In the air

 

Getting to, and from, Israel always is interesting.

I flew Delta from FLL to the JFK gateway and then on to Rome's FCO.

FCO has a number of names.

On airport signs, it is Aeroporto di Roma. Nice, straight forward; Rome's airport.

It also is known as Leonardo da Vinci International Airport; OK, DaVinci is a well-known Italian, even better known than my pal Robert Liotta, so that makes sense.

Finally, the FCO which equates to a mouthful: Fiumicino. That might be easy for NPR's Sylvia Poggioli, but it's a tongue-twister for me.

I've been to a few non-US airports (and a lot of US flyin' fields). Amsterdam's Schiphol is my favorite in Europe. Lod, of course, is a favorite because it is a "final destination"; escape from the flying tube. LHR is, at best OK. At the very bottom of my list is CDG.

I'm not real fond of JFK, but it beats PHL for getting planes on - and off - the ground.

If it's free, it's for me

FLL has free Wi-Fi.

TLV has free Wi-Fi.

JFK, MIA, PHL, and FCO - among others - have pay Wi-Fi .

I would have thought that all hub airports would have free Wi-Fi so passengers stuck waiting between flights could catch up on email, etc. The web site http://www.wififreespot.com/airport.html lists airports with free Wi-Fi. As with everything "Internet," the list is "subject to change."

Delta gave me 50 minutes to get from a domestic terminal to the international terminal (3); I got to my Rome-bound flight as it was boarding the expensive seats.

The flight to Rome was uneventful, just the way it should be. The hardest part of the flight was unpacking the kosher meals. When I finally managed to get to the food it proved worth the effort. Not 5-star cuisine, but a far cry from the box lunches of yesteryear. (I had a couple of sandwiches in my carry on "just in case.")

I had a brief layover at Rome's airport; not enough time to toss three coins in a fountain, but enough time to buy a cup of "coffee Americano." THAT was bad, but maybe it could have been worse.

I had to get a boarding pass for the Alitalia flight; a grounded girl took care of that. What I failed to tell her - because (a) I thought Delta took care of it, (b) Alitalia in the US said Delta would take care of it, and (c) the flight was only about 3 hours' duration - was that I needed kosher food.

Turns out there WAS a snack - looked good, too - but since it lacked a label, I had to decline.

I was carrying a small metal key safe to my son-in-law. The metal box got by TSA sans problem, but at Fiumicino I was politely asked to open the bag. I knew what caught the Italian's eye and immediately opened the bag and pulled out the key safe, explaining its use. Satisfied; I was waved on.

Alitalia Airbus at Lod (TLV)

Getting though Israel's passport control was unbelievably fast; there was one - ONE - person ahead of me and that person was almost done.

"You've been here before?"

Yes.

"New passport?"

Yes.

"Have a nice stay."

I had to wait perhaps 5 minutes for my stowed luggage to hit the carousel - record time. .

Israel's קבלת פנים would have made Shamai happy.

Back to America

Going back I skipped Rome and went directly to JFK's Terminal 3.

My Delta flight's boarding was supposed to start at 11:45, about an hour before the 747-400 was to push back from the jet way. My son-in-law got me to Lod a little after 9 but the line for the baggage inspection already seemed at least a kilometer - if not a mile - long.

I watch was others chatted with the girl checking passports and tagging luggage, and I watched as these folks' stowed bags were sent though the x-ray machine. The machine seemed to literally toss the inspected bags out of the chute,

When my turn finally arrived we did the usual chat with the usual questions - seemed almost the same as the passport control clerk's when I entered Israel - the girl tagged by bags and told me to go straight to Delta check-in - no inspection. Just like the old days - profiling. I even admitted to having two bottles of makheyah (arak) in the big suitcase, but I still got a pass.

Compare THAT to TSA's ineptness and the Supremes' paranoia about profiling. Granted TLV is one airport compared to the U.S.'s many, but I wonder why TSA (the organization) can't do better.

I was in a slowly moving line at the Delta check-in when a Delta person told me to go to Window 53 - no line. Wow! Can things get any better?

The luggage was weighed and tagged direct to FLL - even though both it and I would have to go through US Customs at JFK. Off I went to find my gate.

Arrived at the gate area in plenty of time; tried to use Lod's free Wi-Fi to send a "waiting at the gate" message to the daughter.

Delta Boeing 747-400

Boarded the 747 along with 397 of my fellow passengers, expecting a 12:40 on-time push back.

12:40 came and went.

As did 1:40 and 2:40 and 3:40.

And we continued to sit in the tube from Boeing.

Delta claimed a mechanical failure; later the failure was laid to a tire.

When the tire was fixed we were told that we still couldn't push back.

Turns out the flight crew would be past the work hour limits thanks to the 4 hour delay. Apparently with no other crews available, we'd have to over-night someplace.

Unless Delta management approved extended hours for the flight crew.

In any event, we were told the Israeli government would not allow a take-off at 4 a.m. due to noise ordinances.

In the end, Delta management approved the extra hours and someone agreed to a 4 a.m. take-off.

An aside. We were told on the Delta flight to Rome not to be surprised to see members of the flight crew snoozing; the plane still would be safely staffed. And that was just JFK to FCO, a shorter trip than TLV to JFK! It would seem that the objection to extended hours was more a matter of overtime pay than time without a break.

By the time the plane landed at JFK - around 10 a.m. - many of us had missed our connecting flights; mine left, assuming it was on time, at 8:10 a.m.

We cleared passport control and Customs - both well managed - and headed to the Delta "connections" counter. A l-o-n-g line to an understaffed counter where some were given directions to new gates and others given "Seat Request" forms for a new flight.

When my turn came, the woman gave me the option of taking a 1:29 p.m. flight out of LaGuardia or a 3:45 flight out of JFK. I opted for JFK and was given a form and a travel document for LaGuardia. When I reminded the woman I requested the flight from JFK she said it could not be changed back - LaGuardia or nothing.

I - along with several others on the Lod-JFK flight - was told to go outside and find a Delta agent who would get us to the shuttle service vehicle. Delta was paying for the ride and we had chits for the trip.

Got outside - no Delta agent. Someone did point me in the direction of a pick-up area. When I got there the only person was a security lady - no Delta agent.

Being the sweet guy that I am - that's what I told the security lady; she's probably still laughing - I asked her where I was supposed to be for the shuttle to LaGuardia.

Right here - I could wait under the benchless shelter. So I did, along with a couple and their baby headed for RDU and a gentleman going "someplace."

The shuttle turned out to be a Honda SUV . The driver, a native of someplace else, got all of us and our luggage - including the baby's stroller - into the vehicle and off we went.

Compared to Rehovot, traffic was a snap and the driver never lost his cool. (Could he survive in Rehovot or Tel Aviv without blood pressure meds? Good question.)

We arrived safely at LaGuardia's Delta terminal where we checked in with Special Services, thanks to directions from a Skycap at curbside check-in. Special Services took my stowed luggage and gave me a Seat Request pseudo-boarding pass.

From Special Services it was down a switchback ramp to a bus for Terminal D where I got to ride an escalator to the Departures floor. All the while dragging my carry on and computer case. Let's hear if for wheeled luggage.

I eventually arrived at my gate and presented the Seat Request to a Delta agent.

"I can't help you; wait until another agent comes on at 12:30."

At about 12:20 a new Delta agent appeared and issued me a real, albeit flimsy paper, boarding pass. Flimsy or not, it got me on board.

That plane did push back on time and arrived on time at FLL.

Total door-to-door time: about 27 hours.

This is not the first time one of my Delta flights was delayed due to mechanical problems. The first time was a commuter flight from CVG to CRW with a delay of about 3 hours. Delta, to its credit, wheeled out a snacks-and-drinks cart and made it available to us on Delta's tab. This time Delta didn't even offer a chit for a soft drink. (Are you reading this, Delta Customer "Service"?)

I have been a fan of Delta's for many years, mostly because of its personnel on the ground and in the air. This trip brought Delta back down to the realm of "just like the other airlines." The one exception was a delightful FA on the flight from LaGuardia to FLL.

In the end, I managed to sleep in my own bed for the first time in about 2 weeks.

Changing face of an old/new country

 

Spent a couple of weeks in Israel.

Mostly in Rehovot but a little in Bet Shean and Yavne.

Rode Egged buses between the towns (with change of vehicles in Tel Aviv's 7-layer Central Bus Station.

Maybe the best way to see Israel is from a seat on one of Egged's cruisers.

The buses - at least the inter-city buses - were clean and the windows panoramic. The air conditioning is enough to keep an ice cube happy, but it can be controlled by each individual passenger - similar to sitting in a plane. The seats are equally uncomfortable.

Egged Bus at Megido Junction צומת מגידו Rest Stop

About the worst times to ride the bus are Sunday morning, the beginning of Israel's work week, and Thursday afternoon or Friday. It was standing room only from Afula to Tel Aviv, but since I got on in Bet Shean I had a window seat the entire trip.

I did have one problem on the ride between Rehovot and Tel Aviv - several soldiers offered give me their seats - suddenly I felt "old", which of course I am not (he said trying to sound convincing). I declined the offers.

I've never been to Rome - well, never outside the airport, anyway - so I won't write that Israelis are the world's worst drivers, but if they are not, they have to be a close second. Too many cars, too little road; too many immigrants bringing their own driving "styles" and too many sabras who either are just aggressive or believe they are "entitled" to be jerks behind the wheel. Scooter drivers are an accident going someplace to happen, although I witnessed only one accident during my stay and that did NOT seem to include a scooter.

I've driven in Manhattan; I think its "less insane" than Rehovot, a Tel Aviv suburb. The noise is Manhattan-like; Mayor "No Horn Tooting Allowed" Bloomberg would have a fit.

All the more reason to let someone else do the driving. I rode with 4 different drivers; of the 4, only one was quick on the horn.

And you will love your driver as yourself אהבת לנהגך כמוך

It's something an American finds unusual . . . stowing luggage in a baggage compartment. In the "old days" when some of us crossed country on Trailways or Greydogs, luggage was stowed below, put there by porters. Here is it DIYשרות עצמי. If your final destination is short of the bus' final destination, you get off at your stop and the driver opens - electronically by pushing a button next to his seat - the baggage area and you find and remove your baggage. When you clear the area, the driver closes the door - again by a push of a button - and off goes the bus. I suppose that equates to stowing bicycles on a bus in the U.S.

I often rail against the dateem דתים for hiding out in yeshivot, I will happily report that I saw a number of soldiers with kippot and a few with payot (vs. peyote). One lad on the trip from Bet Shean had flowing payot but otherwise was "just a soldier." Actually, I suspect - I didn't pay attention - that the lad was in the paratroops. There even was a datee girl on board, at least the fact that she wore a uniform skirt suggested that she was observant.

Going up

No matter where you go in Israel, be it Big City (Tel Aviv/Rehovot area), small and medium size towns (Afula, Bet Shean), or kifarim - Jewish, Moslem, or otherwise - one thing all have in common: new building.

If anyone thinks the Moslems are being held back or held down, ride a bus between Hadara and Afula. You'll pass several Moslem - I know they are Moslem because of the rising-above-all minarets from which modern Moslems are called, now by recording, to prayer - communities; Umm al-Fahm is a prime example. Umm al-Fahm, like Kitsir Harish and Baqa Jatt sit right on the '67 border, just inside the so-called "Green Line." When a new Palestinian state is created - Jordan already is a Palestinian state - would these currently Israeli residents opt to "cross over the line?" Good question

Moslem Community with new construction dwarfing the old

Bet Shean is mostly populated by North Africans. There are some folks from Ethiopia and from time to time the government has tried - and each time failed miserably - to settle Russians in the Jordon Valley town.

The Russians escape Bet Shean as quickly as possible - it's far too hot and humid; think Miami in June and July - and the North Africans won't tolerate "white steak" (pork) or prostitution in their town. A few Ashkenazim manage to tolerate the heat and the North African's "strange ways."

Bet Shean - New apartments going up and up above old one, two-story homes

Long way to get from "Here" to "There"

Mostly because the Suddenly Palestinians (new since the mid-1960s) - those folks who want peace with the getting less-and-less so "Jewish state" but still attack Jews at every opportunity, who insist on stoning "Jewish" vehicles - to get from Tel Aviv to Bet Shean means a long, round-about trip.

From Tel Aviv, the bus travels north to Hadera on the Coast Road and then heads northeast to Afula. Unless the traveler is on one of the few "direct" buses to Bet Shean, there is a change of buses here. Afula is "the next bigger town" from Bet Shean; it has the regional hospital (although Bet Shean has a small hospital of its own). From Afula the bus heads southeast to Bet Shean. Total travel time: More than 3 hours. If only there was a safe direct route, but for the moment, such a route does not exist.

Tel Aviv to Bet Shean - the long way

Rehovot, new Yavne, and Lod - as well as Holon and Bat Yam - are, like Tel Aviv, within the 1967 borders.

Within the borders, but not without Arab residential pockets. (Is Israel segregating its Arab population? I suspect the answer is more that people tend to congregate with their own. Look at your own communities.)

My son-in-law's parents live in new Yavne - new as in "not the same as Akiva's Yavne." His father loves to play tour guide - a job he does very well, indeed - and finds the time when I'm in the area to show off not only Yavne but adjacent communities as well. This time Yafo was the site of a shank's mare tour. One of the tour highlights that everyone has to see is the coastline from Yafo to Tel Aviv. At one time, Yafo was a major port city and the evidence remains to this day; yachts of various sizes snuggle against the piers.

Tel Aviv skyline from Yafo beach historic area

Yafo's a little more than a stone's throw from Yavne and retains a flavor of old Israel, including a large outdoor shuk - in this case, read "flea market." Of course the ubiquitous bagel & bread and lemonade kiosks also were present.

Bagel break in Yafo

My host and tour guide took us to Yafo in his "jeep."

The folks who make the REAL Jeep might object, but in Israel anything with 4WD is a "jeep." His is a Suzuki. Unlike a Jeep-with-a-capital-J, the Suzuki is more suitable to Israel's NIS 7.50/litre prices. (http://www.onlineconversion.com/volume.htm)

If anyone wants to "do the math," there are 3.785 litres in a gallon.

As I cobble this together, the New Israel Shekel, a/k/a NIS, is 3.89527 for each U.S. dollar at most official money changers; banks and airport currency exchangers will get you less. (http://www.onlineconversion.com/currency_conversion.htm)

Assume a 15-gallon (56.775 litre) fill up.

At NIS 7.50/litre, that comes up to NIS 425.8125, or a bit more than US$109.

Unless, of course, my math is wrong.

3 "quickies" from Israel HaYom email

 

The following three items - one obscene, one causing wonderment, and one "Go Israel! - were gleaned from Wednesday's Israel HaYom email.

The "full story" URLs are given following each article.

The obscenity is headlined:

Family of Toulouse gunman sues police over son's death

The family of French gunman Mohamed Merah, who killed four people at a Jewish school in Toulouse in March and was later shot dead by police, filed a lawsuit Monday suggesting he was effectively murdered.

Prosecutors say Merah was a radical Islamist who killed three Jewish schoolchildren, a rabbi and three French paratroopers in a rampage in March that shocked the country. Merah was shot and killed after a 32-hour standoff at his apartment in the southern city of Toulouse.

Algerian lawyer Zahia Mokhtari and French lawyer Isabelle Coutant-Peyre filed the lawsuit in the main Paris courthouse Monday alleging "murder with aggravating circumstances."

http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=4648

The "How can it be?" article is titled

'Peace poll' considers Israel less peaceful than Syria

Only eight nations worldwide are less peaceful than Israel, and Syria, which daily sees massacres against civilians and opposition fighters, is not one of them, suggests the annual Global Peace Index, compiled by the global non-profit American-Australian research organization, Institute for Economics and Peace.

Almost all of Israel's neighbors in the Middle East are ranked more peaceful than the only democracy in the region. Iran ranks 128, Lebanon ranks 136, Egypt ranks 111 despite its current instability and even Syria, where children are being massacred almost daily, ranks higher than Israel at 147 (dropping from 106 last year). Israel ranked 150th of 158.

http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=4657

Finally, the "Way to go, Israel!" article with the heading:

Fixing broken bones a growth industry

This is an article Israel HaYom picked up from Australia's Sydney Morning Herald that begins: Scientists have grown human bone from stem cells in a laboratory, paving the way for patients to have broken bones repaired - or even replaced with new ones grown outside the body from their own cells.

The first trial in patients is on course for later this year by an Israeli biotechnology company that has been working with academics on the technology."

The technology was developed with researchers at the Technion Institute of Research in Israel, Professor Avinoam Kadouri, head of the scientific advisory board for Bonus BioGroup, said: ''We use three-dimensional structures to fabricate the bone in the right shape and geometry. We can grow these bones outside the body and then transplant them to the patient.

''By scanning the damaged bone area, the implant should fit perfectly and merge with the surrounding tissue. There are no rejection problems as the cells come from the patient.''

http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci-tech/fixing-broken-bones-a-growth-industry-20120610-204fd.html

The Bonus BioGroup is located at 11 HaMelacha Street, Afek Park, Rosh Haayin, Israel. (Information from Bloombeerg, http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/BONS:IT/profile).

Free subscriptions to the emailed Israel HaYom - in English or Hebrew - may be requested at http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter.php.

Wrong governments asked

 

In an article on Israel haYom (http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=4619) on the war in Syria, Vice Prime Minister and Kadima chairman Shaul Mofaz said "We need to enlist the West. We need our voice to be heard. This slaughter is being carried out not far from Israel's border. We cannot get involved, for understandable reasons. But I think that the West, led by the United States, has an interest in guarding the threshold (so) genocide does not take place."

Concurrently Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon told Israel Radio on Sunday that Israel will offer humanitarian aid to Syrian citizens, including food and medicine as well as treatment for the wounded who come in via Jordan. Ayalon noted that Israel was not in contact with the Syrian opposition but maintains ongoing communication with the Red Cross and other aid organizations.

The Reality

Syria is not a problem of the United States and "the West."

Syria is a problem for the Arab League.

The Arab League has

* the troops to bring about a cease-fire

* the funds to finance the troops and post-event reconstruction

* troops with the language skills to deal with the Syrians

* the MENTALITY of the Syrians; it knows how to deal with them

The West is broke; there are no more funds for flag-waving excursions to calm the natives.

The U.S. populace has no stomach for another "policing action" (and some Americans still are angry at Obama's incursion into Libya). America still is bogged down in the Bushs adventures in Moslem-dominated countries. Obama knows he would have zero chance to retain the White House if he sends U.S. troops to Syria.

The West's collective mentality is "bleeding heart" and far from Islam's mentality. Giving aid and succor to Moslems would be considered as signs of both weakness and stupidity by the people receiving the aid.

Ayalon's offer of humanitarian aid to Syrian citizens, including food and medicine as well as treatment for the wounded who come in via Jordan is, I think, a bit too generous.

Food and medicine, perhaps, but let treatment be in hospitals elsewhere. IF Jordan asks for Israeli assistance, let Israel send medical teams and mobile hospitals - clearly marked with a red mogen david and the Israel national emblem into Jordan. I seriously doubt Jordan's current ruler will allow that given the "Arab spring." He fears his "Palestinians" will dethrone him.

It would be nice if Israel could help the Syrians as it helps Moslems in distant countries. But Syria is next door and the Syrians have been taught since infancy to hate Israel and Jews. And, once again - and this is the over-riding issue - the Moslem mentality will look on help from Israel (and the West) as signs of weakness and stupidity - healing the enemy.

The Sefardim of North Africa know the Moslem mentality and they coexisted with Moslems - generally, albeit not always - peacefully. Morocco's former kings protected "their" Jews and were held in high regard by the Jews of Morocco. One of the reasons for the mutual "respect" - if that is the word - between Moroccans is that the Jews there had the same basic mentality as their Moslem neighbors, a mentality often seen in Americans: "You push me, I'll push you back . . . harder".

Europeans, with few exceptions (Orde Wingate, Ze'ev (Vladimir) Jabotinsky, and, to be fair, Thomas Edward Lawrence), cannot accept that anyone would have a mentality dissimilar to theirs. This is one reason they were chased out of Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. American leaders also failed, and continue to fail. to understand non-Western mentalities; this refusal to acknowledge the obvious is filling graves at military cemeteries across the country.

While providing medical care to injured Syrians is the accepted thing to do (in Europe), it is but a small drop in the psychological bucket of someone raised on a mother's milk laced with hatred for Jews and Israel; you cannot overcome in a three week medical treatment what has been ingrained for three generations. If you doubt that, let me show you places in the Southern states where suspicion of "damnyankees" still prevails. The War for Southern Independence, a/k/a U.S. Civil War, ended in 1865; you do the math.

America, which never seems to learn from its mistakes, should be an example to Israel of how not to do things. If it must provide humanitarian aid to Syrian combatants, make certain that the assistance is advertised as a "Gift From Israel." Why? The U.S. used to, perhaps still does, send CARE packages to sundry starving populations. Local warlords repackaged the bounty claiming that they - not the U.S. - provided the food. It was a long time before the U.S. "caught on" to the repackaging.

Truth be told. I am an American citizen and I love my country, but its leadership often is "Delbertian." I also am an Israeli who knows that when it comes to "Delbertian" politicians, Israel is America's equal.

Mofaz was right about one thing when he said "We cannot get involved, for understandable reasons." He could have stopped after "involved."

Obscene

Terrorist's Family Sues State, Receives Pension

From Arutz Sheva

by Elad Benari

The family of a terrorist whose actions were caught on camera has won a lawsuit against the State of Israel and will receive a pension from the State.

Mohammed Khatib, a resident of Kafr Manda, an Israeli-Arab town in the Lower Galilee, was filmed by security cameras as he snatched a security guard's gun in the Old City of Jerusalem in August of 2007.

He was filmed grabbing the weapon and firing on the guards before being shot to death. He managed to shoot three bullets and wound one of the guards in the shoulder before being killed.

According to the National Insurance Act, a person who commits a crime of a nationalistic nature is not eligible for a pension. However, Channel 10 News reported on Thursday, Khatib’s family filed a lawsuit and was able to convince the Jerusalem Magistrates Court that Khatib’s actions only looked like a terror attack.

“The behavior of the plaintiff, as recorded by the camera, does not support the conclusion that the incident was nationalistically motivated, because the plaintiff opened fire after the guard went after him and almost caught up with him,” wrote Judge Maha Samir Ammar, according to Channel 10.

According to the report, the family also sought to start criminal proceedings against the security guard who shot Khatib, but the Jerusalem Magistrates Court ruled that the guards acted in self defense.

The police responded to the ruling by saying that there is no doubt that the terrorist acted for nationalistic reasons. The lawyer who represented Khatib’s family rejected the police’s claims and told Channel 10, “Unfortunately, the police are misleading the public about an unfortunate incident that began in an incomprehensible way.”

Women and גרים

 

Women

Shabat Naso addresses the issue of a jealous husband; one who thinks his wife is unfaithful.

The parasha describes in detail the process the woman must undergo.

While the dusty, "inky" water may have made anyone - man or woman - ill, I doubt that the woman's thigh (ירכך) would fall off. Her belly might swell and she might otherwise be physically upset, but her thigh falling off? Hardly.

There is nothing in these paragraphs of Naso to even suggest that the jealous husband had to being two witnesses to his wife's wanton behavior.

If the woman's thigh fails to separate from her body, her "reward" will be the ability to conceive - presumably impregnated by her accuser. The jealous husband will suffer no damage - neither financial or otherwise. There is no suggestion that he should/must divorce his wife nor that she has grounds to divorce him.

Let's jump to "today" and what is happening in U.S. courts.

If a plaintiff brings suit against someone and loses, normally the plaintiff pays court fees and attorneys' fees for both sides. In some cases, a judge will rule that the suit is without merit - that it is frivolous - and punish the plaintiff for taking up the court's time by even filing the action.

There IS a punishment for the plaintiff if the defendant prevails.

By Torah law, the jealous husband gets off "scot free."

There is a footnote on Page 592 of the Hertz/Soncino Humash that reads: "The rabbis, however, inferred that the Ordeal proved ineffective is the husband was himself guilty of immorality." About the only "immorality" that the husband could do was to lie with a married woman or an animal.

I know times "were different then," but I also know that Judaism protected women in many ways and insisted on protections for all people accused of wrong-doing. Here, all the protections are absent. Why is a "jealous husband" exempt from bring any evidence of this claim?

גרים

The portion also talks about גרים. It does NOT specify if the גר is a ger tzdek (convert) or a ger toshav (resident alien).

The senior rabbi where I hang my kippa went with the first option: ger tzdek/convert. The associate rabbi went with the ger toshav/resident alien.

The LAW in both cases is the same - the property of a ger who dies sans Jewish kin goes to the state in the form of the cohanim.

The senior rabbi took the opportunity to tell us that a ger tzdek is actually on a higher level than "born" Jews. Like a naturalized citizen, the convert - at least in traditional circles - had to study and practice the way of life of the culture to which he/she intends to adapt.

There are several problems for converts.

Number 1: A lot of "born Jews" simply won't accept converts as Jews, regardless of the conversion process. These people usually don't accept immigrants as countrymen, either, and usually they are the ones willing to build mental hospitals and prisons in someone else's back yard.

Number 2: The rabbis, especially Israel's far right haridim, expect the convert to be more observant than the "born Jew" and at least as "observant" as their own followers (when they are "out in public".) Failing to be as observant as the rabbis demand of converts - never mind the poskim (authorities) who rule otherwise - and these rabbis will cancel the conversion. So much for "once a Jew, always a Jew."

Obama Jews' choice

Liberal group's poll claims

According to a poll by the Workmen’s Circle/Arbeter Ring, "Jewish voters prefer President Obama to Mitt Romney two to one." Israel is NOT a factor in their decision.

The poll's questions and results are provided at http://circle.org/wcnationalpoll2012/.

The Workmen’s Circle/Arbeter Ring's mission statement at http://circle.org/mission/, omits any mention of Israel.

Complete with several colorful graphs, a few of the things the report fails to mention are

1. How many people were polled
2. When was the poll conducted
3. How was the poll conducted - phone, face-to-face, mail, WWW
4. Where was the "national" poll conducted
5. How many Jews were polled in each location - e.g., Greater NYC, Deal, San Francisco, LA, Denver, Miami/Fort Lauderdale, Chicago, Madison
6. If the polled Jews have relatives in Israel or were they Israelis
7. The polled Jews' affiliation, if any (e.g., O/C/R/H/Re; Ashkenazi, Sefardi)

The questions graphically shown on the organization's Web site seem to lack bias - in print. How the poll was conducted might tend to skew results.

I'll concede that for many American Jews, particularly the non-observant ones, Israel has little or no significance. For others, Israel is the only issue.

The poll results may be accurate.

But I neither trust, not allow myself to be influenced by, polls.

The only thing I can say about the Workmen’s Circle/Arbeter Ring's poll is: "No one asked ME!"

Probably just as well.