QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “I have read the Bible through a number of times, and I need to say I missed the chapters on stem cells and cloning.”

-- The Rev. Dean Snyder, Foundry United Methodist Church, Washington, D.C.

Friday Footnote #5 … December 3, 2004

A publication of The Baltimore Jewish Council.

1. Maryland-Israel High Tech Venture Fund

2. Maryland Jewish Alliance 2005 Legislative Agenda

2. Senate shakeup

3. Worth a Read – and a media note

4. Mikulski followup – and a correction

5. Appreciate a Teacher

6. The Lighter Side – stamps and a hip-hop Chanukah

Welcome, friends, to another edition of the Friday Footnote. We start with some exciting news about new economic development ties between Maryland and Israel. Please take a look at the Maryland Jewish Alliance 2005 Legislative Agenda below. We’ll need your help this session to be successful. A quick congratulations to the staff and board members of the Elijah Cummings Youth Program in Israel for a terrific fundraiser this week at the home of Stewart and Marlene Greenebaum. The program is jointly run by the office of Congressman Elijah Cummings and the Baltimore Jewish Council. (For information on how to support this amazing program, call us at the Council: 410-542-4850).

A programming note: The BJC’s Legislative Committee will have its first meeting on Monday January 24 from 8:15 to 9:15 a.m. at the 2^nd floor phone room of the JFS Building, at 5750 Park Heights Avenue (and every two weeks thereafter for two or three more meetings). Please notify me if you want to attend. The Legislative Committee reviews bills as they are filed in Annapolis and makes recommendations on how we should advocate on them.

You should definitely try to join Mayor O’Malley and many others at the “Chanukah House” (at left) community candle-lighting this Monday evening at 7:00 p.m., at 6211 Park Heights Avenue.

Finally, a happy and warm Chanukah to you and yours. May the lights of your candles be as beacons of… may they shine deep into the dark night of your….may the warm glowing embers of your menorah cast a flickering …. Oh, just eat your greasy latkes and sing a song or two. And don’t forget the inspiring and unique lesson of Chanukah: “They tried to kill us, we won, let’s eat.”

- David

*** Save the Date: Maryland Jewish Alliance Advocacy Day in Annapolis: March 7, 2005, 5-8 p.m.***

Maryland-Israel High Tech Venture Fund

Yasher koach to the Maryland-Israel Development Center, its Chairman Hanan “Bean” Sibel and Executive Director Barry Bogage for this week’s creation of a $1 million fund to support new product development joint ventures between high tech companies in Maryland and Israel. Governor Robert Ehrlich and Israel’s Vice Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced the fund at an Annapolis press conference on Monday. It results from MIDC’s hard work, and the Governor’s trade mission to Israel last fall.

“It’s the logical next step to the brokering work of the Maryland/Israel Development Center,” Sibel said, “and further illustrates Governor Ehrlich’s leadership in business development and forging bi-national ties.” Go to this web page to see the Governor’s press release on the fund.

Here is the Baltimore Sun’s slightly more cynical take on the event, headlined “Governor reaches out to state's Jewish voters.” It begins, “The governor spent time this week bolstering his credentials with Maryland's Jewish community, a potentially important bloc of voters in the 2006 election.”

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The Maryland Jewish Alliance 2005 Legislative Agenda

Last week I began a series of looks at state legislative agendas by printing a bit of the Maryland Chamber of Commerce’s plan of action. This week, let’s get a little closer to home. Below is the full Maryland Jewish Alliance 2005 legislative agenda. Here are some excerpts of what we hope to accomplish next session (with your help, to be sure):

· State financial support for Jewish institutions and services.

· Support for vulnerable populations

· Public Education support

· Freedom to Travel legislation

· Combating Violence and Extremism

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Senate Shakeup

You’ll recall the news that there’s a small reshuffling going on in the state Senate: with the passing of Sen. Robert Kittleman (R-Howard), who was a member of the Budget & Taxation Committee, Senate President Mike Miller had to move some pieces on his chessboard. The news hit the papers a few weeks ago that he was switching Sen. Jim Brochin (D-Baltimore Co.) from the Judicial Proceedings Committee (JPR), to the Education, Health & Environmental Affairs Committee. Sen. Norman Stone (D-Baltimore Co.), formerly of EHEA will switch with him and go to JPR.

Just to follow up, we now know that Sen. Sandra Schrader (R-Howard), formerly on EHEA, will take the late Sen. Kittleman’s place on Budget & Taxation (a coveted spot – it’s where the money is). Which means that his replacement – his son, Allan Kittleman – will go to EHEA, chaired by Sen. Paula Hollinger. Hope that’s not too confusing. Paula explained some of the rationale for this in a letter to the editor of The Sun this week, headlined “Senate shuffle isn't intended to block reform.”

Also, it’s now been confirmed that new Delegate Murray Levy, of Charles County, has been assigned to Maggie McIntosh’s Environmental Affairs Committee. We met with Murray this week at his home in La Plata, and we’re really looking forward to working with him in Annapolis. And after the session we agreed to host a meeting for him to meet leaders of the Baltimore Jewish community. Stay tuned.

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Worth a Read

The Montgomery Gazette reports that a special legislative session to deal with the medical malpractice issue is increasingly unlikely, and that some leading state senators are looking to cut their own deal with the House, regardless of the Governor’s support.

Here is The Sun’s recent analysis of the medical malpractice arbitration system and the Governor’s task force recommendation to scrap it entirely. [Free registration required.]

Also in the Gazette, whenever the General Assembly convenes, be it this month or at its regular time in January, the first order of business is to consider overriding the Governor’s vetoes. Senate President Mike Miller weighs in on those he wants to override, and those he doesn’t. No mention of a bill we’re very concerned about – Senate Bill 819, the Olmstead Compliance Act, which deals with a possible new experiment in long-term care for low-income seniors and others. We’re hoping that makes the list, as well.

Still feeling the post-election pre-holiday blues? Check out this article in The Forward, “Red State, Blue State, Light Meat, Dark Meat,” By Amitai Etzioni.

Democrat, Republican, red state, blue state, chartreuse state … you have to read this article from the Rev. Dean Snyder of Foundry United Methodist Church in Washington. He articulates eloquently the discomfort some have about religious certainty in politics, and argues, “Ultimately justice is won by committed people who sometimes win at the ballot box and sometimes lose, but they persist day in and day out in the struggle for justice.”

The Montgomery Gazette has a different take on the Angelos family’s pending acquisition of Rosecroft Raceway and how it might affect the odds on legalizing slot machines in Maryland.

A media personnel note. Baltimore Sun Religion reporter Frank Langfitt is leaving the paper to become a labor reporter for National Public Radio, where we wish him all the best, and look forward to hearing from him – literally. Frank has been a good reporter on a very sensitive beat, to say the least. No reporter is perfect, of course (that comes from a former and still-recovering journalist), but Frank has covered our community with care and insight. While we don’t yet know who will replace him, we’ll be sure to cultivate that relationship, too.

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Mikulski followup – and a correction

My apologies to those who tried to send an email to Sen. Barbara Mikulski thanking her for the $706,000 “NORC” grant she secured for CHAI and other Associated agencies. I included an outdated email address in last week’s Footnote. This website is the best (and possibly only) way to send her an email message:

http://mikulski.senate.gov/mailform.html

I’ve reprinted the sample thank-you note below, and I hope you’ll send her a message expressing your appreciation as a member of the Jewish community. (Rep. Ben Cardin also was instrumental, so by all means please let him know his work was appreciated, too).

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Appreciate a Teacher

I pass along this appeal not just because support for the public schools is an important part of the Baltimore Jewish Council’s policy framework, and not just because my sister-in-law is a rookie teacher (albeit in a Baltimore County elementary school, not City) and I see how much she spends out-of-pocket for her kids, and not just because my own kids are soon headed to a City public school, but also because the need is great and genuine … and because it’s Chanukah time and this would make a great (belated) gift to a bunch of kids you don’t even know … and because while I don’t know Pat Bernstein, the originator of this project (maybe some of you do), I can tell you that the sender, Tony Bridges, is an extraordinary public servant whose salary the citizens of Baltimore are lucky to be able to pay.

Dear Friend:

Working with a number of Baltimore City Schools over this past year, it is obvious that teachers are lacking some basic school supplies. Many dip into their own pockets, spending as much as $500 a year for such things as paper, pencils and scissors.

As a gesture of appreciation for their dedication, please help with a grassroots volunteer effort to recognize over 300 teachers at 17 area schools with surprise “goody bags” containing some classroom necessities. Through this e-mail campaign, we ask for donations of either funds or supplies that volunteers will package and deliver to the schools.

The schools all have genuine needs and were selected at random. With your help additional schools can be added in the future.

PLEASE LET US KNOW WHAT YOU WILL CONTRIBUTE BY RETURN E-MAIL. * Deadline for contributions: December 20 with delivery of packages by the middle of January.

Description	Total Needed	Cost per item
# 2 Pencils	1590 dozen boxes	$1.00 per dozen
Crayola Markers – box 8, Classic broad	950 boxes	$3.20 a box
Post-it notes	1590 pkgs. of 12	$4.50 pkg.
One hole Punchers	1590	$1.50 each
Storage bins	636	$6.30 each
Duplicating paper	950 reams	$4.40 each
Scissors, Double Thumb Loop	1115	$2.30 each

Supplies can be dropped off at City Hall and your community action center.

Or…Mail a tax-deductible check to the Baltimore Community Foundation.

The Baltimore Community Foundation, 9th floor

Attn: Teacher Appreciation Gift

2 East Read Street

Baltimore, MD 21202

Please forward this to friends so that others can be part of this effort. Thank you for helping lift the spirits of those who are so important to our children!!

- Pat Bernstein, Parent who cares

Tony Bridges

Neighborhood Liaison

Mayor's Office of Neighborhoods

Room 628, City Hall

Baltimore, Maryland 21202

443-984-1081

http://www.baltimorecity.gov/government/moon/index.html

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The Lighter Side – stamps and a hip-hop Chanukah

My thanks to alert reader Ina Singer for passing along the following (although I take issue with the U.S. Postal Service’s version of the word that should be spelled “Chanukah,” in my humble opinion):

“Just a quick note to let you know that for the first time in 6 years, the post office has issued a new Hanukkah stamp, this one featuring a wooden dreidel carved with what appears to be a Jerusalem landscape and set on a background of a stylized 'HANUKKAH.'

“Please encourage everyone to make a point of purchasing these stamps to support the post office's decision to acknowledge and honor our holiday (Chinese New Year gets a new stamp each year; even Kwanzaa and a Muslim holiday merit stamps). Please ask for these stamps at your local post office (apparently they are not always on display) or order them when you next need stamps by mail or online. Use them for your everyday mailing in addition to your holiday cards. Unless there's sufficient interest in the form of sales, the post office won't issue special Hanukkah stamps again.”

Here’s the Hanukkah postage stamp press release, including links to order stamps online.

Finally, thanks to alert (and slightly disturbed) reader Joel Simon, for this find, and with apologies to hip-hop group Outkast (audio comes on, so turn down the volume if you are in the office …nothing inappropriate): http://home.nc.rr.com/keehyun/stuff/jew-heyya.html.

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Maryland Jewish Alliance

2005 Legislative Priorities

Jewish community services

State financial support for Jewish institutions and services.

Ø Expansion of services and a new building for Rockville’s Jewish Social Service Agency.

Ø Renovation of the Manhattan Park Apartments in Baltimore, which offers affordable housing for seniors.

Ø Refugee Resettlement support for Jewish agencies in Baltimore and Rockville.

Ø Operating support for the Maryland-Israel Development Center, a non-profit organization promoting trade, joint ventures and investment between Maryland and Israeli businesses and research institutions; and for arts and cultural institutions in the Jewish community.

Support for vulnerable populations

Maryland needs to help meet the pressing challenges of its most at-risk citizens.

Ø Sufficient funding for Medicaid services including the CHIP program, mental health services, and long-term care for the elderly

Ø The maintenance of prescription drug coverage for low-income seniors

Ø Reduction of the waiting list for services to those with developmental disabilities, and increases in wages for service providers.

Ø A restoration of funding for affordable housing and emergency food and shelter

Public Education

One of the state’s most important constitutional obligations is to provide a quality public education for all of Maryland’s school children.

Ø We call for a much-needed increase in school construction funding. Last year’s capital budget provided just over $114 million. But local requests this year exceed $600 million, and school populations are growing as aging buildings deteriorate. Maryland’s capacity to borrow for this vital investment, at today’s low interest rates, exceeds $250 million.

Ø Operating fund increases under the Thornton Commission formula should be sustained.

Freedom to Travel

Life insurers increasingly are denying coverage to those who travel to certain countries. All Marylanders deserve the right to travel abroad without fear of losing adequate life insurance coverage and/or risk of increased premium payments. The risk of violence during travel is minimal, and exists everywhere in the world, not just certain countries. New York and Illinois have passed measures to limit this unjustified form of discrimination. Maryland should follow suit.

Combating Violence and Extremism

The Maryland Jewish Alliance works to ensure that all citizens feel protected and safe.

Ø We support hate crimes legislation intended to protect the rights and liberties of all citizens, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation or ethnic origin.

Ø We support laws protecting victims of domestic violence and child abuse.

Ø It is time to ban assault weapons that have no legitimate sporting or self-defense purpose.

MARYLAND JEWISH ALLIANCE

Fact Sheet

The Maryland Jewish Alliance the legislative coalition of THE ASSOCIATED: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore, the Baltimore Jewish Council, the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington and the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington (JCRCGW). The federations are the central coordinating and fundraising bodies for their respective communities and financially support a network of agencies, which provide a wide array of services. The Baltimore Jewish Council and the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington are the community relations and political arms of the federations. The Maryland Jewish Alliance represents the federations, their agencies and Jewish organizations throughout Maryland.

FAdditional Issues: The following items are additional priorities for which the MJA will advocate during the 2005 legislative session:

Ø Support for women’s reproductive rights

Ø Statutory protection and funding for stem cell research

Ø Additional substance abuse treatment

Ø Assistance for immigrants and refugees

Ø Securing Jewish institutions against terrorist threat

FWe’re in Annapolis: The Alliance maintains a full-time presence in Annapolis during the legislative session and works closely with the legislature and our coalition partners on a variety of social, cultural, religious, and economic issues, many of which concern the welfare of all Marylanders.

FWhom we serve: In addition to serving the approximately 211,000 Jewish residents of Maryland through services such as counseling to children, families, and individuals, assisted living facilities, housing assistance, and vocational services for New Americans, just to name a few, many of our services are also utilized by the community at large.

FCommunity involvement: Volunteerism is a deeply rooted value in Jewish life. Consistent with this tradition, the agencies administer a significant volunteer service corps, which allows us to provide services to greater numbers of people. In addition to these efforts, Maryland’s Jewish community also raises significant private donations, with a portion of these funds directed to humanitarian efforts overseas. These contributions are paired with foundation grants, federal and state dollars, United Way funds, endowment and investment incomes.

For more information about the Maryland Jewish Alliance, contact:

David Conn, Director, [email protected]

Sheryl Goldstein, Deputy Director, Baltimore Jewish Council, [email protected]

Laura Beasley, Government Relations Associate, [email protected]

Rabbi Sarah Meytin, Deputy Director, JCRCGW, [email protected]

5750 Park Heights Avenue 191 Main Street

Baltimore MD 21215 Annapolis MD 21401

Phone: (410) 542-4850 Phone: (410) 269-1672

Fax: (410) 542-4834 Fax: (410) 269-1675

Baltimore Jewish Council: www.baltjc.org Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington: www.jcouncil.org

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Sample thank-you emails to Sen. Mikulski and Rep. Cardin:

Dear Senator Mikulski/Congressman Cardin:

I write to thank you for your continued support of the NORC (or Naturally Occurring Retirement Community) project run by CHAI and other agencies of The Associated. I was excited to hear about the success of your efforts to secure federal funds to continue this project, which is becoming a model to the nation for dignified care of our seniors.

This project is of particular concern to me because __________________________.

Once again, I want you to know how much your efforts on behalf of the Jewish community are appreciated. I hope you have/had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Sincerely,

[Your name]

Senator Mikulski’s email website: http://mikulski.senate.gov/mailform.html

Congressman Cardin’s email address: [email protected]

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Being a citizen: Beyond winning and losing

By Dean Snyder

A friend sent me a copy of an e-mail that a pastor had broadcast to his parishioners the week before the presidential election. The e-mail included a letter written by the Rev. Rick Warren, the best-selling author.

Rick Warren's letter, which was apparently e-mailed to the membership lists of thousands of churches across the United States, urged Christians to vote and said the two candidates had very different viewpoints on five issues about which, according to Warren, the Bible is clear: abortion, stem cell harvesting, homosexual marriage, cloning, and euthanasia.
By the end of the letter, no one could have any question which candidate Warren believed was on the side of the Bible and which one wasn't.

Let me try to articulate some feelings and thoughts this letter raised in me:
First, Rick Warren, as a citizen, had the right to express his convictions about this election. He certainly had just as much right to express himself as Bruce Springsteen and the Dixie Chicks did.

Yet, having said this, as much as I like most of Warren's book "The Purpose Driven Church," I found myself really, really irritated by his letter.

In his letter he said that a particular stance on the five issues he had decided to focus on was "not debatable" because, according to him, the Bible is "non-negotiable" on these issues.

I have read the Bible through a number of times, and I need to say I missed the chapters on stems cells and cloning. For that matter, the Bible has nothing much to say directly and explicitly about abortion or homosexual marriage or the complex and painful issues surrounding choices about the end of life.

Warren's certainty that he knows God's wishes about these very complex and difficult issues bothers me. To think you personally know exactly what God believes about these things seems to me something very close to idolatry. To presume to tell people how they as Christians ought to vote because you know what God thinks seems to me something very close to blasphemy.

And, remember, there was a time a lot of people thought the Bible was non-negotiable on the separation of the races. There was a time a lot of people thought the Bible was non-negotiable on supporting the institution of slavery, and on "miscegenation" (inter-racial marriage) being a sin, and on the unacceptability of divorced people remarrying, and on the impossibility of the ordination of women or women even speaking in church and even on the divine right of kings, a concept that would make the very idea of elections impossible.

When we study Scripture, the question we need to ask is what is the story line? What is God up to in human history? What are the commitments and values that emerge over the scope of the story?

It looks to me like the story line is something like this: Creation is good, including human beings, although it turns out that we do not treat each other justly or lovingly. We oppress each other. God moves in human history to liberate the oppressed and to care for the widow, the orphan and the weak. God's love for us is so great that God finally became vulnerable to us in Jesus Christ in order to teach us how to become vulnerable to one another and to love one another, and to live together in community justly.

What would seem to me to be non-negotiable in Scripture are justice, mercy, beauty, truth and love.

But we all need to study Scripture for ourselves. We Methodists say that our faith should be shaped by the Wesley quadrilateral: Scripture, experience, reason and tradition. Each of us, in loving dialogue with one another, needs to discern our understanding of what it means to be faithful to the biblical story in which we stand and of which we are writing our chapter in our time and place.

I do not think we should imitate Rick Warren. I wouldn't presume to tell people how to vote. But I hope our deepest values are shaped by our faith and that our votes are an expression of these deepest values.

Most of all, I hope we continue to live by those values day after day no matter who wins elections. Ultimately justice is won by committed people who sometimes win at the ballot box and sometimes lose, but they persist day in and day out in the struggle for justice. Candidates may win or lose, but we still continue to work and pray, day after day, for a just and caring society.

A lot of people have taken credit for the collapse of the Berlin Wall. Here's how I understand it happened. It started in the early 80s (years before the wall tumbled) at St. Nicholas Church of Leipzig, East Germany. A small group of people at St. Nicholas started a Monday evening prayer service for peace. It started quite small, but the group continued to gather to pray for peace Monday after Monday.

In 1988 and 1989 attendance skyrocketed. Attendance grew so high that East German officials began to worry. They posted roadblocks and detained people to try to prevent them from going to those services.

Finally, on Oct. 8, 1989, the secret police were prepared to shoot and kill in order to stop people from assembling for the prayer service. That night the church was packed with more than 2,000 people, and another 70,000 were on the streets outside.

The crowds left the church and they began to march toward City Hall, where the armed guards were waiting for them. The troops never opened fire. They retreated inside City Hall and they watched as the marchers placed their candles on the steps of the City Hall and stood there in a silent vigil for peace.

According to the Rev. Andrew Wolf, the commander of those troops stared out the window at that crowd, and he was heard to mutter: "We planned for everything, we prepared for everything, except for candles and prayers."

Within a month, history shifted and the wall came down.

For those whose candidates won or lost in this past election, don't suppose the struggle for justice has been won or lost because of an election. Justice comes from the persistence and prayers of those willing to live out our faith's deepest values day after day, win or lose.

The Rev. Dean Snyder is senior pastor at Foundry UMC in Washington, D.C. This commentary is adapted from a sermon he gave Oct. 31 at Foundry.

Reprinted by permission of The Connection – the newspaper of the Baltimore-Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church.

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Friday Footnote #5 … December 3, 2004

Contents

Maryland-Israel High Tech Venture Fund

The Maryland Jewish Alliance 2005 Legislative Agenda

Senate Shakeup

Worth a Read

Mikulski followup – and a correction

Appreciate a Teacher

Cost per item

The Lighter Side – stamps and a hip-hop Chanukah

Jewish community services

Support for vulnerable populations

Public Education

Freedom to Travel

Combating Violence and Extremism

Fact Sheet

Sheryl Goldstein, Deputy Director, Baltimore Jewish Council, [email protected]

Laura Beasley, Government Relations Associate, [email protected]