Nov 10
Jeanette Friedmanpeople, politics
By JF NJS
Locals kasher the White House kitchen — and cater a Chanukah party
Once upon a season’s greetings, in the Reagan White House, the president of the United States hosted a small gathering to light a menorah. At the time, and for years afterward, guests were offered cake and cookies on plastic dishes, together with some beverages.
As time went by, the White House annual Chanukah get-together grew, and so did the food service accompanying it. While some kosher food was brought in from the outside, those strict about observing dietary laws still had cause for complaint.
Last year, the traditional Chanukah party was a bit less traditional, with non-kosher food as the main offering and a separate kosher buffet on the side. Confusion reigned. Guests grumbled that this was hardly the way to treat “Jewish friends of the White House.”
Word got back to first lady Laura Bush. She consulted with the president and announced that she wanted to serve kosher food to everyone on the appropriate occasions.
Rabbi Levi Shem-Tov, of the American Friends of Chabad in Washington, was said to be partially responsible for her decision. A few weeks ago, he met with her on a different issue. When the subject of kosher food was raised, Bush told him she wanted the White House kitchen kashered for this year’s Chanukah party, which was held, a few weeks early, Tuesday evening.
“The first lady said if the function is kosher, it makes her guests comfortable, and that makes it more comfortable for her if all her guests …eat the same food. This was a decision she made herself,” said Shem-Tov, noting that he deeply appreciated her initiative.
With more than 500 guests expected, this year’s food choices went far beyond cookies and small cakes. The White House staff got right to work, calling for bids from kosher caterers. The winner was Betty’s Caterers in Philadelphia, whose owner, Peter Ostler, consulted the Philadelphia Vaad and then got in touch with the coordinator of kosher certification at the Rabbinical Council of Bergen County, Rabbi Binyomin Taub.
Taub partnered Betty’s with Gary Rubin’s Petak Caterers in Fair Lawn, under Rabbinical Council of Bergen County certification, and they were all given the White House go-ahead. Says Taub, “Because guests included ultra-Orthodox educators from around the country, no mistakes or shortcuts could be tolerated, and we had to be scrupulous.” Shem-Tov says that Taub was very helpful to the White House staff.
Ostler and Rubin began planning the menu and logistics. A week before the event, Taub drove down to the White House to explain to Chef Chris Comerford and the White House usher exactly what would happen when his kashering crew showed up.
He explained about kosher beverages and told them how to read product labels and what to look out for (like bugs in the salad). He also helped them set up a system to feed people in the White House on “K-Day,” so that no one who was hungry would notice the interruption. He and the staff even decided where hand-washing stations could be set up for those who ritually wash their hands before eating bread.
“As excited as we were to be doing the job, it seemed to me that the White House was even more excited to have it done. This was a historic first, and it was clear the first lady wanted it to be perfect,” Taub told The Jewish Standard.
The kashrut crew rented a kitchen in a Philadelphia temple for pre-prepping, and chefs from Petak’s and Betty’s prepared ingredients and dishes that would get their final “cook-through” at the White House.
On Monday afternoon, two trucks loaded with double-sealed platters — and carrying Petak proprietor Rubin and mashgiach Rabbi Mendel Minkowitz, joined later by Rabbi Hillel Baron from Lubavitch of Howard County and a consultant on kosher supervision — set out on their journey. They arrived at the White House at 7:30 p.m. and waited while Minkowitz made sure nothing had happened to the food and that the Secret Service had not broken any of the kashrut seals.
Once in the White House kitchen, they were surprised at the exceptional cleaning job done by Chef Comerford and her staff — but there nevertheless remained some greasy nooks and crannies that the staff had missed. “We taught them a few new tricks,” said the rabbi.
No blowtorches or propane tanks could be used in the kashering process. The job involved boiling water, lots of scrubbing, high heat, aluminum foil and butcher paper, packing tape, and kosher cutting boards. It took about three hours on Monday morning and was interrupted once, when Bush made a surprise visit because she wanted to watch the actual kashering.
Says Taub, “She was beaming and thanked everyone for their hard work. I couldn’t hear what she was saying because I was pouring boiling water on the stainless counters, but when she asked for a photo op, I grabbed my jacket and that’s how we all landed on the front pages of the newspapers.
“Later she came over and thanked me personally for the special effort — and there was no problem about shaking hands. We didn’t. We were told she knew the rules on that, too.”
Afterwards, the first lady introduced the rabbi to the president. “He thanked me and told me he’d heard lots of compliments about me and our caterers. I told him that I felt our nation was privileged to have as its president a man who proudly respects his Jewish friends and their customs — and I wished them both a happy new year.”
As for the guests who could now take the kashrut in the White House for granted, it was all about the food. Betty’s and Petak’s prepared mountains of goodies and delicacies that, as they say in the business, moved.
The party was held in the East Room and the State Dining Room. To add Chanukah spirit to the room, Rubin says, “We put giant chocolate dreidels on the tables, draped in lime green. We sprinkled the tabletops with silver foil-wrapped Chanukah gelt, and presented our food buffet-style.”
First to disappear were more than 1,500 latkes in two flavors — traditional potato and sweet apple latkes, fried up by the boys from Petak’s and served with homemade cinnamon-spiced applesauce. No sour cream here — not even “fake.”
Betty’s produced the feather-light sufganiot (filled doughnuts) from jelly to custard to chocolate, and the president clearly enjoyed them, Taub said. Other traditional foods included finger cakes and pastries, smoked salmon, and mini-stuffed cabbage. The pieces de resistance were the paillettes of chateaubriand (eye of the rib) served in white horseradish sauce with homemade onion rings and steamed assorted California vegetables — baby carrots, baby bok choy, shiitake mushrooms, and baby yellow beets in their own steamy juices (no broccoli in the mix). For the fish-eaters, there was wild bass crusted with black and white sesame seeds. Salad was an orange and avocado pomegranate salad with pomegranate vinaigrette.
The president gave his Chanukah speech, a menorah brought from Cleveland was lit, some songs were sung, and — not surprising — a good time was had by all.
Nov 10
Jeanette Friedmanpeople
My name is Jeanette. I am a Jon Stewart junkie. Because Jon Stewart is sexy — not Hollywood sexy, brain sexy. His kind is the kind I taught my daughters to respect, the kind that is 95 percent from the neck up. Pollster Frank Luntz once told a group of Jewish freelancers that Stewart is so powerful, he could single-handedly save Jewish youth from assimilation — but only two people in the room had ever heard of him — and that’s cause Jon Stewart lives on cable TV at Comedy Central.
Jon Stewart
But now that he’s done the Oscars and kicked it up a couple of notches intellectually, I hope it doesn’t go to his head. I hope he stays put and doesn’t wander off into Lala Land. I am one of those who force themselves to stay awake at least until 11 from Mondays through Thursdays, so I can watch him “fresh” on The Daily Show. That is where he highlights the global insanities our fearless leaders have perpetrated and takes pot shots at preposterous aspects of pop culture, Hollywood included. On rerun nights I retire early.
Stewart’s brainy humor doesn’t usually endear him to stodgy establishment types (they just don’t get it), so we regular fans were dizzy with delight when we heard he was going to host the Oscars. But we were also a little worried. Should he take it seriously? Ehhhh, not so much? Should we?
His edgy Jewy-ness might be an issue, he mused on his own show at one point. His is the latest generation of comedy couched in the Catskills, but it is not the broad Yiddishy humor of a Billy Crystal. He is more Heeby and Jewschooly — knifey, in fact. What would he do with “Munich,” some wondered; what would he say about the suicide bomber flick?
Those of us who watch him closely know he shies away from the touchier issues in the Middle East. The hairiest thing he ever did was “The Jew Carry Show” about the disengagement from Gaza. Even if you hated it, you had to admit it was hilarious. So how far would he go at the Oscars was the real question — and the answer is not far enough to commit suicide on the air.
Most of the pundits are ridiculous. Hardcore fans wanted him to bust the place open. Who were they comparing him to? Bob Hope, Robin Williams, Billy Crystal — the gods? More than a week ago he discussed the gig with Roger Ebert, who put Stewart’s beautiful brain in a Cuisinart and set it on pulse, freaking Stewart out just a little, telling him that millions and millions and millions of people would be watching. (You can check out the Daily Show clips at www.thedailyshow.com to your hearts’ content.)
So yeah, you could tell Jewcy Jon was nervous going in, he admitted it. And regulars know the difference between his faking it and not. When a joke falls flat on the show, he admits that, too, shrugs and keeps on truckin’.
When he came out on that huge stage on Sunday, in front of that huge statue, who knew what would happen? Fourth male lead in “Death to Smoochy,” he’d been a B-list regular for years. (Stewart’s latest movie role is in Doogal, an animated feature for kids, where he plays an evil blue spring who does away with his enemies by spitting ice through his moustache. It opened last week and one critic advised parents who love their kids to spare them this trial.) He told Oprah his wife was supposed to talk him out of the gig, but she didn’t succeed.
At least he isn’t full of himself. In Movieland, Stewart set himself up perfectly with a film montage of past hosts who said no to the dirty job.
He finally finds himself in bed with George Clooney who gently informs him he’s got to get up and do the Oscars.
There he was, dwarfed by all the greats, including Jack Nicholson (who blew his mind backstage, Stewart said) and Oscar himself. The kid from Livingston, N.J., managed to remain true to himself and his craft, despite the critics who expected some kind of epiphany. Epiphanies don’t happen every day. Stewart got up there and performed his stock in trade — funny, cerebral, cutting jokes aimed at your brain. He makes you think, and then you have to laugh. Even at things that would normally be taboo.
Case in point: Spielberg wasn’t spared what some might think was a well-deserved skewering for “Munich.” When Stewart said that after “Schindler’s List” and Munich, he couldn’t wait to find out what happens to the Jews next, wasn’t he just telling the truth? Aren’t we all wondering about the next act?
Trilogy or trifecta. You decide.
Jul 30
Jeanette Friedmanhistory, people
Midas Ha Din: Jewish Blame
By Jeanette Friedman
I am not going to bother writing down the quotes and naming sources. Every reader of Jewish newspapers and blogs, and just about everyone who gets into a discussion about the current situation in the Middle East seems to be blaming the Jews, including the Jews.
What this reminds me of is the way my relatives, Rabbi Joel Teitlebaum, the Satmar Rebbe, and my uncle’s father-in-law, the Minchas Elazar, the Wonder Rabbi of Munkacs, both blamed the Zionists for the Holocaust. It’s like the haredi thinking today: that the Holocaust was a punishment on the Jews for believing in the Enlightenment, for eating ham in the rebbe’s courtyard on Yom Kippur—as if Hitler didn’t have the idea, regardless of the apostates, the Reform movement, or the Zionists.
The tune today is the same, only the lyrics are different. I hear constant accusations against Ehud Barak, the former Prime Minister of Israel, and against Ehud Olmert, for pulling out of Southern Lebanon and Gaza, and thereby causing today’s “situation� (matzav). Sharon, they claim, was justly punished by being felled like a large oak tree. Perhaps thousands of martyrs in a new Masada would have placated all the armchair quarterbacks and self-styled strategic experts who decried the forcible eviction of an indefensible population. Imagine all those poor Gush Katif settlers, who were treated so abominably by their own, if they would still be there. This confrontation was coming, disengagement or not—and it has been years in the making.
It is time to face reality: Israel’s wars have not been about occupation. It’s about Jews being allowed to exist. And that is NOT permitted. On this one issue, Sunnis and Shiites are united: Jews need to be killed wherever they live.
Ehud Barak understood this very clearly. He knows the Arab mentality. In Taba, he knowingly called Arafat’s bluff. Don’t believe me? Ask Bill Clinton and Dennis Ross. They finally got Arafat’s number and wanted to prove it to the world, in order to negate Oslo. Barak always understood that this was about Israel’s existence, not occupation.
How do I know? One day in Jerusalem, I walked over and thanked the former Prime Minister for putting an end to eight years of the charah (crap) called Oslo. He gave me two thumbs up, and said one word in Hebrew: “Hayvant.� I got it.
Olmert, as well, knows he has no negotiating partners, despite the disingenuous pantomime staged for the world community. How does one deal with the likes of an Abu Mazen and his Holocaust denial, his thugs, and the PA presses as they continue to publish record numbers of Mein Kampf and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion? Two weeks before the disengagement I challenged him to ask Abu Mazen if he still believed his doctoral thesis. “Yes or no,� I said, “and then you know who you are dealing with.� Olmert promised to send Abu Mazen my regards.
While the world community beat its “humanitarian� breasts and the Arab League jiggled around in its coin purse and eked out a few charitable pennies, Iran, Syria and Al Queda have all been “investing� in the region while the impoverished Palestinians destroyed the $14 million greenhouses that were supposed to provide them with a living. Arms and heroin sales—as well as petrodollars and market manipulation— are all in play. So are China and North Korea, not to mention Russia and the U.S. The Middle East is the world’s battleground, and right now we will find out once and for all what lessons the people and leaders of the world learned from the political pusillanimity and appeasement that became the Holocaust.
This war wasn’t caused by the Jews, no matter what the Kachniks, righties, haredim, socialist lefties and antisemites say. (Just ask Mel Gibson, who rants “F**n’ Jews. They’re responsible for all the wars in the world.�) This war is not a punishment from God. It is a war created by very skilled Jew haters who have been using Hitlerian propaganda methods since 1939 to poison the lifeblood of their own children with hatred against the infidel and calling for the destruction of the Jewish people, Hindus, Christians, Bahai and others everywhere on God’s green Earth.
Today the Israelis are protecting the world’s infidels from the Islamofascists, and all the spin doctors and mavens, please do the world a favor, just shut up and let them do the job. Remember, the people who chose to surround themselves with terrorists had options…and they chose hatred, violence, war and death. Israel is trying to stop it and let them know this will not stand.
But we know what will happen. The world condemns Israel for wiping out terrorists and will wait for the fancy ghetto called Israel to go up in flames and claim another 6,000,000. Those survivors of the Holocaust who haven’t already died will not be spared the vision of knowing that all of their suffering and teaching was in vain, and that everything they built will once again be destroyed because good people will do nothing to stop the terror and the hate and will stand idly by with folded arms, as Hamas, Al Queda, Iran, Syria and Hezbollah claim victory because of the stupidity of the world.
Jul 12
Jeanette Friedmaneulogy, people
Taps for Irving Hauptman
http://www.jstandard.com/articles/1289/1/Taps-for-Irving-Hauptman
Jeanette Friedman
By Jeanette Friedman
Published on 07/6/2006
My husband Phil came into my office the other day and delivered the news. “Irving passed away. His funeral is the day after tomorrow.” My jaw dropped, my eyes filled, and I thought, “He’s not suffering anymore.” After four heart attacks and a bout with Crohn’s Disease, our friend and comrade, Irving Hauptman had a difficult last few years.
Taps for Irving Hauptman
My husband Phil came into my office the other day and delivered the news. “Irving passed away. His funeral is the day after tomorrow.” My jaw dropped, my eyes filled, and I thought, “He’s not suffering anymore.” After four heart attacks and a bout with Crohn’s Disease, our friend and comrade, Irving Hauptman had a difficult last few years.
Irving was a decorated Korean War vet who earned two bronze stars and was company clerk in the 453rd Construction Battalion. That suited his personality. He worked at International Multifoods for 30 years as a bakery equipment designer and could be exacting and demanding. First and foremost in his life was his family — five kids and his wife Mary, a fellow veteran. His patriotism was fervent, his defense of the Jewish people fiery. He even carved the mahogany Jewish chaplain’s insignia that hangs in the Paramus Veterans Home’s Chapel.
Irving was senior vice commander of Jewish War Veterans Post 498 — for life, it seemed — and occasionally district and department vice commander, too. As a proud JWVer he represented his comrades by volunteering for local politicians or charity groups, doing things no one else wanted to do — stuffing envelopes, collecting goods. Irving’s way was visit veterans’ hospitals, get out the vote, cook for the homeless, put flags on veterans’ graves on Memorial Day, clip coupons for charity, bring food to Shelter Our Sisters — whatever it was, he and Mary were always available to make it happen.
Irving and Mary, in their JWV caps and matching outfits, were fixtures in our lives. They marched in every Teaneck Fourth of July parade until last year. For years, right after the parade, Irving and Mary hosted the annual JWV barbecue in their backyard. Now we do it at our place. Irving’s legacy (he taught me to parboil the chickens before putting them on the grill) was to celebrate America.
Did we always appreciate him? Honestly, not enough. Sometimes you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone. And therefore the JWVers honored him with a military service, a privilege for those of us who participated in the solemn ceremony.
We met our compatriots from the Jewish War Veterans at Temple Emeth in Teaneck and then marched into the sanctuary. We stood at attention behind the traditional simple pine box that was draped in the Stars and Stripes, as the JWV state commander performed the service. Then we were ordered to give the slow salute, the acknowledgment of Irving’s status as a veteran and our peer, an acknowledgment of the esteem in which we held him. Phil, the post commander (Irving always called him the Commando), offered a eulogy, reflecting on how Irving had always been a bit of a pain in the neck, a gadfly who constantly forced us to hold a mirror up to ourselves to ask if we were doing as much as he was, to ask if we were doing our fair share. Who was more dedicated to the cause of making the world a better place than Irving? We gave another slow salute, and filed out in two ranks.
The Hauptman daughters described their dad as playful, and talked about his obsession with his tools and workshop, the envy of all their friends. He could do anything electrical or build a birdhouse and then turn around and demand that their dates come to the door so he could meet (and evaluate) them. His son, Eddie, delivered a funny, honest, loving eulogy that reflected his dad’s sense of humor and integrity. Irving, who knew he was no saint, made Eddie promise he wouldn’t lie at the service and make grand claims about his father. So Eddie told his father’s favorite (unprintable) joke. Everyone who knew Irving knew Eddie was right on point. Eddie told the truth — and had us laughing and crying as we remembered our own moments with Irving.
The chapel ceremony over, we JWVers stood in rows at the door, once again saluting our comrade as he was brought to the hearse that would take him to Cedar Park.
At the cemetery, the ground soft and muddy, the bugler played the plaintive tones of Taps. Old Glory was lifted from the coffin and the flag folded in the timeless ceremony that links all those who have laid their lives on the line for their country. As the commander of the honor guard handed Mary the flag, I heard him murmur, “We present this flag to you in thanks for the service rendered by your husband for the people of the United States of America.” We saluted Irving for the very last time.
Sr. Vice Commander Irving Hauptman, at ease, sir.
Jul 12
Jeanette Friedmanpeople
GET AHEAD BY FAKING IT–
THIS WAS THE HEADLINE UNDER THE MARKETPLACE TAB ON THE DESKTOP
This article, which appears below in its entirety, appeared this morning under the automated tabs of the AOL Welcome Screen. Was it a spoof? Not hardly. The article, lifted from askmen.com, was chosen by AOL editors and featured as an important point worth promoting to millions of Americans.
Faking your way to success is a delightful American way of life. Look at the Enron crew and scores of other business executives who have swindled pensioners and investors out of their life savings. Look at the scandals in Congress–which are hardly visible in AOL News headlines. Better to get your news from google.
In the meantime, if you judge America by the vision engendered by AOL, we are in very deep trouble. We know that truth and justice no longer define the American Way. It’s lying, cheating and faking that matter. Hooray AOL. America’s voice. OY.
SEE IT FOR YOURSELF HERE
Six Tricks To Fake Your Way To The Top
By Dennis Coles, Askmen.com Career Advisor
AskMen.com
It’s a dynamic familiar to anyone who’s ever been assigned a group project in school. While most individuals on a team will dedicate at least some level of effort towards their specified responsibilities, there is always one individual in the group who does absolutely nothing and inherits a grade they didn’t deserve.
So where do these “work leeches” go when graduation has come and gone? The answer is that they slime their way into the offices and workplaces where we hoped we’d never see them again.
What’s worse is that these seemingly incompetent individuals go on to careers where they receive undeserved pay increases, benefits and promotions over more worthy colleagues. The reason for this workplace injustice? To get ahead in any company, you may not have to be competent, diligent or resourceful, but you had better make sure your boss thinks you’re working hard.
Below are six office habits that will make your boss think you’re the glue holding the company together and not what you really are: A hungover employee consumed with whether or not to click the NSFW link in their web browser.
1- CC almost all of your outgoing e-mails to your boss
CCing is a great way of flaunting work in front of your boss’ face. Be they e-mails of major or minor significance, CCing allows you to selectively pump the message “I am working hard” into your supervisor’s head. Moreover, even if your employer doesn’t bother reading these e-mails in full, they are a constant reminder that you are doing your job.
“There was a time at my job where I would come in to the office and do nothing but send three e-mails the entire day” says JC, a midlevel executive in Montreal. “But because I would CC the letters to my boss, I developed a reputation as a diligent worker and got promoted. Oddly enough, with my new position I have no time to pointlessly CC e-mails and now my manager thinks I’m doing nothing.”
2- Carry a notebook and never let it leave your side
For some reason, employers tend to assume that if someone is scribbling in a notepad while they are walking around an office, they are inherently productive. Even if you’re drawing pictures of your boss’ desperate housewife, management will see your notepad as a sign that you are a lean, mean, corporate predator, ready to feast on the innards of your lazy, unproductive, notepad-less coworkers.
The connection between looking productive and acting stressed…
3- Report office issues to your boss before anyone else does
Countless inept employees have solidified their place as the boss’ right-hand man simply by channeling information that is widely known throughout the office up to their superiors.
Whether it’s informing management that the company firewall is inhibiting e-mails from reaching the admin. department or noting that the water cooler has been empty for three weeks, reporting the daily events of the office to your boss crystallizes your role as the company’s guardian angel.
4- Keep your phone on your shoulder and your best work on your PC
These are two very important habits that ensure you look productive whenever an employer may decide to pass by your workstation.
Firstly, having a piece of plastic on your shoulder shouldn’t make you seem like a dynamic professional about to land the company’s next big contract but — because that piece of plastic is shaped like a phone — it does.
Secondly, leaving the best work you’ve done on your computer’s desktop ensures you’re presenting yourself as a focused and driven executive and not the idle employee who minimized this AskMen.com article upon hearing your boss’ footsteps.
5- Act stressed
Used before the time of e-mail, telephones and notepads, feigning stress is a classic method of workplace self-promotion as the logic behind it is simple and rock solid: All bosses believe that more work means more stress, thus someone who is very stressed must be working very hard.
6- On your day off, call your boss from the office
Even if you stay out clubbing to the break of dawn, make a habit of passing by your workplace on the way home and provide your supervisor with a weekend wake up call. Though they might be a bit upset about being confronted with office affairs on their day off, calling your boss on the weekend forever establishes your reputation as an employee that lives to work.
Being Passively Productive
So now that these workplace weapons are at your disposal, don’t be surprised if you become the apple of the boss’ eye despite allowing the quality of your work to hit the dumpster. Just remember: Don’t blame us when ou’re put in charge of everything and these fickle tactics are the only leadership skills you have left.
2006-07-11 18:05:38
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