Does the White House consider Israel a threat?

FROM: RJC Legislative Affairs Committee
SUBJECT: Congress Must Reject Obama's Threats to Unravel U.S.-Israel Alliance

The latest news reports make it clear that the Obama administration's campaign of criticism against Israel threatens to do irreparable damage to relations with our valued ally.

* The Washington Post reports that

In an effort to get peace talks back on track, the Obama administration is pressing Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to reverse last week's approval of 1,600 housing units in a disputed area of Jerusalem, make a substantial gesture toward the Palestinians, and publicly declare that all of the "core issues" in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including the status of Jerusalem, be included in upcoming talks, U.S. officials said.

*The New York Times tells us that the administration is looking to "turn the tables" on Israel's leaders, language more suited to dealings with an enemy than with an ally. The Times' reporting suggests that after a failed, months-long effort to entice the Palestinians into direct negotiations with Israel, the administration now wants Israel to accept the Palestinians' preferred framework - one in which our diplomats would negotiate for them.

*And at the Atlantic.com, Jeffrey Goldberg reports that Obama's ultimate aim is to destroy Israel's current government in hopes that the current governing coalition would be replaced by a more pliant one.

What happened to the promise made back in the 2008 campaign that during an Obama presidency, "the United States will stand shoulder to shoulder with Israel"?

Fortunately, more and more members of Congress are protesting what House Republican Whip Eric Cantor aptly describes as an "opportunistic move by an administration that wants to impose its view... onto our ally."

At first, most of those speaking up were Republicans. But now more Democrats have begun to break with the administration.

At this point, Obama and his lieutenants are isolated. Yet they show no signs of admitting their error.

We need to encourage more members of Congress to speak up, so that the administration will stand down.

Please take a moment to call or email your Congressman and two U.S. Senators. Urge them to speak out against the Obama administration's pressure campaign against Israel.

*Information about how to contact your Congressman can be found at https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml (you will be directed to a site where you can identify who your Representative is and send him or her an email) -- or by calling 202-224-3121.

* Information about how to contact your U.S. Senators can be found at http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm -- or by calling 202-224-3121.

Key points to emphasize:

* It is outrageous that the Obama administration is attacking an ally even as it coddles hostile nations like Iran and Syria.

* The cause of peace is set back when Israel's foes are led to believe that significant diplomatic gains can be achieved through American pressure - and without reciprocal concessions.

* The Obama administration's obsession with the peace process - even when the Palestinians demonstrate by their actions that they are not ready to make peace - has become a distraction from the effort to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Thank you for weighing in on this urgent and timely matter. This is the moment when we need to raise our voices!

KFP seder at Chabad/Bucktown

One would think "kosher-for-Passover" seder would be redundant. HA! Enjoy the delicious home cooking at Chabad of Bucktown's new space. Seders both nights and very reasonably priced.

pesach2_690146 from JabMedia on Vimeo.

"But I go to my parents' seder every year."

There is no excuse for a treif (non-kosher) seder. None.

Shalom bayis? (Peace in the home?)

There is no excuse for a treif seder.

Someone who regularly attends one or both non-kosher seders with his or her parents has several options to stay kosher for the seder meals.

1. Offer to go shopping with the chef (Mom or Dad). Armed with the Passover shopping list, hit the Passover aisle and use kosher-for-Passover ingredients and food. Reserve or pick up the kosher chicken or brisket from the live deli or kosher butcher.

2. If that doesn't work, declare your intention to have a completely separate kosher meal, which you will prepare yourself. I admit transporting all the food to the parents' house may prove difficult, and the kosher consumer may be fighting for counter and oven space in the kitchen, which isn't kaschered anyway.

3. Send regrets and attend the seders at friends whose seders are strictly kosher for Passover. Explain your commitment to keeping kosher for Passover. Suggest Sunday, April 4--the fourth day of Chol Ha'Moed*--as an alternative family visit day, when you can visit at home or do an activity around town. (Remember to pack a kosher-for-Passover lunch or snack for yourself.)

So many people spend hours cleaning their kitchens and preparing the seder meals. They want to show off their hard work by hosting many guests, including guests whose own kitchens are not kosher, and guests experiencing a kosher seder for the first time. Don't disappoint them! Take advantage of this opportunity to enjoy a kosher seder the way it was meant to be.


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*Chol Ha'Moed refers to the intermediate days of Passover and Sukkos.

Our seder is WHERE?

"Thank you for calling Sam's House of Treif. May I take your seder reservation?"

I was very disappointed, but not surprised, to see restaurants advertising their Passover seders in Chicago Jewish News. These restaurants are not kosher during the year and are not kosher for Passover. I am aware that Chicago Jewish News accepts advertising from non-kosher restaurants. The difference is that during the rest of the year, the restaurants do not pretend to be kosher operations. If a reader sees an ad for a Passover seder, however, one might think that such a meal would actually be kosher. One would be wrong. After all, that's the whole point of a Passover seder: Jews having a festive meal to celebrate the exodus of the Jewish people from Egyptian bondage. The meal is heavy with symbolism, most obviously the complete absence of any leavened bread from the meal, including ingredients in the food. There is no way a non-kosher restaurant can provide a kosher-for-Passover meal. It is not possible under any circumstances. Yet these restaurants conduct a thriving business catering to Jews on one of the most popular Jewish observance events of the year.*

Here is a sample of the ads. The ads have premium placement in the newspaper, next to the editorial copy featuring kosher-for-Passover recipes.

On Waukegan Road in Deerfield: "We make our own gefilte fish!" "Happy Passover/We are serving Passover Dinners on March 29 and March 30/White Linen Dining/Make your reservations now!/Order all your holiday carry-out with us."

On Devon Avenue near Pulaski in Lincolnwood: "Make your Passover Reservations Now/March 29 and 30/Complete Holiday Meals/Adults - $26.95; Children - $14.95/Place your Passover Carry Out Orders Now!"

On Dempster Street at Harlem in Morton Grove: "Passover Dinner/$18.95; $9.95 Children under 12"

On First Street in Highland Park: "Reserve your table for March 29th/5pm-10pm/First Night Seder with our one-hour service with Rabbi ----------------"

At first I thought, Maybe the newspaper will not allow non-kosher restaurants to use the word "seder" since they all use the word "dinner" instead. But the Highland Park restaurant uses the word "seder." It can because it has a service with a rabbi?

These ads need a kashrus alert--kind of an anti-hechsher. "This meal is not kosher for Passover. Carry-out from this restaurant is not kosher for Passover." Perhaps if the newspaper required the restaurants to include such a warning, they wouldn't advertise their Passover meals.

Now we're getting somewhere.

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*Another Jewish observance that approaches or surpasses the Passover seder in participation is fasting on Yom Kippur. The number of Jews who participate in the annual Yom Kippur fast exceeds the number of Jews who believe in G-d. Go figure.

Is decency the first casualty of the health-care debate?

I don't think I have anything new to add to the health-care debate. Wait: "self-centered, amoral, and unrealistic."

That wasn't me. That was someone I have never met who disagrees with me on this issue presuming to describe me based on my opinion. She went on to call someone else a "bad Jew" based on his membership in or support of a political group with which she disagrees.

I guess that's how she settles arguments: instead of making a coherent argument, she calls people names and lampoons their positions by (1) naming other government programs we presumably favor (public parks, which have nothing to do with health care; and (2) mentioning the Iraq war, which, in the health-care debate, makes very little sense.

Remember how Steve Carrell's character in The Office, Michael Scott, responds when he gets upset? He loudly repeats what the other person is saying, as if he were six years old. I guess for people like the name-caller mentioned above, it's not enough to state one's case. In fact, why bother with intelligent debate? Skip right to the name-calling and judgment about the character of one's debate opponents.

I enjoy engaging in political debate. It's a shame that not all participants can disagree and remain friends. Two examples:

"Please write to your Illinois legislators and demand a massive income tax increase that will further cripple the economy!"

"But an income tax increase will just hurt those the governor claims to be helping."

"You better hope you'll never need the services my government-funded organization provides!"

(She removed me as a Facebook Friend.) She took my opposition to an Illinois income tax increase as an attack on her livelihood and her clients. Of course it was never intended as such, but her job may be a casualty of the state's attempt to rein in costs, if it ever comes to that.

"We need a massive, government-controlled socialized Marxist health care system with skyrocketing costs, death panels and long lines to see doctors! It's a crisis that needs to be fixed immediately! We're going to pay for it with massive tax increases! It will work just as well as Medicare!"

"Our health care system works remarkably well. There are serious problems with a government takeover. The uninsured could be covered for a fraction of the cost of the president's plan."

"You better hope you never get sick! I bet you have health care!"

If I could ran tax increase bills through the Illinois legislature like former Gov. Big Jim "Taxaholic" Thompson or House Speaker "It's My Money!" Mike Madigan, or block them with my bare hands, I could understand tax increase advocates being very, very upset with me. If I could do the same in Washington, I could understand Big Government health care advocates being very upset with me. But I have no such power. Since we're just private citizens having a debate, is it possible to keep such debates to a civil tone?

Please?

"Too much matzah! I can't take it anymore!"

When does eight days feel like an eternity?

When it's Passover, and the matzah is making you ill.

Can't stand another bite of matzah? Then stop eating it.

It's okay to stop eating matzah without breaking the Passover leavened bread ban. The only requirement to eat matzah is at the seder and Sabbath meals. (Maybe the other yontif meals too. Check with your local rabbi.) But that's just part of Passover. Home alone, without the festive meal, it's possible to fill up on a plethora of food options that don't involve matzah at all. In fact, as a friend and fellow blogger pointed out, Passover is a wonderful time to begin a healthy diet. Off the top of my head, here are meal/snack options to satisfy one's appetite straight through to the end-of-Passover pizza party:

1. Salad! Dozens of salad dressings are kosher-for-Passover. Garnish with any number of items (check for the Pesach hechsher). Fresh or iceberg lettuce is fine; salad bags are not kosher-for-Passover. This is an easy do-it-yourself project.

2. Baked potato! And mashed potato! And hash browns! The humble potato has long been a Passover staple. It's possible to be creative and prepare it any number of different ways. Remember to use kosher-for-Passover butter or margarine if you plan on adding that to your potatoes--and please, keep the dairy products separate from the meat dishes.

3. Meat! If you're fortunate enough to live near a supermarket that sells whole kosher chickens, one chicken can keep you fed all through chol ha'moed. (Okay--maybe two.) Packaged kosher meat does not require Passover certification (unless it's flavored). There are hundreds of kosher-for-Passover chicken recipes. Remember when adding ingredients to check with a reliable Passover guide to confirm which ingredients need special Passover certification. There are online guides at www.crcweb.org and www.oukosher.org/index.php/passover. It would be a shame to find out later your chicken masterpiece has secret banned-on-Passover ingredients. If you want to make it easy on yourself and have a deli sandwich (on matzah? uh-oh), remember all condiments--ketchup, mustard and mayonnaise--must have Passover certification. These items are readily available in supermarket Passover aisles.

4. Eggs! There really is a book called 365 Ways to Cook Eggs by Elaine Corn. I assume the authoress' surname is not a pun. I would bet that more than half those recipes, from a non-Jewish cookbook, could be made kosher-for-Passover. Cooking is permitted on yontif, and yontif does not fall on the Sabbath at all this year, so there are opportunities aplenty to test your cooking mettle. As with meat recipes, remember to check with a Passover guide to determine if additional ingredients require Passover certification. If you make an omelette with kosher-for-Passover cheese, I'm coming over.

5. Fresh fruit and vegetables! Much to my chagrin, one of my snack staples, applesauce, does require Passover certification. But fresh fruits and vegetables do not. This is another opportunity for a healthy snack or side dish for a larger meal. Remember that Passover is not the time to revisit the celery, peanut butter and raisin snack from Rosh Hashanah ("raise in salary," ha ha ha), as peanut butter is never kosher-for-Passover.

If kosher-for-Passover consumers, even first-timers, plan carefully and make sure they have enough food--and enough variety--for the full eight days, the matzah indigestion will be a fading memory from previous years. Happy eating!

Friends don’t let friends go to restaurants on Passover

There are a number of people who think they can maintain a strict kosher-for-Passover diet if they patronize restaurants during Passover. They believe ordering from the restaurant’s special “Passover menu” or asking the kitchen to keep bread off the plate is the same as a kosher-for-Passover meal.

It is not. It is 100 percent treif.

Think this through: if a restaurant is not at all kosher 51 weeks a year, what makes it acceptable for Passover?

There is no substitute for a meal cooked in a home Passover kitchen; or if that’s not an option, a frozen certified-Passover meal heated in a cleaned toaster-oven. If a friend signals his intent to go to a restaurant and get cute with the rules, implore him to stay home. Offer to cook a strictly kosher-for-Passover meal for him. Offer to make deli sandwiches on matzah (with kosher meat and kosher-for-Passover condiments) with fresh fruit or applesauce for dessert. Offer to make eggs in a new or kaschered saucepan with kosher-for-Passover margarine. Offer wine or grape juice or kosher-for-Passover diet Coke.

A treif meal on Passover violates the letter and spirit of the Torah-based Passover law on so many levels. Convincing a friend to delay such a meal for one week is a huge mitzvah and very much worth the effort.