Daniel C. Kurtzer, U.S. Ambassador to Israel, and his wife, Sheila Kurtzer. In awarding them this honor, former Hadassah National President Bonnie Lipton announced that Hadassah was establishing an annual scholarship for Young Judaea’s Year Course in the Kurtzers’ name. In her acceptance remarks, Sheila Kurtzer graciously stated: “You have turned Henrietta Szold’s visions and goals into reality. The credit and acknowledgement belong to you.” In a particularly lively discussion moderated by former White House Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers, called Politics & Policy – Why Women Matter, Rep. Judy Biggert (R-IL), Ellen R. Malcolm, President, EMILY’s List, Letty Cottin Pogrebin, author, and Linda Chavez, political analyst, debated a variety of issues including whether a woman could be a viable candidate for president. “Any woman elected has to be a strong defense candidate,” Linda Chavez noted. With the nomination of Judge John G. Roberts to the Supreme Court not yet announced, the women were split on whether the vacancy was a “woman’s seat,” with two of the participants simply wanting to see the best qualified candidate named. Other topics examined at the convention were the view of Israel in Congress, First Amendment rights, advanced medical research, and heart disease in women. Delegates were fully briefed on Hadassah’s medical, educational and youth projects in Israel, and a record amount of money was raised for them at an annual fundraising dinner. The latest, cutting-edge medical developments at the Nobel Peace-Prize nominated Hadassah Medical Organization were highlighted in neurosurgery, stem cell research and orthopedics, where bone substitutes are being created that will allow fractures to heal with minimally invasive surgery. The chairs of the 91^st national convention were Joyce Rabin of Woodmere, NY, and Judy Palkovitz, of Pittsburgh, PA. Next year’s annual national convention, Hadassah’s 92^nd, will be held in Nashville, TN, July 23-26, 2006. The convention co-chairs will be Judy Palkovitz and Barbara Topol, of Chevy Chase, MD.

ZOA Campus Activism Network Supports Gush Katif and Northern Samaria

On Thursday evening, July 21, hundreds of students and young adults will attend The Orange Party, an event organized by the Zionist Organization of America's Campus Activism Network. The goal of the event is for young Zionists in the US to show solidarity with the Jews in Gush Katif and northern Samaria, whom Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon intends to expel from their homes and businesses in August. The Orange party, organized by Joshua Mann, Julie Sager, David Sarna Galdi, Talia Kaplan, and David Greenberg of the ZOA, is taking place at the Northwest Lounge, on the upper west side of Manhattan. "Modeled after the orange party in Tel Aviv, our event looks to draw hundreds of young people together in New York City to show the communities of Gush Katif and Shomron that they are not alone" said Joshua Mann, a student coordinator of the event who is a sophomore at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsbrugh, Pennsylvania and a ZOA campus representative. At the Orange Party, America’s leading Jewish rapper, Remedy, of the Wu Tang Clan, will perform. Orange bracelets with Hebrew writing in support for Israel remaining in Gush Katif will be distributed at the event as well as orange buttons and bumper stickers that say “Save Gush Katif.” In addition, attendees will have the opportunity to purchase orange t-shirts. Co-sponsors of The Orange Party are Manhigut Yehudit and Magshimei Herut. All proceeds of the party will go to Gush Katif. The Zionist Organization of America launched an advertising campaign last week that showed that according to a recent poll, Americans oppose withdrawing from Gaza and forcibly removing 10,000 Jews from their homes. The poll made clear that appeasement of terrorists and their regimes is a serious mistake. ZOA’s National President, Morton Klein said: “Making one-sided concessions to an unrepentant enemy regime will only lead to more violence. Israel also apparently doesn't appreciate that the US Congress will continue to be strongly supportive of Israel whether they make this concession or not.”

Memorial Service for Capt. Bob Maguire -- Celebration of the Hero Known as the “Irish Moses” of Operation Magic Carpet

Speakers Include Rabbi Hier of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and Ms. Lynn Lehrman Weiner, an embedded reporter who flew the missions

Photo: Robert Maguire, a big heart and a great hero to remember.

Robert Maguire, Jr. (1911- 2005), the chief pilot of the covert mission “Operation Magic Carpet,” which saved 40,000-50,000. Yemenite Jews from persecution and danger after WW II, by secretly flying them to Israel through completely hostile territories. Event to take place and time: Santa Monica Airport, 3100 Donald Douglas Loop North, 31^st Street and Ocean Park Boulevard. Wednesday, July 20, 2005, 3:00 p.m. – memorial service starts, 3:30 p.m. – reception, tours, interviews. VISUAL HIGHLIGHTS: --“Spirit of Freedom” (C-54/DC-4) airplane that Bob flew on his missions will perform a flyby – has been converted into a flying museum. P-51 airplanes will fly in The Missing Man Formation. Tour of “Spirit of Freedom”—now a flying museum returning to Santa Monica after 25+ years. The airplane can be toured at the same Santa Monica hangar where it was built by the Douglas Aircraft Company in 1945.Interview with Mrs. Lynn Lehrman Weiner — the original embedded reporter on the “Magic Carpet” missions of 1949

About Robert Maguire, Jr.: Robert Francis Maguire, Jr. was born in Portland, Oregon on Jan. 7, 1911 and started flying at an early age. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps the day after Pearl Harbor and when the war ended became a pilot for Alaska Airlines. When the airline won a contract to fly Jewish refugees from around the world to the new state of Israel, Mr. Maguire became the chief pilot for “Operation Magic Carpet”—and was responsible for delivering the Jews of Yemen back to Israel. When the airline had to withdraw within a few months from the operation, Mr. Maguire started his own airline, Near East Air Transport, and continued to transport over 40,000 Yemenite Jews without incident. He was honored with the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Medal of Valor for his efforts by Rabbi Marvin Heir in 2004. Mr. Maguire passed away from natural causes at his home in Northridge, California on June 10, 2005.

A HERO TO REMEMBER

Robert Maguire III and Rabbi Hier

Photo: Lynn Weiner.

Los Angeles Daily News' Susan Abram wrote: " Valley man who piloted Jews to safety remembered. In 1948, the American government called his missions Operation Magic Carpet. In later years, the Jewish people affectionately dubbed him their "Irish Moses." That's because it took a pilot like Robert Maguire Jr., with an almost spiritual touch, to safely fly 50,000 Jews out of the unstable country of Yemen and deliver them safely to their promised land of Israel. The operation lasted from 1948 until 1951. On Wednesday, dozens of family, friends and admirers gathered at Santa Monica Airport to remember Maguire for his humanitarian spirit. Maguire died in June in his Northridge home. He was 94. "He was a unique character, very innovative," said his son Robert Maguire III, who led the ceremony. "He had a lot of guts." A replica of the DC-4 airplane called Spirit of Freedom that Maguire flew on his first missions touched down on the tarmac as part of the afternoon celebration of Maguire's life. Lynn Lehrman Weiner was a 22-year-old foreign correspondent for the Journal American when she met Maguire in Israel. A secret source told her about Operation Magic Carpet. She said she saw a few American men sitting at a restaurant, and boldly asked them if they were part of the covert operation. One of the men was Maguire, and he invited her aboard his plane to get the exclusive story. He took more than 120 Jews out of Yemen that cold night in 1949. We were at risk of being shot by the enemy camps below," she said. "When they arrived in Israel, they kissed the ground." Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean and founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, presented a Maguire son with a humanitarian award, and emphasized the bravery and the dangers Maguire faced, to help rescue Jews from the Middle East just as Israel was forming. "Amazingly, Maguire and his planes completed this operation of 380 flights with not a single life lost, not a single plane crashed," Hier said.

"Spirit of Freedom" Airplane of one of the greatest heroes of our time: Captain Robert Francis Maguire, Jr.

JNF Renovated Ramat Gan Stadium for 17th Maccabiah Games

Athletes in the 17th Maccabiah Games, aka the Jewish Olympics, marched into the recently renovated Ramat Gan stadium with dancers, singers and artists from around the world. The $3.1 million renovation included the Ramat Gan Stadium and area, which was previously a junkyard, and was replanted by JNF with grass, trees, shrubs and flowers. The streets surrounding the stadium and the access roads leading to the stadium were also rebuilt. The Maccabiah Games began in 1932 and are traditionally held every fourth year in Israel. Ranked among the five largest sports gatherings in the world, the games attract Jewish athletes from around the world. This year’s Maccabiah Games drew 7,000 athletes from 55 countries and was the largest in Maccabiah Game in history.

Bishop Mark S. Sisk, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New York, and Rabbi Joseph Potasnik.

Front steps of the historic Cathedral Church of St. John The Divine, 112^th St. and Amsterdam Ave. Thursday, July 21, 10 am

Bishop Mark S. Sisk, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New York, and Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, executive vice president of the NY Board of Rabbis, and Cathedral Dean James A. Kowalski. Episcopal Bishop Mark Sisk will present his strong objections to recent action by the Anglican Communion calling for consideration of divestment from the State of Israel. Rabbi Potasnik will affirm Bishop Sisk’s actions. Bishop Sisk will call for a time “to invest, not divest” Rabbi Potasnik will declare his support for Bishop Sisk’s actions. The following is the resolution that was recently approved by the Anglican Consultative Council meeting in Nottingham England, June 18 – 28. Resolutions from the Anglican Peace and Justice Network. The Israeli Palestinian Conflict/The Anglican Consultative Council: a) welcomes the September 22nd 2004 statement by the Anglican Peace and Justice Network on the Israeli/Palestinian Conflict (Pages 12 - 14 of the Report) b) commends the resolve of the Episcopal Church (USA) to take appropriate action where it finds that its corporate investments support the occupation of Palestinian lands or violence against innocent Israelis, and i) commends such a process to other Provinces having such investments, to be considered in line with their adopted ethical investment strategies ii) encourages investment strategies that support the infrastructure of a future Palestinian State c) requests the Office of the Anglican Observer to the United Nations, through or in association with the UN Working Committee on Peace in the Middle East, as well as through this Council, and as a priority of that Office, to support and advocate the implementation of UN Resolutions 242 and 338 directed towards peace, justice and co-existence in the Holy Land.