Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on May 27, 2020

Israeli scientists at the Israel Institute for Biological Research (IIBR) have found that a combination of two existing antiviral drugs for Gauchers disease appears to inhibit the growth of SARS CoV-2, the virus that leads to COVID-19 and may work against other virus infections, including a common flu strain.

The IIBR is a governmental research center specializing in biology, chemistry and environmental sciences that falls under the jurisdiction of the Prime Ministers Office. During the pandemic, announcements have been issued by the Defense Ministry.

According to a press announcement on Tuesday, scientists at the secretive bio-defense lab tested an analog of the FDA-approved drug Cerdelga, and an analog of a second drug, Venglustat, currently in advanced trials. They found that, in combination, the drugs led to a significant reduction in the replication capacity of the coronavirus and to the destruction of the infected cells.

The two drugs are used to treat Gaucher disease, an inherited genetic condition most common in people of Ashkenazi Jewish descent that leads to the buildup of fatty substances in certain organs, particularly the spleen and liver, and can affect their function. The disease can also lead to skeletal abnormalities and blood disorders, In rare cases, Gauchers disease can also lead to brain inflammation, according to the Mayo Clinic. The disease is unrelated to COVID-19.

The Israeli researchers tested the drugs on mouse models using four different RNA viruses: Neuroinvasive Sindbis virus (SVNI), an infection transmitted via mosquitos that can lead to years of debilitating musculoskeletal symptoms; West Nile virus (WNV), also a mosquito-borne disease that can cause neurological disease and is potentially fatal; Influenza A virus, a strain of the flu; and SARS-CoV-2.

The researchers found that the two drugs were effective in all four cases. They work by inhibiting glucosylceramide synthase *GCS), an enzyme involved in the production of glucocerebroside, a lipid that accumulates in the tissues of patients affected with Gaucher disease. In the lab setting, they inhibited the replication of the viruses, and in the case of mice infected with SVNI, increased their survival rate.

In the case of COVID-19, the drugs have an antiviral effect on the SARS-CoV-2 clinical isolate in vitro, with a single dose able to significantly inhibit viral replication within 2448 h.

The two drugs are currently being tested for their effectiveness in treating animals infected with the coronavirus.

The study, published in bioRxiv, has not yet been peer-reviewed. The authors are all from the IIBRs Department of Infectious Diseases

The data suggests that GCS inhibitors can potentially serve as a broad-spectrum antiviral therapy and should be further examined in preclinical and clinical trial, the scientists wrote, adding that repurposing approved drugs can lead to significantly reduced timelines and required investment in making treatment available.

Treatment of a new disease such as COVID-19 using an existing, approved drug may serve as an effective short-term solution considering that one of the major challenges in addressing such a pandemic is the length of time it takes for both the research and approval phases of new drugs, the Defense Ministry wrote in the announcement.

The lab has been conducting various research into COVID-19 for several months, including studies on possible treatment and a vaccine. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tapped the institute in early February to begin development on inoculation. In early April, the center reported significant progressand trials on animals.

The institute has also been involved in plasma collection from Israelis who have recovered from COVID-19 to research antibodies, proteins made by the immune system that can attack the virus.

Earlier this month, the IIBR said it completed a groundbreaking scientific development toward a potential treatment based on an antibody that neutralizes SARS-CoV2. The development had three key parameters, according to the IIBR: first, the antibody is monoclonal (lab-made identical immune cells that are all clones of a unique parent cell), and contains a low proportion of harmful proteins; second, the institute has demonstrated the ability of the antibody to neutralize the coronavirus; and third, the antibody was specifically tested on SARS CoV-2.

The Ness Ziona-based institute said it is now pursuing a patent for its development after which it will approach international manufacturers.

A number of Israeli scientific teams and over 100 groups worldwide are currently working to develop a vaccine or a treatment for COVID-19.

At least 10 candidate vaccines are in clinical evaluation, including those of Massachusetts-based company Moderna which was the first to develop an experimental vaccine that went into trial quickly, and California-based biotech firm Gilead Sciences, which is evaluating the safety and efficacy of its novel antiviral drug Remdesivir, developed originally for Ebola, in adults diagnosed with COVID-19.

Last month, Israeli scientists at theMigal Galilee Research Institute formed a new company, MigVax, to further adapt a vaccine they developed for a deadly coronavirus affecting poultry for human use. The scientists had been working for four years to develop a vaccine for IBV (Infectious Bronchitis Virus) which affects the respiratory tract, gut, kidney and reproductive systems of domestic fowl.

Also in April, an Israeli scientist wasawarded a US patent for his innovative vaccine design for the corona family of viruses and indicated that he was on track to develop a vaccine for SARS CoV2.

Meanwhile, two Israeli bio-medical companies nabbed FDA approval for separate trials in the US with their respective solutions for COVID-19 as part of a compassionate use program, a treatment option that allows for the use of not-yet-authorized medicine for severely ill patients.

BothRedHill BioPharma, a publicly-traded specialty biopharmaceutical company, andPluristem Therapeutics, also a public company that specializes in placental cell therapy, were given the green light for their imminent separate studies with the investigational drug, opaganib, and the placental cell therapy PLX, respectively.

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Israeli Lab: Drugs For Gaucher Disease May Work Against Coronavirus, Other Viral Infections | Health News - NoCamels - Israeli Innovation News

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Posted By admin on May 27, 2020

I dont know if you followed the debate last week about and among Jews of color, but hoo boy. What started out as a dry bit of academic demography turned into an explosive debate over Jewish identity and exclusion.

Heres the fast version: A 2019 research project led by The Jews of Color Field Building Initiative determined that approximately 12-15 percent of American Jews could be defined as Jews of color. Last week the website eJewish Philanthropy published a response, titled How Many Jews of Color Are There? Two well-known Jewish demographers, Ira Sheskin and Arnold Dashefsky, put the number at closer to 6 percent, saying the 2019 study overrepresented major metropolitan areas like New York and San Francisco.

Activists, both Jews of color and their allies, were furious. An online protest letter said the article illustrates how racism drives Jews of Color away from Jewish communal life by judging or devaluing their place in the community. April Baskin, who formerly directed diversity and outreach efforts at the Union for Reform Judaism, tweeted, Questioning our numbers in a time of scarcity is a shameful power play. Tema Smith, writing in The Forward, charged that the authors glossed over methodological concerns in the demographic studies they relied on for their analysis.

One of the angriest responses came from Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the URJ, and a colleague there, Chris Harrison. Articles like Sheskin and Dashefskys are indicative of the fear that resides in many white-dominated spaces and are reactionary to the work that organizations like ours seek to do: the work of disrupting oppression within our communities, addressing unearned power and privilege, and acknowledging our actual Jewish diversity, they wrote.

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In his responses at eJewish Philanthropy, Sheskin appears genuinely baffled that his article attracted so much animus. He said he was only sharing numbers that came from the Pew Research Center in 2013. It does not mean that we do not support inclusivity. We do, he wrote. It does not mean that we are racists. We are not. If you think there is something wrong with the 6%, call Pew. We just reminded people that that is what Pew said. We did not come up with our own number. We simply reported a number from a reliable source.

There is a lot going on here. On one side is the wonky work of Jewish demography, which is a bit of a Jewish obsession. Numbers help determine the distribution of millions of dollars in charitable giving. Demographers like Sheskin are in high demand by communities trying to figure out how to set their priorities, serve the underserved and spend their money wisely.

Many Jews of color, meanwhile, insist that studies conducted by white, typically Ashkenazi Jews reflect the biases of their authors, and systematically under-represent the Jewish communitys diversity. At a time when Jews with African-American, Hispanic and Asian backgrounds are seeking acceptance and respect within Jewish communities, many readers argued, the article sent the message that they literally do not count.

It also didnt help that the article landed in the middle of the coronavirus crisis, with the toll of the illness falling disproportionately on African-Americans and Hispanics. Groups representing Jews of color, like the Boston-based Dimensions, are concerned the data could be used to suggest that racial disparities arent a Jewish problem.

I feel for Sheskin and Dashefsky, who I think genuinely believed they were contributing important data to a community conversation and didnt intend to marginalize anybody. As they were careful to write in their original article, responsible planning by the American Jewish community demands recognition that not all Jews are of Eastern Europe and Ashkenazi origin; and future research on American Jews needs to be sensitive to discerning Jews of Color. They didnt deserve to be charged by Jacobs and Harrison with white intellectualism intended to diminish research conducted by and about Jews of Color (emphasis added).

As a journalist I want to report the most accurate numbers; studies and surveys should never be taken at face value. We also need to be on the lookout for solution aversion, when people reject scientific or academic evidence if it is tied to a finding they dont like.

But journalists, like pollsters, have their own biases, conscious and otherwise. As a white Ashkenazi Jew, I have had a steep learning curve in understanding the concerns of Jews of color. Questions I would normally consider well-meaning or innocuous including Whats your Jewish story? can sound like a challenge to someone who is conscious of being in the minority. As Allison Barnes put it in a recent Kveller essay, What Not to Say to Jews of Color and What to Say Instead, such questions can feel like a really aggressive interview for a job you dont even want.

Writing about last weeks controversy, Marc L. Dollinger of San Francisco State University warned fellow Jewish communal researchers, We need to open ourselves up to the possibility that our otherwise solid academic work plays out differently in the real world than we initially imagined. When we write about numbers, we are writing about people. And when our writing causes even unintended harm, we need to rethink our assumptions.

This debate over counting Jews of color is an opportunity not to opine but to listen.

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But Who's Counting? A Debate Over Jews of Color Goes Viral - Jewish Week

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Posted By admin on May 27, 2020

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By Saul AxelRod

The COVID-19 virus has resulted in mortal hardships for countless people throughout the world. Not tragic, but also difficult, has been the delay or elimination of milestone celebrations, such as weddings, graduations and award ceremonies. For our family, it was the bar mitzvah service for our 13-yearold grandson, Gavriel (Gavri), S. Sabag, scheduled for April 18, that was put into jeopardy.

Although we are not a religious family, we are active in the Chabad of Abington where we attend many Jewish events. We love the warm, welcoming, heimish atmosphere of the Chabad. It reminds me of the experiences I had with my parents and grandparents who came to America from Eastern Europe. The attitude of the Chabad appears to be: If you are Jewish, you belong here, and we will take care of your religious needs.

Gavris cousin, Ani, had her beautiful candlelit bat mitzvah at a Havdalah service at the Chabad in the winter this year, mentored by the loving and knowledgeable Rebbetzin Dini. Anis final task was to dodge the candy pieces thrown by her friends and relatives as she kept a winsome smile on her face. Now it was Gavris turn. Or was it?

The virus hit, and confusion ensued. How serious is this? Will it be gone in a few weeks? If we have the service and party, will anyone attend? Shortly, the gravity of COVID-19 became obvious. People would not be able to gather in an enclosed building for an unknown number of weeks or months. What about having Gavris bar mitzvah outside the synagogue or his home with a minimal number of people attending? But even this was a problem because religious law prevented the video from being sent to Gavris relatives in Israel and Canada during Shabbat.

What about having his bar mitzvah outside his home the previous Monday? Rebbe Zushe said that this was prohibited during Passover. Could Gavri recite his parsha a few months later when the virus cleared up? Could he read it a year later? The answer to every possibility was either negative or undesirable. Then, the rebbe called Gavris parents and informed them that he had found a little-known religious text that would allow Gavri to read the Torah on the Monday following his original bar mitzvah date. Gavris deliriously happy parents made plans for a bar mitzvah outside his home.

Balancing the twin challenges of having a minyan and establishing social distancing due to the virus, the bar mitzvah happened. Gavri, the handsome bar mitzvah boy, embracing his mothers Ashkenazi roots on one side of his family and his fathers Sephardi roots on the other side, read his Torah parsha, as his tearful parents and grandparents looked on. In the backyard of his bucolic home, the birds were singing love songs while the flowers and trees were blooming. We were in natures shul.

Was it appropriate to have a bar mitzvah in Gavris backyard? Yes! Bar mitzvahs have been held in shuls of Eastern Europe, in shtiebels of South Philadelphia, in besieged ghettos during the Shoah, in lavish Fifth Avenue Reform temples, and in concentration camps. There have been bar mitzvahs in religious settings and in secular settings, such as my son, Randy, had. It is not about not the location; it is not only about the text; it is also a statement that I am a Jew, and that the Jewish people will continue to be here, enriching the culture and well-being of every society in which they live.

As Gavri was finishing his parsha, I had an imaginary conversation with his alta bubbe, whom Gavri never met and has long since passed. I said to her, Mom, the greatest of your dreams has been realized through the bnai mitzvot of your great-grandchildren Ani and Gavri. The Jewish people, wounded but wonderful, have made it one more generation. Coming to America worked out.

Will Gavris brother, Shai, and his cousin Simon have their bar mitzvahs at the Chabad? Hopefully, the virus will be long gone, and the boys and their parents will be able to choose the location. But the point is: They will have bar mitzvahs, and they will be meaningful. Bar mitzvahs and bat mitzvahs are part of the glue that has held the Jewish people together despite all its challenges, and they do not depend on a location.

Meanwhile, Gavri and his family will have nice memories every time they walk into their backyard.

Saul Axelrod is professor emeritus of education and applied behavior analysis at Temple University, where he was on faculty from 1972-2011. He lives in Elkins Park.

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Opinion | Gavri's Bar Mitzvah in the time of COVID-19 - Jewish Exponent

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Posted By admin on May 27, 2020

"This is complete nonsense, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told his countrys Tass news agency in response to rumors of a Russian proposal for an American-Palestinian peace summit. They come up with all sorts of phantasmagoria. Its ridiculous, its delirious. They make it out of whole cloth; they fantasize and then attribute it to me that I introduced some kind of proposal. We have only one proposal to comply with the UN Security Council resolution on the Palestinian-Israeli settlement, thats all we propose.

The representatives of so-called Quartet on the Middle East peace process the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations did in fact convene on Friday for a virtual meeting, but as far as is known, they didnt discuss such a summit to advance President Donald Trumps peace plan. Russia is adamantly opposed to the plan, as are the Palestinians, who announced that in addition to halting their security coordination with Israel and ceasing cooperation with Israel in all other spheres, they are cutting ties with the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova confirmed that Bogdanov had spoken by phone on Tuesday with Trumps special envoy Avi Berkowitz, but she said that during the call Russia asked to renew direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

LISTEN: Bibis slash-and-burn strategy puts Israel on trial

On the other hand, on Wednesday, in a phone conversation with Israels new foreign minister, Gabi Ashkenazi, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said his country was ready to play a role in Israeli-Palestinian dialogue based on international law, the decisions of the Quartet and the Arab peace initiative.

The Palestinians have a slightly different version. According to Munib al-Masri, a West Bank Palestinian businessman and leading public figure, the Palestinians are examining the convening of an international summit in Moscow and their representatives are in contact with all the countries in the world and hope that Moscow will indeed make the summit possible. This is a highly important matter because the United States has ceased being an honest broker.

For years, Russia has refrained from dealing with the Palestinian issue, despite its membership in the Middle East Quartet. It was clearly an American arena in which Moscow did not play an active role. In March, senior Russian officials met with the head of Hamas political wing, Ismail Haniyeh, who has sought Russian assistance in promoting internal Palestinian reconciliation between Hamas, which controls Gaza, and the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. But so far Russias fingerprints are not to be seen on this issue, except for its efforts to advance an exchange of Palestinian prisoners and missing Israelis, a matter in which other countries have also been involved and which has so far not borne fruit.

Now that a unity government has been established in Israel, and in light of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus decision to move ahead on annexation of portions of the West Bank in July, a new opportunity has arisen for Moscows involvement. If up to now the Israeli government had spoken in one voice about annexation, Russia has apparently identified a parallel channel, via Ashkenazi and his Kahol Lavan party colleague, Deputy Prime Minister Benny Gantz, who is also defense minister.

A new channel?

Gantz and Ashkenazi have repeatedly said that they support Trumps peace plan but that (at the moment) they oppose unilateral steps that could spark a violent Palestinian response and irrevocably damage ties between Israel and Jordan, in addition to the relationships that Israel has developed with a number of Arab countries.

Russia expressed its staunch opposition to annexation a few days ago in a statement by its Foreign Ministry: Russia has repeatedly warned its Israeli partners against implementing unilateral plans that contradict the international legal foundation for a settlement in the Middle East .... Such expansionist actions by Israel will provoke a dangerous cycle of violence on Palestinian lands and destabilize the general situation in the Middle East.

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While in contrast to the European Union, Russia has not threatened or detailed the sanctions that Israel might incur from Moscow in the event of annexation, the very fact that Russia has taken such a tough public stance requires Israel to consider the implications of annexation on its ties with Moscow, particularly when Moscow holds the cards when it comes to allowing Israeli military activity in Syria. Israels working assumption is that Russia will not create a linkage between the Syrian and the Palestinian arenas, because in Syria, Israeli military action serves the Russian interest to sideline Iran and ensure the well-being of Syrian President Bashar Assads regime.

This assumption is also supported by the traditional strategy in which, in conflicts in the Middle East, Russia has always preferred that its involvement be in cooperation with other countries, through a coalition of support rather than acting unilaterally.

As a result, in Libya, Russia has worked with Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, and in Syria it has partnered with Turkey and, to a limited extent, with Iran. In both conflict zones, Russia is taking advantage of the absence of the United States. At the same time, it is finding new places to break through in the Middle East, even in countries clearly defined as Washingtons partners.

As a result, it has made its influence felt in Egypt, signing an agreement to sell Cairo some 20 Sukhoi-35 fighter jets. It is also an investment partner with Saudi Arabia, despite the oil war between the two countries.

Russia appears to be eyeing the Palestinian arena as a target not so much because Moscow has such a great interest in resolving the Palestinians conflict with Israel, but rather because it is another area where the Americans' stock is sinking, and the Palestinians are looking for a new powerful partner.

Anyone pushing ahead towards Israeli annexation in the West Bank will have to take into account the fact that, beyond the pressures being exerted on Israel, such a step might lead to a struggle among the major powers between Russia and Europe on the one hand and the United States and Israel on the other. Thats not exactly the warm, cozy spot that Israel would wish to be in.

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Moscow on the Jordan: Why Russia is eyeing the Palestinian arena - Haaretz

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Posted By admin on May 27, 2020

By: Rabbi Jonathan Feldman, PhD

Shavuot could be considered the holiday of the book. Unlike Rosh Hashanah which has the shofar, Chanukah which has the menorah and Sukkot which has the four species and the sukkah, Shavuot has no concrete symbol. Since it is the holiday that celebrates the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai, the custom is to engage in Torah study. More recently the custom is to stay up all night studying Torah.

We sometimes hear Jews referred to as The People of the Book. Paradoxically this term actually comes from the Koran, not from Jewish sources. For many it emphasizes the Jewish focus on education, and achievement in education. Jews, until recently, made up 25% of many Ivy League schools. The People of the Book have garnered over 20% of Nobel prizes even though Jews make up only .02% of the population. It is difficult to determine the figures for Jewish literacy in the past, however it does appear that historically it was well above that of the general population. Eighteen hundred years before the Western world, Rabbi Yehoshua ben Gamliel instituted universal education for children in Jewish communities (see Babylonian Talmud, Baba Batra 21a).

It has been suggested that Jewish success in education, and as a result in general society, is largely a result of the importance placed on education in Jewish society and culture. My grandmothers mantra to me was to acquire as much education as I could because they cannot take it away from you. This was spoken from first-hand experience; before WWII she and my grandfather had their home and business taken away from them in Austria when they were in their fifties and had to start over again in America. I absorbed the message and wound up with two advanced degrees.

Yet if we trace it back, we see that the Jewish emphasis on education does not come from a cultural value; it comes from the importance placed upon Torah study. This is embodied in the Rabbinic statement that we recite daily in the morning prayers, Talmud Torah is equal to them all [honoring ones parents, acts of kindness and other primary mitzvot] (Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 127a).

One of the features of a religious Jewish home is the prominent display of books. Having Torah books in a central place in the home projects a message of the primary importance of Torah study in our lives.

Rabbi Judah Halevy, the Spanish philosopher, physician, and poet expressed his love of books this way: My pen is my harp and my lyre, my library is my garden and orchard (Brodi p.166). Implicit is the message that the garden is meant to be harvested. The Talmud tells us that this means incorporating Torah study into the pattern of our lives.

Shammai tells us that we should make Torah a consistent part of our lives (Avot 1:15). One of the top five questions we will be asked when we reach the world to come is Did you set aside regular times for Torah study? (Shabbat 31a) Torah study is not a mere hobby; it is the primary activity of a Jews life.

Shavuot celebrates the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai over 3000 years ago, and our transmission of the teachings over 3000 years of Jewish history. Jewish holidays are not just commemorations of the past. Like the Passover Haggadah tells us to actually re-experience the Exodus, so too on Shavuot, we bring ourselves to re-experience the receiving of the Torah, and we re-dedicated ourselves to our commitment to Torah by studying Torah. This opportunity can extend the rest of the year as reflected in this teaching of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi: every day a voice comes out from Mount Horeb (Mt. Sinai, Avot 6:2).

So whether you stay up all night studying Torah, or find time to do some studying your own, this Shavuot, lets recommit ourselves to learning Torah and making it a consistent part of our daily life throughout the year.

Rabbi Jonathan Feldman is Community Educator for Am Yisrael Foundation, an organization that runs cultural, social and Torah programming for young olim and expats who have come to Tel Aviv from all over the world. He was formerly Associate/East Side Director of Manhattan Jewish Experience for 17 years, working with Jewish young professionals on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.

Rabbi Jonathan grew up on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. After attending Cornell University he started studying Torah at Yeshiva Aish Hatorah and eventually received his Rabbinic ordination from Yeshiva University and his Ph.D. in Jewish Studies from New York University. He has lectured widely and has taught at Stern College and Yeshiva University.

He, his wife and two of their children acted on their dream and made Aliyah this past summer and never looked back (although he does visit the States occasionally). They and enjoy working on their Hebrew, exploring the more remote parts of the land of Israel and learning to become sabras.

For more content visit the authors website at http://www.rabbijonathanfeldman.com

(www.Aish.com)

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Shavuot: The Holiday for the People of the Book - The Jewish Voice

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Posted By admin on May 27, 2020

The Torah reading for Shavuot includes the Ten Commandments, following the opinion of one of the Tannaim (early Sages). This is, no doubt, the result of the rabbinic belief that the Torah was given on Mt. Sinai on Shavuot (Shabbat 86b).Even so, its very surprising that we read the Ten Commandments in public only on Shavuot and as part of the weekly portions of Yitro (Exodus 20) and Vaethanan (Deuteronomy 5). After all, the Torah itself considered the Ten Commandments of seminal importance to the covenant between God and the People of Israel. They are also quoted or paraphrased by Psalms 50 and 81, by the Prophet Hosea (4:1-2), and by the Prophet Jeremiah (7:9).Furthermore, Philo of Alexandria (first century CE) considered the Ten Commandments the essence of the entire Torah, which elaborates in detail what the Ten Commandments say in condensed form. A similar idea is found in the Talmud Yerushalmi (Shekalim 6:1): Just as at sea there are huge waves, with a host of little waves between them, so are there Ten Commandments, with a host of refinements and particular commandments of the Torah between them.Five centuries later, Rav Saadia Gaon (882 to 942 CE) wrote Azharot (liturgical hymns for Shavuot) that include all 613 commandments under the headings of each of the Ten Commandments. They are recited until today on Shavuot by Jews from Oriental lands.A similar idea is found in Numbers Rabbah (13:15-16). That midrash states that there are 620 letters in the Ten Commandments; 613 letters refer to the 613 commandments and the other 7 refer to the seven days of Creation. This comes to teach you that the entire world was created for the sake of the Torah.Finally, many medieval and modern synagogues feature the Ten Commandments on top of the Holy Ark.In light of all the above, why not read the Ten Commandments every day, just as we read the three paragraphs of the Shema and The Song at the Sea (Exodus 15)? The answer is that in the Second Temple period, Jews did indeed read the Ten Commandments every morning. So it appears from the Nash Papyrus, written in Egypt ca. 150 BCE and published in 1903. It contains the Ten Commandments (Deuteronomy 5) followed by the beginning of the Shema (Deuteronomy 6), and scholars believe that it was a liturgical text.Furthermore, the Dead Sea Scrolls include at least three small scrolls that contain the Ten Commandments, the Shema (Deuteronomy 6 and 11) and other selected passages from Deuteronomy and Exodus. Dr. Esther Eshel maintains that they were collections of prayers recited at Qumran.A more explicit reference is found in Mishnah Tamid 5:1, which states that every morning the priests in the Temple used to recite the Ten Commandments, Shema (Deut. 6), Vhaya im shamoa (Deut. 11) Emet Vyatziv (the blessing after the Shema), the Avodah blessing (found today in the Amidah), and the Priestly Blessing.Similarly, in Sifrei Devarim (Piska 35) the Sages discussed the possibility of including the Ten Commandments in the tefillin. Indeed, seven tefillin fragments discovered at Qumran actually include the Ten Commandments. In addition, the Church Father Jerome, who lived in the Land of Israel (342-420 CE) relates that the Ten Commandments were still included in the tefillin in his day. YET IF the Sages considered the Ten Commandments so important, why did they eliminate them from the daily prayers? Rav Matana and Rabi Shmuel bar Nahman explained in Yerushalmi Berakhot, Chapter 1: It would be proper to read the Ten Commandments every day; and why dont we? Because of the zeal of the heretics, lest they say: these alone were given to Moses at Sinai. Similarly, the Babylonian Talmud explains (Berakhot 12a): They were already abolished because of the murmuring of the heretics.Which heretics did they have in mind? Theories include the early Christians or Philo or Gnostics or Samaritans or a group of Jews in the third century. In any case, the abolishment of the recitation stemmed from the fact that certain groups claimed that only the Ten Commandments were given to Moses at Sinai. Indeed, when Maimonides wanted to prevent the custom of standing when reading the Ten Commandments in public, he used a similar argument: and they think that the Torah contains different levels and some parts are better than others, and this is very bad (Responsa, ed. Blau, No. 263). In other words, standing for the reading of the Ten Commandments gives the impression that certain parts of the Torah are holier than others. Despite this opposition, there were attempts to maintain the original custom or to renew it. Some Babylonian Amoraim tried to renew the custom in Sura and Nehardea, but other Amoraim objected (Berakhot, ibid.). At the synagogue in Fustat, Egypt, which followed the customs of Eretz Yisrael, they continued to recite the Ten Commandments on Shabbat and holidays before The Song at the Sea until the 13th century.Rabbi Solomon ben Adret, the Rashba (Barcelona 1235-1310), was asked if one could recite the Ten Commandments in the shaharit (morning) service because there are people who want to institute this in public. He replied that, even though this practice is supported by Mishnah Tamid cited above, it was already abolished because of the murmuring of the heretics and is therefore forbidden (Responsa, Vol. 1, No. 184).One generation later, Rabbi Jacob ben Asher (Spain, died ca. 1340) reintroduced the Ten Commandments through the back door. He says in the very first paragraph of Tur Orah Hayyim, It is good to recite the Akedah (Genesis 21) and the story of the manna (Exodus 16) and the Ten Commandments before the shaharit service. This passage was quoted by Rabbi Yosef Karo (1488-1575) in his Shulhah Arukh (Orah Hayyim 1:5). Rabbi Moshe Isserles (Cracow, 1525-1572) quickly adds in his Ashkenazic glosses (ibid.) that only an individual may do so, but it is forbidden to recite them in public, as the Rashba ruled.Rabbi Shlomo Luria (Cracow 1510-1574), relates in his responsa (No. 64) that, in accordance with the Tur, he recites the Ten Commandments every morning before Barukh Sheamar.Indeed, some modern prayer books include the Ten Commandments. R. Yitzhak Baer printed them in his classic Avodat Yisrael in 1868 at the end of Shaharit, as did the ArtScroll Siddur in our day. In the Reform Gates of Prayer, the Ten Commandments appear in the Special Themes section in the back.It is difficult to choose sides in this debate. On the one hand, the Ten Commandments are very important to Judaism and it is good for Jews to recite them daily and to know them by heart. On the other hand, there is indeed a danger that people will think that there are different levels in the Torah; that they will ignore the entire halakhic system and observe only the Ten Commandments. Therefore, it is good that our ancestors required the reading of the Ten Commandments in public three only times a year, but encouraged their recitation in private all year long. In this fashion, we emphasize their importance without turning them into the only important mitzvot.The writer, a rabbi and professor, is president of The Schechter Institutes, Inc., Jerusalem.

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Whatever happened to the Ten Commandments? - The Jerusalem Post

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Posted By admin on May 27, 2020

To the Sons and Daughters of Our People of Israel, Everywhere.

It was with these words that the RebbeRabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson of righteous memorybegan his public letters, which were transcribed and published before major Jewish holidays each year. These letters, known as michtavim klaliim (general letters), would set the tone for the upcoming holiday. In them, the Rebbe discussed the spiritual meaning of the upcoming holiday, the obligations and opportunities of the season, and the every-day life lessons to be drawn both by the individual and the Jewish people as a whole.

Now, for the first time, these collected letters have been published by the Kehot Publication Society in a two-volume annotated compilation entitled To the Sons and Daughters of Our People Israel, EverywhereLetters by the Lubavitcher Rebbe on the Jewish Festivals. While these public letters were written over a span of four decades, their lessons remain timeless and wisdom immediately relevant for todays world.

Even in comparison with the Rebbes unparalleled body of teachings, the content and style of his public letters were unique. As spelled out in the addressee line of each letter, the messages were universal, meant to be applicable to any Jew, at any age or stage, wherever he or she might be. At the same time, the letters were uniquely personal, with anyone able to discover their own individual message. The layperson might be swept into the spirit of the holiday with the lucidly expressed ideas, while at the same time the Torah scholar could delight in the novella in Talmud and Chassidus expressed in a few concise words in the footnotes. The individual of action is motivated by the call for the practical deed.

The Rebbe himself expressed this point, once writing to a petitioner who had complained that his letters had not yet been responded to I wrote to you many times throughout the year by way of the letters which begin To the Sons and Daughters of Our People Israel, Everywhere, conveying that the general letters were not meant as circulars, but rather as personal letters to each Jew.

The Rebbes messages were timely and forward-looking, always underlining the innate power and strength of the Jewish soul and people to overcome whatever obstacles lay ahead. In his letter prior to the holiday of Shavuot, 1983, the Rebbe describeswith the help of 34 scholarly footnotesthe many preparatory steps taken by the Jewish people before they could accept the Torah at Mount Sinai. Each year on the holiday, the Jewish people once again accept that same Torah from Gd, and thus the weeks and days prior must be used to prepare for the lofty event. This may seem daunting, the Rebbe acknowledges, but it is entirely within the Jewish peoples abilities.

[S]ince our Torah, the Torah of Truth, states that the Holy One, blessed is He, only demands that which is in mans capability (and not beyond his capabilities), He has definitely given every individual all the capabilities to accomplish all this , he writes. Harnessing the deep, innate connectivity with Gd inherent within each Jew, all that is incumbent upon the individual is merely to bring it from the potential to the actual.

Although a collection of Hebrew translations was published in 1994, and the Yiddish originals can be found in the appendixes to the 39-volume Likkutei Sichos, the English translations were never previously published together, nor even fully catalogued. Over a period of more than eight years, the team at Kehot spent hundreds of hours tracking down the more than 200 letters, searching libraries, news archives and personal collections. They were ultimately successful at finding every letter. Additionally, a small minority currently thought to have never before appeared in English were translated by the Kehot editorial team.

The letters generally follow a rhythm. A short introduction is followed by a query about the holiday. This leads into the theme and focal point of the letter, introducing a new aspect of the holidaymaking the festival no longer a celebration of the past, but rather an experience for today to be lived and cherished.

The letters were originally penned in Yiddish, or in the rare exception, in Hebrew. Yet, in keeping with the salutation, the letters were then translated into English and other languages to reach the sons and daughters of our people Israel everywhere. The English translations were also precise, prepared under the Rebbes guidance, and he frequently changed words, phrases or nuances in the translation to have it fully align with the original Yiddish message.

The new publication is now available for purchase on Kehot.com and in Jewish bookstores.

Many of the letters in the collection are also being published on Chabad.org. The Rebbes Shavuot Message for 5720 (1960) exactly 60 years ago, can be read here. The Rebbes Shavuot Message for 5743 (1983) can be read here. Additional michtavim klaliim can be read here.

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Posted By admin on May 27, 2020

Last week, President Donald Trump called for churches, synagogues and mosques to reopen. In a press conference, the president said, In America we need more prayer, not less.

As a congregational rabbi, I can affirm that so many in my community are missing the ability to sing together, catch up in our hallways, hug people who have had losses and feel the support and power that only gathering provides.

We are all anxious to leave the wilderness and enter the holy land. So you might think we would jump at the opportunity to begin the process of reopening as soon as possible and, as Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently announced, follow the easing restrictions and allow 10 to pray in our sanctuary.

But what would it mean for us to send in those 10 in masks and gloves, socially distanced to scout out the land? What would be achieved in sending in the healthy, the able-bodied to do what the rest of us cannot?

One of the concerns God and Moses express at the end of the Torah is that once the people enter the land they will have forgotten all the yearning, the desire, the anticipation, the journey and focus instead on the conquering and the arrival.

In the wilderness they held hands, counted each precious soul and stuck together, and when they entered the land, as the prophets explain, they turned holy space into personal space. How do we make sure that when we enter the land, to the extent possible, we do it together, not based on survival of the fittest but inclusion of the precious?

My teacher, Micah Goodman, once described holy space as somewhere you cant go just because you want to. Its why Moses took his shoes off when he saw the burning bush: because he was standing on holy ground. A holy place doesnt belong to you. You cant stick a flag in it and conquer it.

What makes it holy is that it is about so many things other than you. And holy things are happening in the vastness of this wilderness.

Demands on our local food pantry have increased exponentially and to manage the traffic, we have offered clients parking on our synagogue premises. I never thought I would say this, but right now our parking lot is holier than our sanctuary.

We have taken a census of our community to make sure that everyone is accounted for and in particular to make sure that senior members who are isolated have the technological ability to join our virtual services. We hadnt seen one senior, Bob Miller, in weeks, and one day he finally logged on. Dissonant cheers erupted from boxes all over my computer screen. This past Saturday, Bob was able to see a young man and young woman chant prayers for their bnei mitzvah.

Together, Bob and these young adults act as human bridges from one generation to another carrying the holy tabernacle in the wilderness. Bringing it forward through moments of physical space from temple to synagogue to moments of virtual space from Talmud to Zoom.

This is our community right now, and it is holy because we walk together and account for each other.

It was a joyful day for these young adults, but what made it sacred was when they set aside their personal celebrations to join us all in wishing Bob a happy 90th birthday.

Holy space is the place where we allow someone else, something else to be. It can happen in parking lots, on computer screens and sometimes, as much as we want it, it just cant happen in sanctuaries.

Rabbi Aaron Brusso is the spiritual leader of Bet Torah in Mount Kisco, N.Y.

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Posted By admin on May 26, 2020

(May 22, 2020 / JNS) Police in Peoria, Ill., are investigating nine broken windows at a synagogue in the city.

Authorities believe the vandalism at Congregation Anshai Emeth, which houses the Hebrew Day School, occurred between Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon, when it was reported to law enforcement.

It is under investigation by a detective, and at this point, there is no suspect information, said Officer Amy Dotson, public-information officer for the Peoria Police Department. No entry was made, and nothing in the chapel appeared to be disturbed.

She said the windows were broken by either rocks or bricks, and among the rooms impacted were classrooms and a kitchen.

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Dotson added that we do have issues with kids and vandalism. I wouldnt say its prevalent to houses of worship, but it isnt completely uncommon. It is typically a juvenile delinquent situation.

Synagogue president Steven Marx told a local television station, WMBD, that the vandal or vandals used bricks or rocks to break a lot of windows and tried to break one door. It just seems to be simple vandalism, but the target, of course, makes you wonder. He confirmed this on Friday with JNS, noting that estimates for the damage have not yet been made.

As of press time, no motive had been associated with the incident. Officials have said as of now there is no indication of anti-Semitism.

Indeed, following a post on Facebook about the incident in which some expressed concern that this was a hate act, someone using the synagogues Facebook account responded, Maybe they didnt target us as Jews.

On Thursday evening, the Anti-Defamation League Midwest indicated its awareness of the incident and planned to speak with both law enforcement and members of the congregation.

On his personal Twitter account, David Goldenberg, ADLs Midwest regional director, said: The investigation is underway and motives for this vandalism are unknown at the moment, but we know it occurs at a time when anti-Semitic incidents are up 340 percent in Illinois since 2016.

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Posted By admin on May 26, 2020

LONDON:Al Jazeeras recent interview with terrorist-designated group Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, as well as its podcast glorifying killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, has stirred the ongoing debate surrounding the networks alleged promotion of terrorism.

The exposure given to the controversial figures has prompted experts into stating that the station and news site continue to provide extremists with a platform to present themselves on.

The fact that Qatars Al Jazeera Arabic continues to provide a platform to bigoted and violent extremists, including terrorists, obviously undermines the Qatari governments claim to be a steady force for tolerance and coexistence, Washington director for international affairs at the Anti-Defamation League, David Weinberg, told Arab News.

The stations interview with Haniyeh served as a stage to threaten Israel with the fact that Hamas was still capable of kidnapping more Israeli soldiers, while the podcast allowed the Soleimani character a free rein to explain his support of terrorist groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah and why he helped Syrian President Bashar Assad massacre his own people.

These were not the only controversies the network found itself embroiled in this month.

Last week, Al Jazeeras Arabic news site carried a headline reading, Martyr shot by Occupation forces in the West Bank for being accused of trying to run over soldiers, to report on a Palestinian man who was shot while attempting to ram into Israeli soldiers with his car.

Every time Al Jazeera calls somebody anybody a martyr, it violates the journalistic ethic of impartiality. What makes it much, much worse is that Al Jazeera consistently uses the term martyr to glorify terrorists, provided the civilians those violent extremists are trying to murder happen to be Israeli Jews, Weinberg said.

Encouraging slaughter of this sort does nobody any favors, not Palestinians or Israelis, neither Jews nor Arabs.

Al-Qaeda in Syria? Flattered by Al Jazeera. The Taliban? Flattered by Al Jazeera. Iranian proxies like Hamas and Islamic Jihad? Flattered by Al Jazeera. Al-Qaeda financier Muthanna Al-Dhari? Flattered by Al Jazeera. Media practices like these are unacceptable, immoral, and bad for people of all faiths and all nations, he added.

Al Jazeera has a turbulent past when it comes to extremist and anti-Semitic rhetoric. Last year, its youth channel AJ+ Arabic drew widespread condemnation over an alleged Holocaust denial video that claimed Jews exaggerated the scale of the genocide in order to establish Israel.

The chairman of UK nonprofit organization Muslims Against Anti-Semitism, Ghanem Nuseibeh, told Arab News: Al Jazeera has a direct editorial input from the Diwan in Doha (the sovereign body and administrative office of the Emir of Qatar), with the Arabic channel focused on promoting the extremist ideological discourse. This is their core constituency.

It is particularly troubling that Al Jazeera Arabic website still to this day continues to host articles and videos of interviews by proscribed groups in the UK such as Al-MuHajjiroun, and freely accessible in the UK, he added.

Earlier this month, a Shariah expert from the Qatari Ministry of Religious Endowments advocated the beating of women in an interview on the network, stating that they need to be subdued by muscles. And this was not the first time.

The station also broadcasts a religious program hosted by extremist cleric Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, the terrorist-designated Muslim Brotherhoods spiritual leader. Al-Qaradawi, an outspoken Hamas loyalist who was featured in Arab News Preachers of Hate series, issues fatwas riddled with comments advocating suicide bomb attacks and praises to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler for punishing the Jews, on Al Jazeeras media platforms.

Al Jazeeras motto is, the opinion and the other opinion, but when it comes to the Muslim Brotherhoods bigots and violent extremists, Al Jazeera Arabic still just presents one opinion, giving ikhwani (brotherhood) intolerance an unquestioning platform for broadcasting into millions of homes around the world, Weinberg said.

The media network has also been called a useful tool for Qatars ruling elite notorious for their sympathies with the Muslim Brotherhood and other terrorist and extremist groups. In 2017, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, and Bahrain severed diplomatic ties with Qatar in order to pressure it to halt its alleged terrorism financing and shut down the network.

US Embassy cables acquired by UK newspaper The Guardian in 2009 proved just how interconnected the Qatari government and Al Jazeera are.

Al Jazeera, the most watched satellite television station in the Middle East, is heavily subsidized by the Qatari government and has proved itself a useful tool for the stations political masters Despite (the government of Qatars) protestations to the contrary, Al Jazeera remains one of Qatars most valuable political and diplomatic tools, the cable read.

Favoring Daesh

Do you support the Daesh groups victories in Iraq and Syria?

More than 54,000 people voted on the official page of Opposite Direction. 81.6 percent voted Yes, while 18.4 percent voted No.

Sectarian discourse

Al-Qassim said: Why do you blame the regime? I want to ask you. Al-Nubl and Al-Zahraa are Shiite colonies in the heart of Sunni land. Kafarayah and Fuaa are still living among you. Why dont you expel them out as they did toyou and curse the ones who gave birth to them?

Party for a terrorist

Al Jazeera host: Brother Samir, we would like to celebrate your birthday with you. You deserve even more than this. I think that 11,000 prisoners if they can see this program now are celebrating your birthday with you. Happy birthday, brother Samir.

Al-Julani interview

Interviewer: What was the strategy of Al-QaedasSheikh Osama bin Laden?

Al-Julani: He wanted to fight the Americans on their own turf, and that way to drag them into Afghanistan because we were unable to send armies to (the United States). Sheikh Osama bin Ladens goal in fighting the Americans was not to put an end to the American presence

Boosting terrorism

We call upon the Islamic nation to rise up, and not makedo with a futile economic boycott, in the face of this affront to our honorable Prophet. We call upon them to drive out the Danish embassies and ambassadors from the lands of the Muslims, and to expel them from the Muslim countries. They should take serious and immediate action to burn down the offices of the newspapers that affronted our Prophet, and to bomb them, so that body parts go flying, and with these body parts, Allah Almighty will quench the believers thirst for revenge.

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