Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on June 30, 2020

While America grapples with racism and bigotry and other societal ills, Washington Archbishop Wilton Gregory said that people must reach out to one another, learn about others different from themselves and rediscover that all religions teach that hatred is wrong.

Ignorance of the other is the soil in which hatred and bigotry grow, he said. If we do not know each other, share our fears and share our hopes, we make it possible for hatred to grow.

Archbishop Gregory made his remarks during a June 30 online discussion sponsored by the American Jewish Committee (AJC) on the role faith can play in overcoming racial injustice. The talk was viewed by several hundred people across the country via Zoom.

Titled Race in America: The Faith Perspective, Archbishop Gregory and Rabbi Noam Marans, the director of the AJCs interreligious and intergroup relations, spoke of racism, anti-Semitism and other problems facing America today.

Rabbi Marans noted that the discussion was held in the fourth month of quarantine time an unprecedented time that has taken lives of more than 130,000 Americans, caused economic insecurity and vast unemployment and now we see protests by Americans of all colors against racial injustice and the policing that led to the death of George Floyd and may other unarmed African Americans over many years.

At this time my heart is full of sorrow at the suffering of people in light of the pandemic, in light of the economic uncertainty caused by the pandemic and the unjust death of many people, but my heart is full of hope, Archbishop Gregory said. I have a certain hope that maybe we have reached a plateau where we can address together some of the things that have reached a flash point, some of the events that has caused national anxiety and angst.

Archbishop Gregory said this time differs from earlier struggles against racism because in addition to the protesters and the coverage of these events, there is another investment that has occurred at this moment the American business community is now responding, the American sports community is now responding. The American media is covering this at a level I do not recall from before.

I think we have seen a steady and prolonged involvement of a corporate nature that was not present before, he added. When we as a nation start to talk about these heavyweight realities that so influence our nation, it bespeaks a different moment, I hope, I pray.

The protests and demonstrations currently occurring across the country also differ from those of the Civil Rights era, Archbishop Gregory said because this moment offers us the possibility of changing hearts.

It is not just changing laws, not just changing structures, but changing hearts and ultimately I think this is the cause the reason why we are at a different moment in time, he said. He added that in changing hearts and turning away from hatred, racism and bigotry, we have to ask ourselves, What part in this do I play? Is there in me a need for conversion a commitment for me to do better?

In addition to the racism that has rocked and still rocks our country, Archbishop Gregory noted that there is not only hatred against the African-American community, but the Jewish community. Pointing to several shootings at synagogues, the archbishop said that rejection of all forms of hatred hopefully has touched and is touching the hearts of people across the country and across the world.

Archbishop Gregory said this moment is also a time for all faiths to teach their young members that all religions call for respecting the lives of others.

Whether we are Jewish or Catholic, there is a huge mountain we have to climb to make sure our young people know their religious heritage, he said. But I think this moment is a hopeful time because we see so many of our young adults engaging in the protest of hatred and racism. What we are protesting is the rejection of our religious principles of human respect and dignity. This is a hopeful moment if we as Catholics and Jews and Americans can seize on the openness many young people have and say this is a part of our religious heritage.

Rabbi Marans said that while people of goodwill are coming together, people are worried that after this first flash of marching and coalition, we cannot stay the course of change. He asked Archbishop Gregory what would be an effective plan of action.

Archbishop Gregory pointed out that in November 2018, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a pastoral letter against racism titled Open Wide Your Hearts: The Enduring Call to Love. In it, the bishops said racism is an attack on human life We will not cease to speak forcefully against and work toward ending racism. Racism directly places brother and sister against each other, violating the dignity inherent in each person.

One of the things I am happy to say I can build on as archbishop of Washington, as an African-American, is the recent letter, Open Wide Your Hearts, the archbishop said. It is a response to racism that calls for actions that bring together our people for listening sessions and advocacy programs.

When asked if being an African American archbishop affected the way he leads the Archdiocese of Washington, Archbishop Gregory said that I feel a special responsibility as a member of the African American community, but as the archbishop of Washington, I am not just the archbishop of African American Catholics, but of all Catholics of every age and culture and language.

It is a dual responsibility, he said. And I ask the prayers of the people and the Lords grace to balance those responsibilities well so that I do not neglect one at the cost of the other.

Rabbi Marans noting that religion and politics are as entangled today as they have ever been and the Archdiocese of Washington is in the maelstrom of politics asked Archbishop Gregory what the proper role of religion in politics should be.

While stressing that the First Amendment guarantees the separation of Church and State and ensures there is no established state religion, the archbishop said faith has an important role to play in politics.

The role of religion is to provide a moral voice based on the highest principles of our religious beliefs that challenges and encourages and will help our nation wind its way through the labyrinth of social challenges that we face, Archbishop Gregory said. With no national religion, it frees the wide variety of religions that call the United States their home to speak boldly. It is important that our religious institutions are not co-opted and lose their platform of spiritual prophecy.

Speaking of Black and Jewish relations, Archbishop Gregory said after he became archbishop of Atlanta in 2005, a group of about 30 or 40 Jewish leaders gave me a lesson in Atlanta history.

In Atlanta, the African American community and the Jewish community were joined at the hip because they have both suffered the bigotry that was common there. We both suffered from the extreme hatred that until quite recently was sometimes glossed over and not cared about, he said. We need to recognize that we both have been victims of hatred, and the other side of that coin is that we both are also survivors and triumphant in our resilience.

He said that Catholics, African Americans and Jews must remember that our traditions call us to forgiveness, call us to recognize that hatred can never be the last word that is spoken in any dialogue.

Rabbi Marans, addressing Catholic-Jewish relations, said that Nostrae Aetate (the 1965 Vatican II document that redefined and revolutionized the Churchs relationship with Judaism and other religions) helped usher in a new era even a golden era of Catholic-Jewish relations.

Archbishop Gregory said that in addition to that document, relations were also improved by Pope now Saint John Paul II who brought his personal experience of living though the Second World War and the effects of the Holocaust on his own Jewish friends, and he never forgot that.

Throughout his papacy, he (St. John Paul II) kept reminding us that our Jewish brothers and sisters are our elder brothers and sisters, and he reminded us what religious hatred could do.

He said Pope Francis has continued that tradition, and when he was archbishop of Buenos Aires, he developed a wonderful relationship with the Jewish community of Argentina.

Despite those advances, Archbishop Gregory added, we have to continue to be reminded to set aside anything that has any vestige of anti-Semitism. We still have work to do we are not standing on the winners platform yet, but we can see it from here.

Rabbi Marans, observing that a rise in anti-Semitism has paralleled the rise in racism, asked Archbishop Gregory what could be done to address that.

Understanding each other better, the archbishop said. Those things that make us Jews and Catholics we want each other to know about that and to respect and honor that.

Archbishop Gregory said that while the dialogue between him and the rabbi was shared across the country via Zoom, I would think it is very important on the local level for Catholic dioceses and parishes and Jewish communities to find an opportunity to be together. However small it might be, it will be a beginning and a way to bring them (Catholics and Jews) together. Hatred cannot grow where there is personal respect, knowledge and involvement.

(Here is a link to watching the online dialogue: https://www.facebook.com/367292494407/videos/race-in-america-the-faith-perspective-a-conversation-with-archbishop-of-washingt/191581638951107/)

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Respect and understanding can defeat racism and bigotry, Archbishop Gregory says in discussion with rabbi - My catholic standard

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Posted By admin on June 30, 2020

Omer Yankelevich is the new minister of Diaspora affairs in Israel, meaning shes in charge of managing the Jewish states relations with Jewish communities abroad.

It has never been an easy task, but tensions in recent years between Israel and the United States, as well as other international Jewish communities, have boiled to all-time highs over several high-profile social, political and religious disagreements. Among them: who can pray at the Western Wall and who Israels Orthodox Chief Rabbinate deems Jewish. The majority of an American Jewish community that in the main is liberalfeels alienatedby Israels right-wing government and its hawkish policies.

Yankelevichs role is complicated by the fact that she is haredi Orthodox part of a community that is at the heart of some of the issues putting a wedge between Israel and the Diaspora. Shes also the first haredi woman to hold a Cabinet position in Israeli government and is taking criticism for that many in her community say her participation in politics is scandalous.

Many eyes are focused on the political newcomer. Will she work to bridge the divides that have widened between Israel and international Jews? Will she compromise with the religious community in Israel to which she belongs?

The Ministry of Diaspora Affairs has traditionally been one of the smaller and least-funded government agencies in Israel, and until 2015 it did not stand on its own. Its minister typically took on a second, more prominent portfolio. Just as the Foreign Ministry handles dealings with foreign nations, the Diaspora minister is the official in charge of taking the point on relations with Jewish communities abroad.

Under the last minister, Naftali Bennett, who ran the Diaspora Ministry while also serving as education minister, the ministry attempted to radically expand its operations, touting a plan under which it would pour billions of dollars into Diaspora communities in an initiative to strengthen Jewish identity. However, due toinfightingamong the ministry, the Jewish Agency and the Prime Ministers Office, the project never launched.

One of the major flashpoints between Israel and organized American Jewry is the Western Wall, or Kotel, as it is known in Hebrew. The holy site is overseen by a government body known as the Western Wall Heritage Foundation, which runs it according to an Orthodox interpretation of Jewish law. There are separate women and mens sections, but no equitable space for non-Orthodox prayer.

A compromise deal brokered by former Jewish Agency chair Natan Sharansky was widely seen as a way out of the impasse over the site, but in 2017, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suspended the deal,leaving American Jewish leaders feeling betrayed.

Authentic Jewish identity is another major point of tension. In recent years, Israels Orthodox Chief Rabbinate has come under fire for allegedly blacklisting American Orthodox rabbis that it does not trust to recognize the Jewish identity of American immigrants to Israel.

Last year it emerged that the Chief Rabbinate was asking some Russian-speaking immigrants to takeDNA tests to prove their Jewish heritage. Earlier this month, Israeli media reported that the interior ministry retroactively revoked the Jewish statusof 2,200 children.

Meanwhile, some European Jews have expressed regret at Israels efforts to bolster ties with former Soviet states, with communal figures in countries such asUkraineandHungarycomplaining that Jerusalem has ignored anti-Semitism and Holocaust revisionism in its quest for closer diplomatic relations.

Despite being haredi Orthodox, Yankelevich isnt a member of a religious party. In fact, shes in Benny Gantzs Blue and White centrist coalition, which does not cater to the religious community the way Netanyahus Likud party has. In March, the party pledged to push for haredi enlistment in the military and enforce the teaching of a core curriculum in haredi schools both of which are strongly opposed by the haredi political establishment.

Yankelevich, 42, was elected to parliament last year in her first foray into politics. The Tel Aviv native, born to secular immigrants from the Soviet Union who had embraced religion later in life, grew up with one foot in the insular haredi community and another in the secular world. (Her father, for example, was an actor for the famed Israeli Habima Theater.)

Her early formative experiences included traveling to Russia with her parents toward the end of the Soviet Union, where they spent several years volunteering in local Jewish communities. By the time she was 16, Yankelevich was teaching Hebrew and Jewish practice in Moscow.

She attended haredi schools in Israel and the United Kingdom, including the well-known Gateshead seminary, before earning a bachelors degree in education from Cambridge University and a masters in law at Bar-Ilan University in Israel.

Yankelevich went on to spend several years working as a government attorney before establishing the Just Begun Foundation in 2015, a nongovernmental organization dedicated to promoting social resilience and reducing gaps in society.

She now lives in the Jerusalem suburb of Ramat Beit Shemesh with her husband and five children.

Its too early to tell how exactly Yankelevich could enact change in the ministry, but there have been some clues to analyze.

Since entering office, Yankelevich has issued calls for greater unity between Israel and the Diaspora, and pledged to offer aid to Jewish communities disproportionately hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. According to The Jerusalem Post, in late May she offered her unconditional commitment during a Zoom conference with Jewish Agency officials, describing the need to work together in mutual respect and understanding for the good of our Jewish world.

National Jewish organizations have been particularly badly hit, and one American Reform leader has mulled themerging his and other denominations. The Jewish Federations of North America is leading an emergency coalition to coordinate the Jewish response to the pandemic, and has laid off some of its own staff. (In late April, the Jewish Agency, in collaboration with Jewish Federations and Keren Hayesod, or United Israel Appeal, started a $10 million COVID-19 Loan Fund for Communities in Crisis. It is currently unclear what the Diaspora Ministry would add to this.)

In anop-edpublished in The Jerusalem Post, Yankelevich said that she and her team were working in full cooperation with other bodies to create a program of worldwide solidarity that will serve to strengthen the sense of mutual Jewish cohesion, a step on the way to our goal of creating an active, strong and significant world Jewish solidarity, but offered little practical detail.

While here in Israel we are also experiencing a difficult period and a tough economic situation, this is an opportunity for us to prove our unconditional love. We are also preparing an active assistance program to help communities and institutions, she wrote.

Her time abroad and the fact that she lives in the heavily American neighborhood of Beit Shemesh could mean that she has a greater understanding of Diaspora Jewry than other Israelis without her background and experiences.

I have always felt a strong link to our commitment to the Jewish Diaspora. It began when I was still a child, when my parents took the step of working as emissaries to the Jewish communities of what was then the Soviet Union, she wrote in The Jerusalem Post op-ed. During this period we met Jews, many of whom were outwardly different from us but were in fact very similar in so many ways. These encounters instilled in me, even then, a personal commitment to become acquainted with and to cherish the Jewish world outside of Israel.

Zvika Klein, an Israeli journalist who covers the Diaspora for the Israeli newspaper Makor Rishon, said that the fact that she is in a nonreligious party pretty much says it all.

Blue and White is a party that says it will promote the Kotel deal and on issues of religion and state is pretty progressive, so it [indicates that] shes not a typical haredi, he said.

TheJust Begun Foundation, which Yankelevich founded, is focused on broader Orthodox cultural integration. One of its projects is Art and Emuna (Hebrew for belief), an initiative to promote the work of haredi artists and help integrate them into Israels cultural scene, as well as exposing the secular art world to art with Jewish content and themes, thus leading to a significant change in consciousness in Israeli society.

Diaspora leaders seemed unfazed by her religious background.

Its important that women from a diverse array of backgrounds are taking up the mantel of leadership, said Sheila Katz, CEO of the National Council of Jewish Women. Katz said she looked forward to working with Yankelevich.

Polish Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich agreed, telling the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that it was an important step to have a female haredi minister.

A Cabinet should represent the people of the nation, and the appointment of Omer Yankelevich certainly helps that goal, he said. Lets give Minister Yankelevich a chance to see what she will do. It is wrong to prejudge her.

We hope that it is precisely the fact that the MK Yankelevich is part of the ultra-Orthodox society in Israel which will help to reduce the concern of more traditional Israeli public with full recognition of the Reform and Conservative streams, said Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism.

We are confident that it will be a personal example of the ability to work together despite differences and disagreements, he continued, stating that she had the potential to be a bridge of understanding between Israels Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox communities and the largely non-Orthodox Diaspora communities.

Noting Yankelevichs efforts to achieve greater integration of marginalized sectors of Israeli society, Alex Ryvchin, co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, said that her emphasis on inclusion, outreach and unity should serve her well in her new role and that he looked forward to connecting with her.

William Daroff, CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, said that he had previously spoken with Yankelevich and found her engaging and [a person who] can be worked with.

She was interested in listening and hearing about the concerns of the North American Jewish community and engaging with us in those conversations, and that is precisely, I think, the best attitude to take, which is to be in a position of listening to the Diaspora across the board and hearing our concerns and our thoughts about the relationship between the state of Israel and Diaspora communities, he said.

Eric Fingerhut, president and CEO of The Jewish Federations of North America, sounded a similar note, saying that he welcomed her appointment and that she had already made clear her commitment to Jewish unity.

Yankelevich has been harshly criticized by haredi politicians and media.

Last June, several months after her entrance into Israeli politics, parliament member Moshe Gafni, whose United Torah Judaism party does not allow female candidates, censured a seminary in the haredi city of Bnei Brak for allowing then-candidate Yankelevich to visit.

I was shocked to hear that a Knesset member of a secular party whose goal is to harm all that is holy and precious to the people of Israel visited and was received with great respect by the management of the seminar, Gafni wrote, calling her visit a contemptuous and shameful thing, according to a copy of the letter published byThe Jewish Press.

More recently, Rabbi Dov Halbertal, former head of the Office of the Chief Rabbi, went on the radio (inHebrew) to accuse Yankelevich of having sacrificed her body for politics and undermining the family dynamics that sustain the Orthodox community.

Her appointment, Halbertal said, was a strategic threat to the ultra-Orthodox world and her example would destroy the ultra-Orthodox woman.

Samuel Heilman, a sociology professor at Queens College who studies the Orthodox community, said this of Yankelevich: If anything, she threatens the haredi world because she presents an alternate model of what one can be and still be labeled haredi in the media.

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Meet the Orthodox woman tasked with mending Israel-Diaspora ties - The Jewish News of Northern California

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Posted By admin on June 30, 2020

In the four-part limited seriesUnorthodox, show creator Anna Winger tells a story about a young woman from a Hasidic community in Brooklyn named Esty (Shira Haas), who leaves her arranged marriage and travels to Berlin, not to escape, but to find out who she really is. The series, which debuted in March, is inspired by Deborah Feldmans bestselling memoir and tells a very specific story. During a Q&A after a screening of the first episode at the Deadline Virtual House, Winger said that it has had a significant impact across the globe.

One thing that has been incredible is how people in so many parts of the world have responded to the show, said Winger. In particular, people in parts of the world we havent expected. She adds that the show has crossed over barriers of faith and culture in places as far as Saudia Arabia, India and Latin America. We never imagined we can connect in that way.

Winger was joined by actress Haas as well as series director Maria Schrader during one of two Deadline Virtual House panels for Unorthodox.The other featured costume designer Justine Seymour, composer Antonio Gambale, production designer Silke Fischer and cinematographer Wolfgang Thaler.

Speaking to the impact of the show, Schrader said We considered ourselves this small German showI was completely overwhelmed by all the reactions. Even though the director isnt on social media, Haas told her that she was getting thousands of messages a day praising the show.

A lot of my conversations with Maria was me convincing her that [the reactions] were true! said Haas. I had to give her proof! She added that if she could read all the messages she could, but it would take all day. I see a lot of them and I am very grateful.

Winger, Haas and Scharder spoke about merging Feldmans story and TV storytelling to bring an authentic nuance and respect to the Hasidic culture. This was also apparent in the music, production design and costume design.

Nothing has ever been done specifically on the Satmar community before we did so I had to be really vigilant about being respectful between the dress codes, said Seymour. From there, grew character development and a collaboration with the entire Unorthodox team.

Unorthodox was adapted by Winger and Alexa Karolinski. The series, which is shot in Yiddish and English, also stars Jeff Wilbusch and Amit Rahav. It is produced by Henning Kamm at REAL FILM Berlin and marks the first project produced by Wingers Studio Airlift.

Watch both panels in the video above.

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'Unorthodox' Team Talks Cultural Impact Of Netflix Limited Series And Shining A Respectful Light On The Satmar Community Deadline Virtual House -...

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Posted By admin on June 30, 2020

The Makings of a Scapegoat

Recently it was announced that the first COVID-19 vaccine trials had begun taking place in South Africa and in Brazil, and I almost busted a gasket at the realization that Black people the world over had once again be used as medical buffers for White people.

The duping began very early in the coronavirus crisis, when memes and news articles from unreputable outlets seemed to proliferate the social media with articles claiming to quote an official regarding the immunity of Black people to COVID.

From there, the meandering rollercoaster of misinformation then tipped in the opposite direction, saying that Black people wereactually MOREsusceptible to COVID due to underlying conditions, such as heart diseases, hypertension, diabetes and smoking.

From the very beginning of the crisis, a student of history could see how the African American community would be hardest hit from a statistical perspective.

Back in March, The Shadow League published an article titled As Usual: Blacks on the Frontlines of COVID Fight. In the article I posit that the types of jobs the African American working-class have should also be taken into consideration regarding early high numbers among American Black folk.

To me, it seemed like a logical surmising of the statistics at hand. However, as is the case with almost every domestic malady in society, both contemporary and ongoing, the majority will scapegoat a vulnerable segment of the population and blame them.

As of March 26, there werehundreds of NYPD officers who tested positive for coronavirus.

As of today,there are dozens MTA workers who test positive, as well more educators. By fate, the grisly toll will only be revealed to us in the end. Because of occupation, because of strained finances and the lasting legacy ofmedical racism in Americamany Black and Brown people are at their wits end regarding what the future holds.

From the Romany or Gypsies arrival in Eurasian in the 14thcentury, to multiple Hasidic persecutions throughout the 9th century in Medieval Europe, and todays Black folks in America goes the privilege of being a Calvinismscapegoat for all the ills of the greaterpopulous.

During the 80s and late 90s, when the idiocy of calling it a gay disease became apparent in the increased deaths of Black and Brown heterosexual women and men, the powers that be then began framing it as a morality issues that placed the blame upon the victims instead of the poor public health response from the Oval Office.

In much the same manner, the resurging COVID numbers that began trickling upward early this month, news organization would show photographs and video of mostly young Black people gathered, partied and street raced in locations like Atlanta, Baton Rouge and Miami, Florida.

Famous White People With Big Opinions

Not long afterwards came, mostly from the right via VP Mike Pence, came the knee jerk reaction that Black people were being irresponsible and the demographic upon which vaccine testing should take place.

There is a void of information that has been swept clean by a black hole of ignorance powered by the presence of a veritable doofus in the White House. Naturally, people will want to try to fill that void with what they believe they know. Its a natural human inclination, really.

However, because shes a famous person, and notnecessarily because what shes saying has merit. (It does, by the way.) Heres what she said regarding demographics most in need for any eventual vaccine in an interview with TIME magazine earlier this month.

The first people that need this vaccine are the 60 million health care workers around the world. They deserve to get it before anybody else. Then you start tiering.After health care workers, Gates answered,In the U.S., that would be black people next, quite honestly, and many other people of color. They are having disproportionate effects from COVID-19.

Americas Medical Records

Indeed,its true that Black folk have beendisproportionately affected by the virus, but ghosts of an American medical history past that are calling out to me. Theyre reminding me of Tuskegee, electroshock treatments and brain surgery without anesthesia were common experiments. The horrific gynecological experiments of James Marion Sims on the living flesh of Black women and girls is the most recently revealed but by no means is it unique.

The lingering effects of age old medical racism that supposes Black people feel less pain than Whites, that closes hospitals in the hood, and in the fact that Black women die during child labor more often than White women.

Yes, Black people make up around 40% of coronavirus related deaths at this point, but with both Florida and Texas experiencing record numbers of COVID increase, and improved techniques to treat COVID, it is slightly alarming no one stopped and thought about how American history is the primary reason many Black folk would pass on any American COVID trials.

Our immune systems are no different than those of any of the over 33,000 new COVID cases reported this week, most of whom are from red states. Why dont they run trials in Florida, Texas or Georgia, instead of Detroit, as wasposed by the vice president?

Despite the news, the protests and the videos of Black folks in urban areas behaving as if COVID is a myth, none of this is our fault.

Coronavirus kills African Americans at twice the rate it kills Whites, this is true. But its through no lack of morality, intelligence or heartiness that this afflictionaffects us so, but through preexisting conditions like lack of medical insurance, lack of access to the best doctors, and a general disdain for Black life have far more to do with this grisly toll than anything else, in my opinion.

Again, the states that refused to accept the reality of COVID are largely White and conservative, with record daily numbers being recorded as I type. Wouldnt it just be plain logic to administer any vaccine trial in the current hot zones first rather than go for the easy, historically racist Lets test the n*ggers troupe?

I mean, numbers-wise, more white folks are gonna die of this than Black, despite our historic predisposition to it, because White folks love their rugged American individualism. Florida has had 141,075 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 3,419 deaths. Judging by the news from Florida, Texas and Arizona, all pro-Trump, these numbers are largely due to societal idiocy and the general absence of even the most rudimentary understanding of science by those in power.

How is that Black peoples fault? What part of that means we should willingly to submit to testing trials or mandatory vaccines?

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Black Folks Have Good Reason Not To Trust A COVID Vaccine - The Shadow League

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Posted By admin on June 29, 2020

When Rabbi Steve Lebows farewell Shabbat to the Kol Emeth congregation was in the planning stages a few months ago, he never envisioned speaking to families seated in lawn chairs scattered throughout the Synagogues parking lot, with every person watching from behind a face mask.

If you want to make God laugh, all you have to do is tell him your plans, the 65-year-old rabbi joked as he walked among his flock before the outdoor service Friday night. My plan was to have a huge service and go out with a big bang, but thats apparently not what God intended.

Lebow, who has served this Marietta congregation for 34 years, is the longest-serving rabbi in the Atlanta area. He retires at the end of June.

I came here in 1986, and there were fewer than 40 families then, he said. Kol Emeth was Cobb Countys second synagogue, and the countys first Reform congregation, he said.

Over the decades, the congregation grew to nearly 1,000 members, he said. The reason I became a rabbi was to work with individuals, to help them find their own spirituality. When you are the rabbi of a very large congregation, much of what you do is corporate responsibilities of governance and fundraising, his least favorite aspect of the job, he said.

The rabbinate is the last profession for generalists, Lebow said. You have to be good with little children. You have to be good with older people. You have to be engaging with teenagers. You must be reachable to people who are married. You have to give good sermons. You have to give good classes. And theres not a single rabbi thats fantastic at everything, said Lebow, who remembered writing a letter applying to a Hebrew college to become a Reform rabbi when he was 8 years old. He still has the letter from the college, informing its youngest-ever applicant that he would first have to graduate college.

Friday nights more casual Shabbat accommodated far fewer families than he hoped for because of social distancing limits. Synagogue members were able to live-stream the service over the internet, so all families, friends and distant relatives could watch from the safety of their homes.

As Lebow walked among the gathering crowd, he had to look close at faces even though hes known many of them for years. Im trying to figure out who everybody is, because I cant recognize them with their masks on, he chuckled.

Sisters Melanie and Morgan and their cousin Sophia Verzosa, all of Marietta, gathered with their rabbi before the service for one last cheer as they had many years before.

We were maybe 2 or 3 when we started doing it, said Melanie, 18. After every service the three of us joined hands with him and we jumped and screamed Team Rabbi as loud as we could. We were being silly and admiring him a lot, she said. We had to do it one more time. We are really going to miss him. Weve known Rabbi Lebow just about our entire lives.

As Lebow eases into retirement, he said he wants to take karate classes and music lessons. I can play the guitar pretty well, but I want to play it really well, he said.

He will serve as rabbi in smaller congregations in Rome and Gainesville. Ill basically be the chief rabbi in North Georgia, he said.

Lebow believes he may have been the first rabbi locally to conduct a same-sex marriage ceremony. He has also long fought for the exoneration of Leo Frank, a Jewish man convicted and later lynched in Marietta in 1915 over the death of a teenager in his factory.Many have said Franks trial was conducted unfairly and anti-Semitism played a role in his conviction and death.

Lebow will continue to conduct weddings and funerals for unaffiliated Jews, he said.

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Rabbi shares final message with east Cobb congregation before retirement - MDJOnline.com

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Posted By admin on June 29, 2020

I am fascinated by how quickly people adapt their behaviors. The virus has made everyone nervous and willing to do almost anything to change, to get back to the old normal.

For those of us who are Orthodox, we are not about to give up going to minyan. It is engraved in our souls that we must go to shul from childhood until they put us in a box to take us to our graves.

The Bible teaches that praying in a Minyan is getting close to G-d. When we pray in a minyan, G-d does not judge us individually but collectively so that we become much more able to connect to G-d regardless of our sins.

So it was with great pleasure they reopened the synagogues. We only had to change a few minor behaviors. With the change in the behaviors, it was common sense that it was no more dangerous in the synagogue than on the bus or store.

Social distancing in the Synagogue now means that the formerly full synagogue is empty. No one can talk to each other, because no one sits next to each other, so there is no more talking in shul. This behavior of talking in shul was always a sore point in Orthodox shuls where many of the people who come to pray were disturbed by it. There were books written about and many of the bigwigs proclaimed that the reason for everything from the Mashiach not coming to everything negative that happens in the Jewish world, was caused by talking in shul. Well, if it was true or not, there is no more talking in shul, because you would have to yell to talk to someone

Even saying hello in the morning to everyone is frowned on by some people. Like everything else in Judaism, there is a reason for that as well. The Jewish law (Halacha) is that you are supposed to say hello to G-d first before you greet anyone else. Forget the fact that normally the only time you can say hello to anyone is the morning prayer (in the afternoon and evening people rush in and out of the synagogue like a race course). I have always had a problem with this one as I love to greet people with a rousing Boker Tov because there is also a teaching is that you are supposed to great everyone with a smile when you see them. So there is tension between these two teachings.

One of the more fun parts of the old ways were the kiddushes after praying on Saturday mornings and sometimes even Kiddush clubs.

What is a Kiddush club you ask? In between the two morning services (Shacharit and Mussaf), the Torah is read, then the Haftorah and a Rabbis speech. This usually takes at least 20 minutes. Enough time to go outside has some expensive alcohol (and the more expensive the betterthe older single malt scotch at least 18 years old and everyone tried to outdo each other with the most expensive price. Not that anyone can really taste much difference between the brandsof course no one admits this).

And it you didnt have a shot at the Kiddush club, there were usually plenty of bottles at the Kiddush itself. Enough to get good and drunk if you so desired. But all that is gone now. There are no kiddush clubs there are no Kiddushes. Only prayer and no talking. So no one can say that we in shul for any other reason except to connect with G-d.

But wait the Alcohol is not gone! Its just in a different form. The history of hand sanitizer

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention do note that, when it comes to preventing the spread of coronavirus, if soap and water are not readily available, use a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol.

And indeed, that is the primary ingredient in hand sanitizer: alcohol. Most hand sanitizers contain anywhere from 60% to 95% isopropyl or ethyl alcohol mixed with water and gels like glycol and glycerin in order to prevent drying out users skin. The resulting product is typically sold in a hand gel or liquid spray under brand names such as Purell or GermX.

But while alcohol has been in use as an antiseptic since the late-1800s least, the exact origins of hand sanitizer are up for debate.

One version of the story points to Lupe Hernandez, a nursing student in Bakersfield, California in 1966, as the inventor of hand sanitizer after combining alcohol and gel for use by doctors in situations where they dont have time to access soap and warm water before treating patients.

However, a recent investigation by the Smithsonian Institution historian Joyce Bedi was unable to turn up any trace of Hernandez, or any evidence of a U.S. patent for hand sanitizer under that name from the 1960s.

Theres also Sterillium, which the German company Hartmann claims was the worlds first marketable alcohol-based hand disinfectant when it hit European shelves in 1965. Its made with glycerin and 75% alcohol.

Still, others trace modern hand sanitizer back to Goldie and Jerry Lippman, the married couple that developed a waterless hand cleaner in 1946 for rubber plant workers who previously used harsh chemicals like kerosene and benzene to remove graphite and carbon black from their hands at the end of their shifts. The product, which they called Gojo (a portmanteau of their names) is a mix of petroleum jelly, mineral oil, and less than 5% alcohol thats still used today by auto mechanics and other workers to clean off substances like grease and oil.

The Lippmans mixed their first batches of Gojo in a washing machine in the basement of Goldies parents Akron, Ohio home, where the couple was living at the time, according to The New Yorker. They put the resulting product in pickle jars and sold it out of the trunk of their car.

Over the ensuing decades, Gojo continued selling their products as industrial cleaners. Then, in 1988, the company invented the hand gel Purell, which consists of 70% ethyl alcohol as its primary ingredient, along with propylene glycol. While Purell is now the worlds best-selling hand sanitizer, it took some time for stores to carry the product that most everyday customers werent really asking for. As such, Gojo did not release Purell onto the consumer market until 1997.

And like the Kiddush club, the more alcohol in the hand sanitizer the better, for killing germs. To watch people in shul take a hit every time they touch something or get called up for an Aliyah (being called to the Torah) is surreal. They feel it is a magic potion that will push off the virus and keep them safe. And they rub it on themselves as if it was holy water. I have no idea whether it will or not, I just couldnt help noticing that the alcohol is not gone, it is now just in another form!

Morty Applebaum had a very unpleasant appointment scheduled with an IRS auditor who had come to review his records. At one point the auditor exclaimed, Mr. Applabaum, we feel that it is a great privilege to be allowed to live and work in the USA. As a citizen you have an obligation to pay taxes, and we expect you to eagerly pay them with a smile.

Oy, thank God, said Morty with a sigh of relief. I thought you were going to want cash.

Yehuda Lave writes a daily (except on Shabbat and Hags) motivational Torah blog at YehudaLave.comLoving-kindness my specialty.Internationally Known Speaker and Lecturer and Author. Self Help through Bible and Psychology. Classes in controlling anger and finding Joy. Now living and working in Israel. Remember, it only takes a moment to change your life. Learn to have all the joy in your life that you deserve!!! There are great masters here to interpret Spirituality. Studied Kabbalah and being a good human being with Rabbi Plizken and Rabbi Ephraim Sprecher, my Rabbi. Torah is the name of the game in Israel, with 3,500 years of mystics and scholars interpreting G-D's word. Yehuda Lave is an author, journalist, psychologist, rabbi, spiritual teacher and coach, with degrees in business, psychology and Jewish Law. He works with people from all walks of life and helps them in their search for greater happiness, meaning, business advice on saving money, and spiritual engagement

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Members of the Merkaz Ha-Iyr congregation.(Photo: David Schwartz/Special for The Republic)

After 12 years of providing an "inclusive" space to celebrate Judaism, Phoenix's Merkaz Ha-Iyrsynagogue is formally disbanding Tuesday.

Two members spoke to The Arizona Republic about their experience building the synagogue in 2008 and raising their children with its teachings, saying they feel nostalgic about its closure but grateful for the foundation it provided their families over the years.

Alan Bayless Feldman's family was among the congregation's founding members.

The 53-year-old told The Republic the founding memberswere looking for a synagogue that was "open-minded, friendly (and) progressive." That meant, for example, embracing interfaith families and welcoming single members without families of their own.

Bayless Feldman said they chose the name Merkaz Ha-Iyr because it translates to "Center of the City," and reflected their desire to foster a "progressive, inclusive synagogue in central Phoenix."

The synagogue was always a humble one, with the congregation initially renting space at a church near Central and Northern avenues to host its services.

Tracy Leonard-Warner, 48, also helped found the synagogue and served as its song leader. Additionally, she taught music, Hebrew and other classes in the synagogue's educational program for children.

Bayless Feldman said membership grew through word of mouth and social media, but that that the synagogue at most had about 50 families.

Leonard-Warner said the synagogue's relatively small size helped create a "tight-knit" community, with bonds that will last long after the congregation's disbandment.

Bayless Feldman agreed, saying what they built extends far beyond the walls of a rented room in a Christian church.

"Everybody just pulled together to create this synagogue, putting our hearts and souls into the effort to make it the kind of Jewish community we all wanted," Bayless Feldman said.

Five years after the synagogue's opening, its inaugural rabbi announced she was leaving the congregation to explore other opportunities on the east coast.

Bayless Feldman said there was talk at that time of disbanding, but that the synagogue's youngest members appealed to their parents and said they wanted Merkaz Ha-Iyr to continue.

Leonard-Warner said she and other parentswere "proud" that their children were so devoted to the synagogue they grew up in, and subsequently put all their effort into finding a rabbiwho was progressive, inclusive and welcoming.

They found it in Rabbi Erica Burech.

On top of having a new rabbi, the congregation also eventually found a new location Shadow Rock United Church of Christ near Eighth Avenue and Thunderbird Road.

The Shadow Rock United Church of Christ sanctuary during Shabbat services.(Photo: Tracy Leonard-Warner/Special for The Republic)

As the years went on, Bayless Feldman and Leonard-Warner said younger members left the congregation to pursue their adultlives and that the synagogue struggled to attract new families to maintain its membership.

Leonard-Warner added that it took a lot of volunteer power to run the synagogue's services and programs, and dwindling membership made that even more difficult.

Earlier this year, Burech announced she was leaving the synagogue. Merkaz President Andy Schwartz announced on May 20 that the board subsequently voted to dissolve the synagogue at the end of the fiscal year.

Leonard-Warner said though it felt like the right decision, it wasn't easy.

"There are emotions, it's sad but ... I think we're all very proud of what we were able to create for our families, and that really, I think was the focus of the congregation, was our kids," she said. "Now that they're kind of out of the house, I don't think we have that same passion that we did before."

Bayless Feldman said there seemed to be an agreement that the congregation had done what it set out to do and that it was a "good point to take steps in another direction."

"There is a sadness, but there's also a joy in looking back and feeling very good about what we created and what my family ultimately got to experience as part of the Merkaz Ha-Iyr Jewish community," he said.

Members of the Merkaz Ha-Iyr congregation form the Star of David with their hands.(Photo: David Schwartz/Special for The Republic)

Leonard-Warner said her two children have a firm foundation in their faith, which she credits to Merkaz Ha-Iyr. Her son is involved with Hillel Jewish Student Center at Arizona State University, and her daughter has also been involved with Jewish organizations and hopes to move to Israel for college and to complete military service.0

She said that because the congregation spent so much time building a "perfect" environment, she wants to take her time in finding a new spiritual home, though she acknowledged the ongoing pandemic may extend the length of the search.

And though they may not meet in a formal capacity any longer, both Leonard-Warner and Bayless Feldman said they hope to continue meeting for occasional Shabbat dinners or other Jewish celebrations.

"These are now lifetime friends and not just for our kids, but for us too," Leonard-Warner said. "We definitely gained new friends and families along the way, and like it or not, they're stuck with us."

Reach the reporter at bfrank@arizonarepublic.comor 602-444-8529.Follow her on Twitter @brieannafrank.

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JTA Amid the nationwide movement to take down memorials to Confederacy figures, two Charlotte synagogues are calling for the removal of a downtown monument to Judah Benjamin, a Jewish politician who served as a cabinet member for the Confederate government.

The names of the two synagogues, the Reform Temple Beth El and the Conservative Temple Israel, are featured on the gravestone-like monument, though the synagogues never approved of the memorial.

A joint letter from the presidents of both synagogue to their congregations published online last week explains that the memorial, installed in 1948, was the idea of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. Both synagogues tried to prevent it but were overruled by local authorities.

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At the time of the monuments installation in 1948 the Daughters of the Confederacy were in an open dispute with the national and state-wide chapters advocating for the monument, while the local chapter leveled antisemitic attacks against our Jewish community. Both congregations removed their support for the monument and the rabbis called for it not to be erected. Unfortunately, the monument which contains both temples names was installed over the objections.

The United Daughters of the Confederacy donated the monument to the City of Charlotte, which resides in the 200 block of South Tryon Street in Uptown Charlotte, precisely next to the recent Black Lives Matter art installations.

Our congregations leadership has tried to get the monument removed for many years. Every time we have tried, the citys lawyers have cited North Carolinas laws which prevent the removal of the monument and requires it to be relocated to a similarly prominent location. There has never been the will to change or challenge the laws. So, we are forced to once again ask the age-old Jewish question: If not now, when?

Temple Beth Els senior rabbi, Asher Knight, discussed the contentious history behind the monuments installation in a YouTube video uploaded last week. Knight echoed the letter in saying the two synagogues have tried unsuccessfully over the years to have the monument removed.

A large synagogue in Northern California recentlyremoved Benjamins name, along with some other prominent Jewish names, from a memorial in its religious school.

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If youve ever heard the phrase flatten the curve, you have Dr. Howard Markel to thank. Following the 2002-2004 SARS pandemic, the George W. Bush administration contacted Markel to help establish national response guidelines for future global outbreaks.

The Jewish-American medical expert helped influence policies that remain in place for todays coronavirus response, but arguably Markels most popular legacy is the term flattening the curve. It means stretching the time frame of contagion to limit the number of cases and buy time for a response. Markel said he coined the phrase through an unlikely scenario.

I was having some very bad, gooey noodle dish, Markel said. One flat noodle was bigger [than the others]. It flattened the curve.

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Markel is the George E. Wantz, M.D. Distinguished Professor of the History of Medicine, and Director of the Center for the History of Medicine at the University of Michigan. The medical doctor has written extensively about infectious diseases in history including in his first book, Quarantine! East European Jewish Immigrants and the New York City Epidemics of 1892, as well as a subsequent book, When Germs Travel: Six Major Epidemics That Have Invaded America Since 1900 and the Fears They Have Unleashed.

In a year-long effort for the Bush administration, Markel studied the 1918-1919 Spanish flu pandemic, which is generally agreed to have come in two waves, with the second deadlier than the first. He focused on response measures called non-pharmaceutical interventions, or NPIs ways to isolate people such as social distancing and lockdowns.

Dr. Howard Markel advised president George W. Bushs administration on pandemic response. (Courtesy)

Studying 43 cities across the United States, he found that the most effective cities used NPIs earlier, implemented a layered system and acted over a longer period of time. However, 23 cities lifted their measures too early, and overall saw their cases rise.

Markels findings have been implemented not only in the US, but elsewhere in the world, including Mexico during its response to the 2009 avian flu pandemic.

Today, Markel is addressing the COVID-19 crisis through webinars, public interviews and op-eds. His ideas on NPIs have received praise from the Democratic governor of his home state of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer. He said he speaks with Whitmer often and supports her policies. (He said the Trump administration has not contacted him.)

Whitmer recently extended Michigans state of emergency order until July 16, which allows the governor to moderate the states reopening. The aggressive measures we took at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic have worked to flatten the curve, but there is still more to be done to prevent a second wave, Whitmer said in a press conference last week.

Markel recognizes that social distancing and lockdowns can have a disruptive effect on society and recent months have witnessed members of the public breaking quarantines by participating in mass protests.

Protesters carry rifles near the steps of the Michigan State Capitol building in Lansing, Michigan, April 15, 2020 (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Earlier this year, anti-lockdown protestors held demonstrations, including inside the Michigan state capitol in Lansing, where armed demonstrators denounced Whitmer. More recently, people have taken to the streets for a different reason to protest police brutality and racism after the death of George Floyd.

The national mood seems reflected in a policy shift. While each state decides its own procedures and roll out, all 50 states are currently in some form of reopening, even as 27 states are recording new daily rises in cases, and some are reversing or pausing their plans, according to The New York Times. Houses of worship, including synagogues, have been the subject of heated debate ever since closures began.

Its a tough call but given how most states have gathering bans on 10 or more people, it seems that in person [prayer] at synagogues [is] not going to happen anytime soon, Markel said. Fortunately, we have such wonderful internet technologies like Zoom that allow us to connect and attendshul [synagogue] virtually if not actually.

When The Times of Israel asked Markel what would be a good reference point for the country to reopen, he replied, Thats the million-dollar question. We dont know. Yet he said that less than 50 new coronavirus cases per 100,000 people seems like a good number, a good threshold.

COVID-19 is still circulating around the country, around the world, he said. Not everybody is getting tested There are still 320 million Americans who have not caught it yet, who are still susceptible. If you open up a state, and people go out when the virus is still circulating, theres a risk more people will get it.

Rabbi Ilan Feldman of Congregation Beth Jacob in Atlanta. (Courtesy)

A recent US opinion poll shows that most Americans are not ready to return to places of worship. Only 36 percent of Americans, including 40 percent of Americans who belong to a religious tradition, say they would feel comfortable attending an in-person worship service, according to an American Enterprise Institute survey released this week. According to Religion News, 56% of those who reported their congregations offered in-person worship in the past week still chose not to go.

But it is harder for congregations that strictly follow halacha, or Jewish law, and cannot use technology to offer an online Shabbat services, for example. National organizations such as the Orthodox Union and Agudath Israel have released guidelines on reopening that stress the need for case-by-case decisions, but allow for reopening when the coronavirus outbreak is in abeyance.

In Georgia, which was among the earliest states to relax restrictions, a group of Atlanta-based Orthodox rabbis drafted an additional set of guidelines. As a result, some congregations in Atlanta have moved toward in-person worship.

Most of the Orthodox synagogues in Atlanta intend on having indoor services this coming Shabbat, Rabbi Yossi New, regional Chabad director of Georgia and head of Congregation Beth Tefillah, wrote in an email. Masks and social distancing will be required. The larger synagogues require pre-registration.

Rabbi Ilan Feldman of the Orthodox Congregation Beth Jacob told The Times of Israel in an email that we are back in the building, with social distancing, masks, other restrictions (bring your own siddur [prayer book], no bathroom access, doors propped open).

In contrast, The Temple, a historic Atlanta Reform synagogue, remains virtual, although it has a plan to gradually open up, with safety being a top priority, noted its senior rabbi, Peter Berg.

A socially-distant outdoor prayer quorum at Atlantas Congregation Beth Jacob allows the mourners kaddish to be said; the synagogues rabbi, Ilan Feldman, did not attend as members over the age of 65 were discouraged from attending. (Courtesy)

Whether looking to reopen or staying closed for now, rabbis often cited the halachic principle of pikuach nefesh, or the importance of saving a life above all else.

I think for synagogues all over the world, safety and health is the single No. 1 priority, Berg said, noting that at his synagogue, we have learned how to create a series of sacred constructs without having people gather in the synagogue in-person.

Rabbi Peter Burg of The Temple in Atlanta. (Courtesy)

Another state that reopened on the earlier side is Oklahoma, which is now seeing rising numbers of new coronavirus cases. Oklahoma made headlines on June 20 for a Trump campaign rally in Tulsa that contrasted with numerous public health guidelines. Oklahoma City rabbis have indicated that they are not rushing to reopen.

Oklahoma Citys Reform Temple Bnai Israel is keeping its services virtual. Its board has approved a reopening plan, and it is reintroducing programs for youth. Yet, Rabbi Vered Harris wrote in a recent email, We will continue to livestream our services with congregants participating from their homes, and we expect most of our congregation to stay on-line even when the sanctuary is open.

In a conversation last month, Oklahoma City Chabad Rabbi Ovadia Goldman said that he has allowed individuals to come in for a hot meal or a delivery while his center is closed, and he offers Shabbat kits for pick-up outside. Beyond that, he adopts a wait-and-see policy depending on data.

In Kansas, Rabbi Doug Alpert, president of the Rabbinical Association of Greater Kansas City, has seen his Reform congregation of Kol Ami hold a recent outdoor service in solidarity with a peaceful protest supporting the African-American community. Otherwise, the congregation is staying virtual.

Kansas is the home state of two Baptist churches that successfully sued in federal court to hold in-person worship for gatherings beyond 10 people. Alpert described the position of these churches as ill-advised.

Rabbi Vered Harris of Oklahoma Citys Temple Bnai Israel, left, displays hand sanitizer used during a drive-thru Lag Bomer service with music director Linda Matorin Sweenie, May 2020. (Courtesy)

Atlanta-based The Temples Berg cited instances in other states when worshipers contracted the coronavirus after a church reopened. In Arkansas, 35 of 92 attendees at a rural church from March 6 to 11 became infected, and three died, according to the CDC.

It certainly seems were opening up far too quickly and I think there are going to be repercussions for it, Berg said. Theres no question we want to figure out how to do this, but it has to be done at the right pace, using the numbers and statistics provided by experts.

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J. The Jewish News of Northern California via JTA The school board in Oakland, California, has unanimously voted to abolish the districts police force in the wake of the nationwide protests against police brutality with some urging by teens at a city synagogue.

A large contingent of young people from Temple Beth Abraham, a Conservative congregation, was involved in pushing the board to adopt what was called the George Floyd Resolution, named for the Black man whose death in May at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer sparked the demonstrations.

The resolution, which was passed Wednesday, will reallocate funds to provide social workers, psychologists, restorative justice practitioners and other mental or behavioral health professionals, as the budget supports, to meet the needs of students.

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It was created by the Black Organizing Project, an Oakland-based group that has fought to reform the citys school district policies around policing. The organization had been trying to eliminate the districts police force since 2011, but protests sparked by Floyds death injected new energy into the effort.

Several dozen teens and adults from Beth Abraham signed a June 14 letter to Jody London, the school board president and a member of the synagogue.

Oakland School Board president Jody London. (YouTube screenshot)

When someone dies in the Jewish community, we say, May their memory be for a blessing, the letter read. In this age of unrest following the murder of George Floyd and countless other Black people by the hands of police, there is heavy demand for not only holding cops accountable, but for defunding and divesting in policing as we know it today.

London met with the synagogues youth on Zoom a few days ago.

We just tried to stress that [the resolution is] very well-researched and there is a plan in place that [BOP] has been trying to do for so long, said Satya Zamudio, 15, a rising sophomore at Oakland Technical High School. It was really important to have this conversation with Jody. To just urge her to stand in solidarity with people of color and to really stress the point that Jews should be on the side of racial justice in this moment.

Maera Klein, 16, a rising junior at Berkeley High School, said, I really wanted to bring it to London from a Jewish lens, from within her synagogue, to show her that people from her own Jewish community care a lot about this issue. I would be super proud if my congregation had an influence on passing such a powerful resolution that would really change peoples learning experiences for the better.

The Oakland Unified School District Police Services Department was created in the 1950s, and out of approximately 1,000 districts in California, Oakland is one of 23 school districts that has its own police force. The department consists of 20 sworn personnel and 120 school site officers, according to OUSD.org.

Londons position on the elimination of the school districts police force has changed over time.

In March, when the school board voted to make $18.8 million in budget cuts, London voted against cutting any positions from the districts police force in a 4-3 decision. Two months after that, members of the Black Organizing Project led protests in front of Londons home and those of other board members.

Illustrative: In this March 8, 2018 file photo, a student in Detroit, Michigan, goes through a metal detector and has her backpack checked as she enters her school. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Shortly afterward, London released a statement saying that she was planning to support the projects resolution.

It is critical that the $2.3 million budget of the [Oakland School Police Department] be strategically reinvested in support for the whole child and students with disabilities with an eye to supporting authentic students safety, she wrote.

Support for the resolution came from dozens of administrators in schools in the district and Oakland community organizations.

The resolutions origins, in part, come from data that the Black Organizing Project has compiled over the past five years. One of the findings is that while black students make up 26 percent of enrollment in the Oakland district, they represent 73% of the school police forces arrests a phenomenon that has been documented similarly nationwide.

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