Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on July 7, 2020

Sentinel photo by BRADLEY KREITZERThe door of St. Marks Episcopal Church in Lewistown. According to its website, St. Marks is still holding church services online via Facebook and Zoom. No in-person services are being held at this time.

The inability to attend church each week has been one of the most affecting consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to social distancing guidelines, its been nearly impossible for congregations around the country to gather in ways they were accustomed to prior to the COVID-19 outbreak.

As states begin to reopen, however, so are religious activities. Kevin Seager, the senior pastor for the Norwalk Alliance Church in Norwalk, Ohio, said earlier this week that his church began a particular reopening of in-person services in early June. Yet even with that in mind, he acknowledged how hard its been to get things up and running again as Ohio transitions into its latest reopening phase.

This phase is actually the trickiest because we knew how to handle (being) completely shut down, he said, but this is kind of at the in-between, where you can hear a different thing every week. Eventually, this will go by, and we can get back to doing things as weve done it, but for the moment, out of love for our neighbor, were going to forego some of the things that have been one of the best ways that we like to do church for example, singing a whole bunch of songs.

Were having to do things differently, he concluded, and thats a challenge.

Our reporters spoke with churches in 11 different states to see where they are with their re-opening plans and what comes next as they hope to begin the process of regularly gathering to worship together.

PENNSYLVANIA

Some parts of Pennsylvania have gone back to places of worship, while others have not. In Altoona, the Agudath Achim Congregation has not yet returned to the synagogue, but are meeting via Zoom.

All services are being handled at my dining room table, said Cantor Benjamin Matis, the spiritual leader of the congregation, which has about 100 families.

Matis said they havent reopened yet, as theyre being extremely careful when it comes to being cautious during the pandemic. He said there are those among his congregation who would love to get back into the building, and those that dont feel its safe to do that just yet.

The leadership within the congregation are discussing when to open, he said, especially with major Jewish holidays approaching in the fall.

Everythings still very up in the air, Matis said. Yes, wed love to reopen the synagogue its a pain in the neck using Zoom. If were going to do anything, were going to do it as safely as possible.

Matis referenced a Jewish law called Pikuach nefesh, which means that the preservation of life and health takes precedence over all other legal concerns, he said.

In Canonsburg, the congregation of the All Saints Greek Orthodox Church was very happy to get back to in-person services at 50 percent capacity.

People even had tears and were crying coming back to church, said the assistant priest Father George Athanasiou. Its a family. Its a second home for some people.

They are part of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Pittsburgh, which includes congregations in Ohio and West Virginia, and have been following guidelines from the metropolis. They had been doing virtual services with only a few church leaders in the building, according to Athanasiou.

Were not used to that TV or broadcast-based service, he said. We all became televangelists overnight.

Like everywhere else, theyve had to incorporate sanitizing stations, six feet of social distancing and face masks during services. They recently had a service with 80 people there, and they were wearing masks, Athanasiou said.

Its not just our own safety, but for the safety of others, he said. You want to be safe, especially for our older parishioners. We want people to feel comfortable coming back to church.

KANSAS

At St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Lawrence, the communion sacrament has been adjusted in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In many Catholic churches, the blessed wine believed to be the blood of Christ is shared and consumed by many congregants from the same cup.

Currently, however, wine is no longer being offered at St. Johns, said Father John Cousins, OFM Cap., a priest at the church. Instead, only the blessed bread is available. Additionally, instead of having numerous parishioners help give out communion during the service, the priest is the only person to hand it out.

Cousins said other adjustments to church services include that they are limited to just 60 people.

St. Johns offers six services a weekend, Cousins said, meaning there are a total of 360 seats available. Only about 77 percent, or 277 people came last weekend, however. Cousins said there are congregants who would like to come to mass but are still fearful.

In Kansas, churches were allowed to reopen in Phase 1 of the states reopening plan, which began on May 4. St. Johns began hosting masses again on May 16.

At St. Johns, congregants wear masks during the service, Cousins said. People sanitize their hands before mass begins and singing is limited to one person: the cantor.

Cousins said parishioners that have returned are happy to be back.

I had one comment that I think is probably indicative of others, Cousins shared it being that the parishioner said church was one of the safest places theyve felt while visiting in recent months.

IOWA

In Marshalltown, Center Street Baptist Church just reopened for its first service on Sunday.

People were just chomping at the bit to get back, said the churchs administrative assistant, Linda Bailey.

Despite other churches in town opening before them, Bailey said they waited to reopen in order to get their procedures in place so that they could take as many precautions as possible.

Bailey said the church, which is medium-sized and typically would gather about 100 people per service, has many elderly congregants.

We need to make the whole population feel as comfortable as possible, Bailey said. Its hard to explain to some people that we have to think of everybody.

Among the precautions Center Street Baptist Church offered were propped open doors before services, a designated entrance and exit door, bathroom monitors who cleaned stalls after use and the suggestion that people mail in offerings instead of passing around an offering plate.

Churches in Iowa were allowed to reopen for services on May 3.

UTAH

In Provo and Ogden, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is strictly following the guidance of governments to prevent the spread of the pandemic, according to media relations manager Irene Caso.

Currently, both the Ogden Utah Temple and the Provo Utah Temple are only opened under Phase 1 limited operations, meaning the temples are only open for living sealings.

At this time, only husband-and-wife living sealings are being performed for members who have already received their endowment, the respective websites state. Sealings will be performed by appointment only and limited to couples residing in a designated geographic area.

Worship services do not occur in the temples but rather in meetinghouses.

According to a May 19 article from the churchs newsroom, there is a two-phased approach to reopening church meetings and activities. Phase 1 will include worship services limited to 99 people and shortened meetings and activities at the meetinghouse, with the possibility of some meetings needing to occur virtually. Phase 2 will include services allowing more than 100 individuals and meetings and activities at the meetinghouse.

The status of the phased reopening of individual meetinghouses differs by ward at the local level.

OHIO

After initial COVID-19-related shutdowns across the state, many churches closed their doors to the public. Since June, some churches have returned to hosting services with restrictions while others are waiting to welcome back members.

Eric L. Bodenstab, the pastor of Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in Sandusky, said the church previously hosted a Saturday evening service and two Sunday services before the pandemic. Now, theyre not worshipping at all in the building.

In the 1970s, the church started broadcasting services over a local radio station, something they have continued to do for church members without Internet access. Services are also pre-recorded, edited and posted to the churchs YouTube channel.

For the missing Saturday service, Bobdenstab has been making reflection videos that are posted to YouTube at the same time the in-person service would have been.

Its like 10 to 15 minutes at most, but its just a little reflection to stay in connection with folks who might have liked that service to give them something to see and do at that time, he said. Our faith formation folks got together and theyve taken on doing something for children a Sunday school time after the service.

He said the church also has its own app which has helped the church stay in contact with members. Sermons are also posted as a podcast. For church members without internet access, the church has been mailing out bulletins, announcements and devotionals.

We have just in this past week opened up the building for appointment visits because we have what we need to do the cleaning inside the office, Bobdenstab said. But we dont have what we need yet to do the cleaning inside the building, so we are not yet meeting in the worship space, because we dont have the hand sanitizer dispensers. Theyre on order, but were waiting for them.

Bobdenstab said the council, representatives elected by the congregation, is still planning how they will conduct in-person worship services but have maintained contact with their members.

Our council has taken it upon themselves with some other members to call the members of our congregation every week and we have about 490 households, he said. They dont always get to everybody, but they give it a shot, just to stay in contact with everybody, every week.

A few weeks ago, Bobdenstabs church began providing a drive-thru communion service.

We take those elements and distribute them to folks as they drive underneath our covered entryway, he said. The first and third Sundays, were going to be doing that and I think thats going to be our plan for the foreseeable future.

Reverend Monte J. Hoyles, pastor of the Catholic parishes of Sandusky, said between March and the end of May, there were no public masses.

Beginning on May 25, we started to offer our regularly scheduled masses, Hoyles said. The faithful were asked to reserve a pew online or to call the parish office to reserve a pew. Beginning June 27, we began to use every other pew, which is what most parishes in our area have been doing.

The Sign of Peace and distribution of communion has been suspended and hymnals have been temporarily removed from pews.

We have live-streamed Mass once each week, and originally added a number of online daily devotions, Hoyles said. One of our parish priests and several of our deacons have been telephoning our homebound parishioners to see how they are doing.

We have also offered a number of online evening chats where people can comment, ask questions and feel like they are part of the event, Hoyles added. One of these was a Facebook cooking show with the priests of the parish.

The Norwalk Alliance Church has also started welcoming back church members after becoming an online church since March.

Kevin Seager, senior pastor, said that during the first Sunday of June, they started a partial reopening of in-person services while continuing to live-stream the sermon.

The in-person had a lot of restrictions, he said. We greatly reduced our seating capacity so that all chairs would be a minimum of six feet apart in groups of five or six years so families could sit together. We actually shorten the duration of our service from about an hour and 15 minutes to about 45 minutes just to reduce overall exposure.

Seager said the church has made the difficult decision to suspend congregationally singing because doing so is a prime way to be breathing hard over everybody around you.

He said while following guidelines set by the state for COVID-19, they are also following another guideline: love for your neighbor.

More than thinking about what your personal freedoms are, think about whats good, not only for the people who want to come to church but even our greater community, Seager said. We dont want to be creating more danger.

MICHIGAN

Many worship centers in Northeast Michigan have resumed services in some capacity. Some are offering outdoor and drive-in services, while some smaller congregations are meeting indoors, with social distancing precautions in place.

Living Hope Church in Alpena started offering outdoor services on June 7, with the option to bring your own chair and sit outside, or stay in your car and listen to the service via radio.

Communion is still being served, but is offered in sealed packages of a wafer and juice that each parishioner opens themselves. Hugging and handshaking is discouraged, but some have been comfortable enough to reach out and touch each other.

Masks, meanwhile, are not required because it is an outdoor service. The church has always offered a Facebook Live service, which people can view from home if they do not feel comfortable gathering together yet.

At Temple Beth-El in Alpena, indoor services have resumed with social distancing and masks required. The synagogue has a smaller congregation, so the issue of a large crowd is not a big concern there, said Ken Diamond, president of the congregation of Temple Beth-El. The synagogue normally features visiting rabbis, but that is not possible due to the pandemic.

We are a very small congregation, and dont have enough members to have a full-time rabbi here with us, Diamond explained. So we had to cancel several of those, probably for the rest of the year, based on their travel.

He added that they have conducted services with rabbis via Zoom during the shutdown.

They started conducting in-person services a few weeks ago and tuning into sermons broadcast by other synagogues in Northern Michigan, such as Petoskey.

We have hand sanitizer available, the congregants are all wearing masks, and we are doing social distancing, Diamond said. We will continue to do that as conditions abate and we are able to move back towards a more normal schedule, hopefully.

He said the congregation consists of about 20 families.

Several members expressed concern, he noted of the threat of COVID-19 exposure. Were all concerned about meeting indoors, of course. But hopefully in taking the proper precautions, we wont have any events at all.

MINNESOTA

John Heille is one of the pastors at Grace Lutheran Church in Fairmont. Right now, they are doing drive-in worship at the Fairmont Junior/Senior High School parking lot.

He said that beginning July 12, they will be doing one service in their church building and another drive-in service each Sunday. They started drive-in services in June, which feature the service broadcast over the radio so people can listen from inside their vehicles.

We had to get a transmitter, Heille said. And once we figured that out, it was pretty straightforward. We just had to find a big enough parking lot.

He said 59 cars showed up to the June 28 service, which amounted to about 130 to 140 people, which he considered good attendance even though it is still lower than usual summer attendance at the church.

In the summertime, were usually at 250 to 300 people, he said.

He explained that the church parking lot is currently under construction, so the school district was generous enough to allow them to use their lot during the summer.

Thats honestly one of the biggest parking lots in town, Heille noted, adding that the pastors and leaders conduct the service from a small hill so everyone can see them. We ask people to bring their own elements for communion.

He added that everyone is adjusting to their new roles in a pandemic world.

Our ushers have all of a sudden turned into car parkers, he said with a laugh. Which is really awesome.

He said they use cones to direct people where to park. He also said it seemed like people enjoyed getting back together.

It was just beautiful, he said. Most of it was just visiting through their windows.

Heille added that for the older members of the congregation, the drive-in services still give them a chance to connect with others.

We had two people I know to be well into their 90s join us for worship, he said. I would feel much better to know that our older folks know that they have an option thats going to hopefully reduce risk for them. This is our goal to say church is still with us, God is still with us in this moment, but its not going to go away for a while.

When they do resume indoor services, it will be by reservation and they will only be using every third pew, Heille said, to maintain social distancing between parties.

HAWAII

Some worship centers in Maui have resumed indoor services, including Kings Cathedral Maui, a Christian Pentacostal Church in Kahului. Assistant Pastor Ron Moody said services are offered indoors and drive-in style in the parking lot.

For the indoor services, which resumed in June, face masks are requested for adults and children ages 6 and older, and social distancing is encouraged by leaving the pew or chairs next to your group vacant. Hand sanitizer is available at all entrances and throughout the building.

We are enforcing social distancing, and all pews are spaced six feet apart, Moody said. Were the largest church building in the state, so that lets us space things out.

He said all service people in the church are required to wear masks and gloves.

Continued here:

Churches across the nation begin holding in-person services | News, Sports, Jobs - Lewistown Sentinel

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Posted By admin on July 7, 2020

Israel takes action to stop the Iranian nuclear threat, Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi said Sunday in response to a question about a series of explosions that rocked sites associated with Irans missile and nuclear program.We have a long-term policy over the course of many administrations not to allow Iran to have nuclear abilities, he said. This [Iranian] regime with those abilities is an existential threat to Israel, and Israel cannot allow it to establish itself on our northern border.Therefore, we take actions that are better left unsaid, he added.Ashkenazi spoke at a conference of Maariv and The Jerusalem Post marking the 10th anniversary of Israel joining the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).A series of mysterious explosions have occurred in Iran, starting last Thursday at a facility close to the Parchin military complex. While Iran said the explosion was caused by a gas leak, satellite photos later showed it took place at a nearby missile production facility.It was followed by an explosion at a hospital in Tehran that killed 19 people. On Friday, a large fire caused extensive damage to a building at the nuclear complex at Natanz, Irans largest uranium-enrichment facility. On Saturday, another fire was reported at a power station in the southern Iranian region of Ahvaz, close to the Iraqi border.Defense Minister Benny Gantzs comments to Army Radio on Sunday were closer to a denial.Not every incident that transpires in Iran necessarily has something to do with us... All those systems are complex," he said. "They have very high safety constraints, and Im not sure they always know how to maintain them.Everyone can be suspicious of us all the time, he added. But not every incident that happens in Iran necessarily has something to do with us.We continue to act on all fronts to reduce the possibility that Iran will become a nuclear power, and we will continue to do this part of protecting our security, Gantz said. A nuclear Iran is a threat to the world and the region, as well as a threat to Israel, and we will do everything to prevent that from happening. And we will do everything possible to prevent Iran from spreading terrorism and weapons, but I do not refer to any individual event.Ashkenazi said Israel supports US efforts to ensure that the UN arms embargo on Iran is extended past its original expiration date this October. Israel cannot accept a situation where the regime in Tehran can buy advanced weapons systems, he said.The problem is not just attaining nuclear weapons, Ashkenazi said. Its that they are arming groups across the Middle East. Look at Hezbollah in Lebanon. That is why were making broad diplomatic efforts across the world.Irans Atomic Energy Organization confirmed that an incident occurred at Natanz, where a highly sophisticated Stuxnet cyberattack took place in 2010.Although Iranian state media has blamed Israel and the United States for possibly sabotaging the sites, it stopped short of directly accusing either country.Iran says it knows who is behind the incident. Gholamreza Jalali, head of the Civil Defense Organization, told State TV last Thursday: Responding to cyberattacks is part of the countrys defense might. If it is proven that our country has been targeted by a cyberattack, we will respond.While Iran has denied seeking nuclear weapons and says its atomic program is peaceful, Israel has warned repeatedly about its nuclear ambitions and has pledged to never allow it to obtain weapons that can threaten the Jewish State.

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Ashkenazi on Iran explosions: Our actions are better left unsaid - The Jerusalem Post

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Posted By admin on July 7, 2020

Israel will not extend its sovereignty to parts of the West Bank in the coming days, Foreign MinisterGabi Ashkenazisaid on Monday.

Its not on the agenda for today or tomorrow, Ashkenazi told KAN Bet.

Asked if sovereignty plans have been called off entirely, Ashkenazi said: I dont know, but I can say the Foreign Ministry is preparing diplomatic assessments and the Defense Ministry is preparing security assessments. It has deep ramifications.

July 1 passed with no action, but US Envoy for International Negotiations Avi Berkowitz returned to Washington soon after for further discussions on the matter, after which Trump would weigh in. A US source told The Jerusalem Post that a decision would be announced this week.

Ashkenazi said he has spoken to over 30 foreign ministers, mostly from Europe.

I hear what they say, and I think its clear what were facing, in terms of their opposition to sovereignty moves, he said. We will take it into consideration when we make decisions.

I think the government of Israel, led by Netanyahu and Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz will make sure to enact a responsible, measured process. We will hear the evaluations and then act, Ashkenazi stated.

The foreign minister reiterated his support for the Trump plan, saying it responds to the two things that concern most of the population in Israel, security and maintaining a Jewish majority.

Ashkenazi said the plan has to include negotiations with our neighbors, but he did not mention the Palestinians specifically, and said it will form a separate entity, not necessarily a Palestinian state.

We believe in a process that will bring peace, and that is not a dirty word, he said. We dont want to damage the peace treaties with our neighbors.

Ashkenazi added that Blue and White will support anything bringing us towards the goal we believe in, a Jewish state that is democratic and safe.

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Ashkenazi: Annexation not on the agenda today or tomorrow - The Jerusalem Post

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Posted By admin on July 7, 2020

Wednesday, July 1, was meant to be the day on which the Israeli government officially annexed 30 per cent of the occupied Palestinian West Bank and the Jordan Valley. This date, however, came and went and annexation was never actualised.

I dont know if there will be a declaration of sovereignty today,said Israeli foreign minister, Gabi Ashkenazi, with reference to the self-imposed deadline declared earlier by Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. An alternative date was not immediately announced.

But does it really matter?

Whether Israels illegal appropriation of Palestinian land takes place with massive media fanfare and a declaration of sovereignty, or whether it happens incrementally over the course of the coming days, weeksand months, Israel has, in reality, already annexed the West Bank, not just 30 per cent of it but, in fact, the whole area.

It is critical that we understand such terms as annexation, illegal, military occupation, and so on, in their proper contexts.

For example, international lawdeems that all of Israels Jewish settlements, constructed anywhere on Palestinian land occupied during the 1967 war, are illegal.

Interestingly, Israel, too, uses the term illegal with reference to settlements, but only to outposts that have been erected in the occupied territories without the permission of the Israeli government.

In other words, while in the Israeli lexicon the vast majority of all settlement activities in occupied Palestine are legal, the rest can only be legalised through official channels. Indeed, many of todays legal 132 settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem,housing over half-a-million Israeli Jewish settlers, began as illegal outposts.

Though this logic may satisfy the need of the Israeli government to ensure its relentless colonial project in Palestine follows a centralised blueprint, none of this matters in international law.

Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Conventions states that Individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory to the territory of the Occupying Power or to that of any other country, occupied or not, are prohibited, regardless of their motive, adding that The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.

Israel has violated its commitment to international law as an Occupying Power on numerous occasions, rendering its very occupation of Palestine, itself, a violation of how military occupations are conducted, which are meant to be temporary, anyway.

Military occupation is different from annexation. The former is a temporary transition, at the end of which the Occupying Power is expected, in fact, demanded, to relinquish its military hold on the occupied territory after a fixed length of time. Annexation, on the other hand, is a stark violation of the Geneva Conventions and The Hague Regulations. It is tantamount to a war crime, for the occupier is strictly prohibited from proclaiming unilateral sovereignty over occupied land.

The international uproar generated by Netanyahus plan to annex a third of the West Bank is fully understandable. But the bigger issue at stake is that, in practice, Israels violations of the terms of occupation have granted it a de facto annexation of the whole of the West Bank.

So when the European Union, for example, demands that Israel abandons its annexation plans, it is merely asking Israel to reembrace the status quo ante, that of de facto annexation. Both abhorring scenarios should be rejected.

Israel began utilising the occupied territories as if they are contiguous and permanent parts of so-called Israel proper, immediately following the June 1967 war. Within a few years, it erected illegal settlements, now thriving cities, eventually moving hundreds of thousands of its own citizens to populate the newly acquired areas.

This exploitation became more sophisticated with time, as Palestinians were subjected to slow, but irreversible, ethnic cleansing. As Palestinian homeswere destroyed, farms confiscated, and entire regions depopulated, Jewish settlers moved in to take their place. The post-1967 scenario was a repeat of the post-1948 history, which led to the establishment of the State of Israel on the ruins of historic Palestine.

Moshe Dayan, who served as Israels defence minister during the 1967 war, explained the Israeli logic best in a historical address at Israels Technion University in March 1969. We came to this country which was already populated by Arabs, and we are establishing a Hebrew, that is a Jewish state here, hesaid.

Jewish villages were built in the place of Arab villages. You do not even know the names of these Arab villages and I do not blame you, because these geography books no longer exist; not only do the books not exist, the Arab villages are not there, either... There is no one place built in this country that did not have a former Arab population, he added.

The same colonial approach was applied to East Jerusalem and the West Bank after the war. While East Jerusalem was formally annexed in 1980, the West Bank was annexed in practice, but not through a clear legal Israeli proclamation. Why? In one word: Demographics.

When Israel first occupied East Jerusalem, it went on a population transfer frenzy: Moving its own population to the Palestinian city, strategically expanding the municipal boundaries of Jerusalem to include as many Jews and as few Palestinians as possible, slowly reducing the Palestinian population of Al Quds through numerous tactics, including the revocation of residency and outright ethnic cleansing.

And, thus, Jerusalems Palestinian population, which once constituted the absolute majority, has now been reduced to a dwindling minority.

The same process was initiated in parts of the West Bank, but due to the relatively large size of the area and population, it was not possible to follow a similar annexation stratagem without jeopardising Israels drive to maintain Jewish majority.

Dividing the West Bank into Areas A, B and C as a result of the disastrous Oslo accords, has given Israel a lifeline, for this allowed it to increase settlement activities in Area C, nearly 60 per cent of the West Bank, without stressing too much about demographic imbalances. Area C, where the current annexation plan is set to take place, is ideal for Israeli colonialism, for it includes Palestines most arable, resource-rich, and sparsely populated lands.

It matters little whether the annexation will have a set date or will take place progressively through Israels declarations of sovereignty over smaller chunks of the West Bank in the future. The fact is, annexation is not a new Israeli political agenda dictated by political circumstances in Tel Aviv and Washington. Rather, annexation has been the ultimate Israeli colonial objective from the very onset.

Let us not get entangled in Israels bizarre definitions. The truth is that Israel rarely behaves as an Occupying Power, but as a sovereign in a country where racial discrimination and apartheid are not only tolerated or acceptable but are, in fact, legal as well.

Ramzy Baroud is a journalist and the editor of The Palestine Chronicle. He is the author of five books. His latest is These Chains Will Be Broken: Palestinian Stories of Struggle and Defiance in Israeli Prisons (Clarity Press, Atlanta). Dr Baroud is a non-resident senior research fellow at the Centre for Islam and Global Affairs, Istanbul Zaim University. His website iswww.ramzybaroud.net

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On Israel's bizarre definitions: The West Bank is already annexed - Jordan Times

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Posted By admin on July 7, 2020

In a pre-pandemic world, eight-day-old Theo Rapkin would have had his bris ceremony in a Montreal synagogue, surrounded by friends and family, his parents and a rabbi.

There would have been prayers and a brunch.

The bris formally known as the brit malah, or the covenant of circumcision is a ceremony performed on the eighth day of a boys life.

Theos father, Cory Rapkin, a Montreal resident and teacher, describes the scene a rite of passage for most Jewish boys that never came to be because of COVID-19, at least not in the traditional sense.

Instead, Cory and his partner Chantal Burgy were forced to adapt.

In mid-May, Rapkin and Burgy, who were expecting their son in June, planned to hold the bris at the hospital. It didnt look like synagogues, along with other places of worship, would be opening any time soon.

But two weeks prior to Theos birth, the hospital announced that they would no longer perform circumcisions during the pandemic. So the Rapkins decided to hold the bris at home, inviting a Rabbi in to perform the ceremony two weeks ago.

Those in attendance were Rapkin, his wife, his best friend ceremonially dubbed the zander, a title akin to godfather and the rabbi, all donning masks for protection. About 30 guests also tuned in over a Zoom call.

Rapkin said that this was their way of observing the tradition while trying to be respectful of social distancing.

He isnt the only one seeking this balance during the pandemic.

The Jewish community in Canada and beyond has been forced to adapt to the circumstances of the COVID-19 public health crisis.

For example, the Violins of Hope concert series planned for this spring in the U.S. and featuring virtuoso American violinist Niv Ashkenazi, who performed in Ottawa in November 2018 using an instrument reclaimed from the Holocaust has been postponed to several dates in Los Angeles in January and February 2021.

But Ashkenazi did perform a live-streamed concert in April from The Soraya arts centre in California, including an interview adhering to current State, County and City safe-distancing guidelines.

In the past three months, Ottawas Rabbi Reuven Bulka has performed a virtual bar mitzvah over Zoom and a physically distanced bris, leading the ceremony through an open window at the familys house.

Bulka is the Rabbi Emeritus at Congregation Machzikei Hadas in Ottawas Alta Vista neighbourhood. The congregation opened its doors for in-person services last week.

Theres a lot of things we are doing that we never did before, and we didnt even dream wed be doing, said Bulka, who has been leading the congregation for more than 50 years.

Did I ever think there would be a time that it would be a backhoe? he said, referring to the burial process. No.

While COVID-19 has transformed the ways religious rites can be performed, respecting public health guidelines was never up for debate, said Bulka.

The rule that we work about something that weve had to implement many times in our history is, in times of danger, life is paramount, he said.

For Bulka, the health and safety of the community is the most important thing and everything else folds into it.

He said he has also seen some good come from these precautions.

While some have found beauty in these new ways of gathering, not all ceremonies lend themselves to virtual alternatives.

Traditional interment, for example, is usually far a more intimate ceremony to mark the passing of a loved one. The casket is buried by hand or shovel, as each person in attendance throws three scoops of dirt into the grave.

But Bulka said that this practice is no longer possible during the pandemic.

Did I ever think there would be a time that it would be a backhoe? he said, referring to the burial process. No.

Faith, tradition, and ceremony during a pandemic is not a one size fits all, said Bulka.

As for Rapkin, he said he really enjoyed the intimacy of his sons bris ceremony.

It felt more personal, he said.

With no travel and minimal organization required, the experience was actually less stressful than a normal bris. More people could also attend, he noted, including Corys brother who lives in Vancouver, along with friends and family from Los Angeles and Florida.

His only concern was with certain Zoom guests, one of whom gained access to the feed without being invited.

Virtual etiquette is something that many will have to learn to navigate if ceremonies are to be held remotely, according to Rabbi Bulka.

Zoom shivah visits, he noted, are going to be a permanent part of our vocabulary.

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Remote rituals: The Jewish community is sustaining faith, upholding sacred traditions during the pandemic - capitalcurrent.ca

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Posted By admin on July 7, 2020

Throughout the long, difficult months of the coronavirus pandemic, many have said that a bulwark against worry each day was their study of Torahparticularly, the daily study of Maimonides Mishneh Toraha connection to eternal wisdom in a time of uncertainty. Now, as the 39th cycle of daily study comes to its end, thousands worldwide are preparing to celebrate its conclusion. And with the availability of many new online study tools, thousands more are expected to join in the daily study for the first time as the 40th cycle begins.

The celebration this year will consist of three study tracks all concluding simultaneously. When the RebbeRabbi Menachem M. Schneerson of righteous memoryinstituted the daily study of Rambam, he suggested a daily study regimen of three chapters, finishing the entire Mishneh Torah in under a year. For those unable to study three chapters on a daily basis, the Rebbe proposed learning one chapter a day, allowing the learner to finish the entire work in just under three years.

For those who found even the daily chapter to be a challenge, the Rebbe instituted a third track: studying the Rambams Sefer Hamitzvot (book of commandments). By studying the more concise summaries of the mitzvahs all 613 commandments could be completed annually. This year, being the third year since the start of the 13th cycle of one-chapter study, all three tracks will be concluding their study, making for a momentous commemoration.

When the Rebbe instituted the daily study of Rambam in 1984, he explained that one of the intentions of the study was to achieve unity by having the entire Jewish people learning the subject at the same time. With the amount of resources to aid the study increasing from year to year, this unityencompassing any Jew at any stagehas never been closer to full realization.

On the digital stage, Chabad.org offers numerous resources, starting from the online edition of Rabbi Eliyahu Tougers landmark translation of the entire Mishneh Torah and a wealth of audio classes. Jewish.tv features a wide selection of videos, including the renowned classes of Rabbi Yehoshua B. Gordon. Chabad.orgs daily study app and the Hayom app bring all these resources and more into the palm of your hand.

In print, recent years have seen a massive influx of study aids and publications, providing the scholar to the layman with the right resource to enhance the learning process. The weekly Chayenu magazine carries the Rambam being studied each week in the one-chapter-daily cycle, together with the Touger translation published by Moznaim. Scholars such as Rabbi Adin Even-Israel (Steinsaltz) released contemporary commentaries on the Mishneh Torah, and Dr. Baruch Davidoff, a dentist from London, published a ground-breaking set revolutionizing the study of the text.

The worldwide Siyum Harambam will highlight these components, alongside celebrating the accomplishment of those who spent one year or three fulfilling the goal of learning every mitzvah in the Torah. Organizers say that the celebrations also serve to draw more people to start the new cycle.

Celebrations around the globe will take place beginning on Thursday, July 9, but as the pandemic still rages, large public gatherings will not be held this year. Despite the challenges (or perhaps because of them), online Siyum Harambam webcasts and festivities that mark the completion of the Maimonides magnum opus will be larger than ever. The wonders of modern technology being utilized in the absence of traditional gatherings allow for the siyum (completion) celebrations to reach audiences as never before.

The central celebration in New York is one such example. In prior years, thousands from the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn and other areas would attend with featured Hebrew and Yiddish-language speakers hailing from diverse Jewish communities across the tri-state area. With the event being held online this year, a much wider pool of participants will be able to join from any location around the globe.

Addressing the event will be Torah scholars from the East and West coasts, and even the chief rabbi of Bnei Brak, Israel. A similar event being held earlier the same day will feature a live stream from Maimonides resting place in Tiberias, Israel, and a siyum for the Montreal Chabad community being held over Zoom will highlight a Chabad emissary beginning the new study cycle from Maimonides original house in Fez, Morocco.

On Sunday, July 12 at noon Eastern time, a program called Hope and Healing: Gaining Strength from Maimonides Wisdom will be broadcast from Israel, hosted by Colel Chabad with greetings from former Sephardic Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar, Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau, Jewish Agency chairman Isaac Herzog, Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion, in addition to a keynote address by Rabbi Mendel Kaplan.

In the introduction to Mishneh Torah Maimonides expresses his goal: to make it possible for all the laws to be revealed to both those of lesser stature and those of greater stature, regarding every single mitzvah, and also all the practices that were ordained by the Sages and the Prophets. Organizers note that Maimonides himself would no doubt be heartened by how far the world has come to achieving just that.

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Record Numbers to Begin 40th Cycle of Daily Rambam Study - A simultaneous new start to study of Mishneh Torah and Sefer Hamitzvot - Chabad.org

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Posted By admin on July 7, 2020

Photo Credit: Pixabay

{Reposted from the JNS website}

Israeli media and international objectors waited on Wednesday with bated breath for an announcement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the upcoming implementation of sovereignty in much of Judea and Samaria. July 1 had been set within the unity governments coalition agreement as the first day on which Netanyahu could bring the issue for a vote, either in the Cabinet or in the Knesset, either of which would be legally binding.

Contrary to media reports, July 1 was not a deadline for the implementation of sovereignty. There is no such deadline, other than the limited window available for Netanyahu to work with a friendly U.S. president in Donald Trump. That window could close if Trump loses in the November presidential elections or if Netanyahus coalition collapses, which is a persistent concern within Israels quasi-stable parliamentary system.

Meanwhile, the Netanyahu administration is methodically working with the Trump administration to recognize Israeli sovereignty over approximately 30 percent of Judea and Samaria, commonly known as the West Bank. These strategic tracts comprise all Jewish settlements, including isolated outposts, as well as the Jordan Valley, which serves as Israels easternmost border with Jordan.

The mapping process

A closely guarded joint Israeli-American mapping process continues apace to delineate the precise lines over which Israel will apply its sovereignty. The mapping process is complex, due to the overlapping populations of Jews and Palestinians living in the West Bank. No simple lines can be drawn between the two populations.

A conceptual map presented following a press conference at the White House in January with Netanyahu and Trump illustrated 15 separate Jewish-controlled enclaves that would be surrounded by lands the Palestinians would control should they reach the requirements of peaceful statehood and negotiate a final-status agreement with Israel. In addition, several Palestinian enclaves would be surrounded by Israeli territory. Delineating the precise sizes and lines around these enclaves is a sensitive and complex process.

The areas in which Israel would apply its sovereignty represent approximately half of Area C. These are territories the Jewish state already fully controls as part of the 1993 Oslo Accords, brokered by President Bill Clinton, and signed by Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO chairman Yasser Arafat.

Should Israel declare its sovereignty over the territories in question, Israel will continue to retain full control over these areas as they have done for decades. In return for American recognition of Israeli sovereignty, Israel will commit not to build any new communities in the remaining half of Area C for a period of four years. This remaining territory is being set aside for future peace negotiations that may or may not lead to a Palestinian state.

Mapping progress

The mapping process is nearing completion. A six-person team, including U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman and Israeli Ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer, are finalizing the details. The maps are being presented to the U.S. administration, which is expected to agree to recognize Israeli sovereignty in the outlined areas.

The mapping process was made more difficult by the onset of coronavirus and the travel restrictions that came along with the global pandemic. Both the Israeli and American administrations have had to focus a lions share of their attention unexpectedly on the virus, which reduced the time that each administration was able to give to the diplomatic initiative.

Proof that the process is nearing completion is evident by a recent three-day visit by Friedman to Washington, followed by a return visit to Israel by Scott Leith, U.S. Special Envoy for the Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations and member of the mapping team, and Avi Berkowitz, U.S. Special Representative for International Negotiations.

The president will soon be updated on the process and will formally decide whether or not to approve Israels application of sovereignty.

Radio silence

The noticeable lack of formal announcements regarding the process until now has caused immense speculation as to whether or not sovereignty will be applied. Predominantly left-wing media and opponents of Netanyahus policies have filled the void left by the administrations radio silence with numerous reports on growing rifts between political rivals turned coalition partners Netanyahu and Defense Minister Benny Gantz, as well as speculation that approval over the maps is being held up by senior adviser and presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner, or even Trump himself.

Meanwhile, the two administrations have been extremely careful to make sure that any final map details have been kept out of the public until they can be formally explained. Numerous leaks on other sensitive issuesboth in Israel and the United States in recent monthshave led both administrations to carefully guard the details which will spark countless international headlines once they are known.

The lack of leaks on this issue is a demonstration of trust built between the two administrations.

Formal announcements are expected in the next several weeks, and while there are never any guarantees in the Middle East until something actually happens, indications from both administrations are that the application of sovereignty will move ahead as initially conceived.

Coalition difficulties

Netanyahu pledged in the run-up to the most recent elections that if elected, he would immediately work to apply Israels sovereignty, in coordination with the Trump administration. And the embattled, but extremely popular Israeli leader fully intends to keep that pledge.

Gantz and Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, who both campaigned vehemently against Netanyahu before conceding defeat and joining Israels longest-serving prime minister in a unity government have recently been sending mixed signals over their willingness to accept the parameters of the Trump plan and to implement Israeli sovereignty.

In Washington, ahead of the January Netanyahu-Trump press conference, Gantz told Trump in a private meeting that he supported the presidents Peace to Prosperity vision. He also stated multiple times during his election campaign that he supported the application of Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley.

Furthermore, Netanyahu made the application of sovereignty a key requirement in the negotiations of the coalition agreement signed by Gantz. That Gantz and Ashkenazi are now zigzagging on sovereignty is politically motivated and provides a clear indication of their loyalty as coalition partners.

And while the United States would prefer that Gantz and Ashkenazi be fully on board for the controversial move, their support is not a prerequisite. Netanyahu will likely find a majority for the application of sovereignty either in the cabinet or in the Knesset, even without the 14 Blue and White Party members.

Opposition from Jordan

Gantz and Ashkenazi appear to be concerned about mixed signals sent by Jordans King Abdullah. He has publicly opposed Israels application of sovereignty, though such remarks are made primarily to maintain the support of the majority Palestinian population within Jordan. In addition, Europeans who consistently oppose Israeli policies have similarly referenced Abdullahs public anti-Israel remarks.

Yet Israels continued presence in the Jordan Valley is critical for the security of Abdullahs often fragile regime. While Abdullah reportedly rejected phone calls from Netanyahu, media reported a recent visit to Jordan by one of Netanyahus most trusted confidants, Mossad director Yossi Cohen. The report is a strong indication that security cooperation between Israel and its eastern neighbor is likely to continue, and that a peace treaty signed between the nations in 1994 remains firm.

U.S. Democrats

Gantz and Ashkenazi are also basing their objections on threats from Democrats in the United States. Democrats, as well as many American Jewish leaders who consistently align politically with the Democratic Party, have claimed that Israels application of sovereignty would further damage U.S.-Israel relations. This week, progressive Democrat party Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Pramila Jayapal of Washington, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Betty McCollum of Minnesota and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont signed a letter calling for the United States to cut aid to Israel should it formally apply its sovereignty over land it controls.

The threats are indicative of the increasingly progressive shift of the Democratic Party away from traditional American values, including longstanding support for Israel.

Despite the Democratic threats, relations between Israel and the United States have never been stronger. Israel remains among Americas most important and reliable allies. And the basis of the relationship has little to do with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Intelligence sharing and security cooperation, including in the field of cybertechnology, remain critical to the strength of both nations.

Even under President Barack Obama, security cooperation between the two allies grew exponentially, with Obama inking a 10-year, $38 billion memorandum of understanding to provide military equipment vital to Israels security and stability in the Middle East.

For Netanyahu, the current intimidation attempts are not deterrents against the rapid implementation of sovereignty, but rather motivations to continue. Should Trump lose this fall, Jerusalem can safely bet that any administration led by Democrats would likely grow increasingly hostile to Israel, whether or not it implements sovereignty over land it already controls.

Israel may not have an ally in the White House as friendly as Trump in the foreseeable future. If Israel wants to guarantee immediate American backing for its implementation of sovereignty, making a move in the coming weeks is critical.

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Israeli Sovereignty: Officially on the clock - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com

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Posted By admin on July 7, 2020

Just after shed arrived in Berlin to start filming the Netflix series Unorthodox, Shira Haas went out for drinks with director Maria Schrader.

After a few glasses of wine, Schrader broke the news: The first day of production on the series which follows a young woman raised in a Hasidic community in Brooklyn was going to be intense. In the morning, shed have to get partially nude for a scene in a mikveh, or ritual bath. In the afternoon, shed have to shave her head on camera.

I was like, Nooooooo! Maybe she felt like she needed to give me wine, Haas recalled with a laugh during a recent Zoom call from her home in Tel Aviv. I was really shocked in the beginning. But now that I look at it I can see how helpful it was. It got me into character like that, she says, snapping her fingers.

Inspired by Deborah Feldmans memoir of the same name, Unorthodox tells the story of Esty Shapiro, a teenager who flees a miserable arranged marriage to pursue a dream of studying music in Berlin. The four-part limited series was released in late March, as the coronavirus pandemic was forcing much of the world indoors. Suddenly, people everywhere could relate to a story about a woman feeling impossibly isolated.

Amit Rahav and Shira Haas star in Unorthodox, a Netflix series about a young woman who flees her Hasidic community.

(Anika Molnar / Netflix)

Featuring Yiddish dialogue and careful re-creations of Satmar Jewish rituals, it became an unlikely sleeper hit, and Haas mesmerizing performance as Esty, a quiet character with a wildly expressive face that nearly rendered subtitles unnecessary, was integral to its success.

Although Haas and Esty share a certain steely determination, the actress, 25, is more animated than her onscreen counterpart. Over the course of a nearly hourlong chat, she uses an array of colorful gestures conveying the brain-melting difficulty of learning Yiddish by dragging a finger down her face and the pleasure of playing such a rich and complicated character with an enthusiastic chefs kiss.

Etsy is very stubborn but also very flexible. She wants to fit in but she wants to break out. She is strong but she is soft. You have to bring this complexity not only to every scene, but to every sentence. So this was very attractive to me. I found it amazing, this combination.

As a toddler in her hometown about 30 minutes outside Tel Aviv, Haas was diagnosed with kidney cancer and spent several years undergoing treatment. Her earliest memories involve hospital visits and chemotherapy. The experience made her something of an old soul. When I was 7 or 8, I was in a lot of ways like a 40-year-old. She also suspects it enabled her, as an actress, to go to some deep places.

Haas was certain shed go to college to study psychology but enrolled at an arts high school. A casting director reached out to her on Facebook about an Israeli film called Princess. She got the part, playing a 12-year-old with a sexually abusive stepfather. That was the moment where I was like, OK, this is what I want to do. I always say it was like Narnia. I open the door and [she sings a heavenly note].

She gained even wider notice in the Israeli series Shtisel, which follows a strictly religious Haredi family in Jerusalem. A hit at home in Israel, it was eventually picked up by Netflix.

When she got the call to audition for Unorthodox, she was told only that it was for a German series called The Orchestra and was asked to perform Leonard Cohens Hallelujah. (Esty sings during a pivotal scene in Unorthodox.) Once she was cast, she devoured Feldmans memoir and the scripts by Alexa Karolinski and Anna Winger.

You read something thats supposed to be very different from you, and youre like, Oh, Im very curious to see those people. And then you read it, and youre like, Thats actually me, Haas says, noting that, like Esty, she grew up asking a lot of questions. Questions about life, about meaning, about who I am, what I am. For me it was a blessing. For Esty, and maybe also for Deborah, it was a curse. Asking questions was not the best thing to do.

Haas spent weeks memorizing dialogue in Yiddish, a language the native Hebrew speaker had heard only fleetingly before, and mastering a new accent in English. Eli Rosen, a translator and consultant on the series, saw the darkest side of me, she says. You know that you learn something so much that your brain is melting and youre not you anymore? I was a monster sometimes. Well, not like a cruel one. A very sympathetic monster.

But Haas says Esty really only came to life at her first costume fitting, when she put on her modest clothing and wig. I put it on and she makes a sound like a vacuum sucking up air immediately, physically I was suddenly Esty.

Haas has followed an unusual professional journey the last three months, having a breakout moment while barely leaving her apartment. Shes used the downtime to write scripts she says she would love to direct one day and create collages. I really love staying at home. But I wish it was different circumstances.

Shira Hass in Unorthodox on Netflix.

(Anika Molnar / Netflix)

Once production can safely begin, she is scheduled to film Season 3 of Shtisel, and the acclaim shes received for Unorthodox will almost certainly lead to more work. But for now shes grateful to hear from the people whove been touched by Unorthodox including formerly Hasidic men and women whove left the strict religious upbringing.

So many people said, Im Esty, this is my story. Its an unbelievable privilege. There is nothing you can say except thank you for sharing.

It has also strengthened Haas bond with her 86-year-old grandmother, a Holocaust survivor who spontaneously gave her the ring off her finger when she heard about the project. She was really emotional and excited about the fact I would be playing an Orthodox girl in a show in Yiddish for Netflix. Its amazing. The fact that I can take part in this series thats a gift for me.

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Shira Haas finds the complexity within her 'Unorthodox' role - Los Angeles Times

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Posted By admin on July 7, 2020

Published: 7/7/2020 5:33:01 PM

The New Hampshire House recently passed HB 1135 which contained other bills, including an amendment that called for requiring all school districts in the state to teach about the Holocaust and other genocides.

Two people spoke in opposition, both citing the bill might constitute an unfunded mandate, especially as part of the bill called for the creation of a special commission to study best practices in formulating curricular for schools. One mentioned that the bill is redundant in that many, if not most schools, already teach about the Holocaust.

Among those who testified in favor were the NH Council of Churches, the Jewish Federation of NH, the Cohen Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), and a Holocaust survivor all legislated to be on the special commission along with seven other members of the state government and New Hampshire schools.

Concerning the commission, there is no representative from the Black community such as the NAACP or Black Lives Matter. Millions of African-Americans died either during the passage from Africa or during enslavement. Moreover, no person of Indigenous origin was named to sit on the commission. Millions of Native people died beginning with Columbus four voyages to the Americas.

Such omissions of those communities of color who have been victimized in both history/herstory and in the present-day United States is absolutely shameful.

William Thomas

Auburn

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Letter: Teaching genocide, but where is the representation? - Concord Monitor

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Posted By admin on July 7, 2020

It was the competitive players who objected. In a compromise, slurs and profanities were taken out of the official Scrabble Dictionary, but clubs and tournaments could follow a separate lexicon, produced by the players association, that allows for the slurs.

It is very difficult for a lot of people to understand why those words are still acceptable in Scrabble, said Stefan Fatsis, the author of a book on competitive scrabble, Word Freak.

But, he added, it is also hard for them to understand why qi and aa are words. For Scrabble players, they are just instruments with which to score points.

During the 1990s furor, Steven Alexander, who is white and Jewish, was one of many players who wrote letters opposing any expurgation. He still opposes most exclusions, but he has amended his position after recent events.

The one word that has actually been used to rally mobs into terrorism is the N-word, he said. Its a word of conspiracy, a tool of oppression. If Black people demand something, a white person like me shouldnt necessarily put their views first.

Chews initial proposal came after an association member wrote a letter on the organizations Facebook page calling for the body to take action. Chew agreed and made the proposal, then opened the topic for debate, which he says was fairly evenly split.

I couldnt have found a bigger wedge issue if I tried, he said.

For those who objected to removing the words, Chew said, the three main arguments were: A words meaning is irrelevant in Scrabble; its a slippery slope, and one he repeated with a tone of incredulity if some people are not offended by the presence of those words, why should anyone else be?

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Scrabble Will Ban Racial and Ethnic Slurs From Tournaments and Game Rules - The New York Times

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