Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on May 8, 2020

Malls, markets and workout centers across the country are opening their doors Thursday for the first time since they were forced to shutter nearly two months ago due to the coronavirus crisis.Patrons will be required to wear masks, have their temperature taken upon entry and stay two meters away from each other.On Wednesday, shop and gym owners worked furiously to prepare their facilities for guests. Pictures were shared on TV and social networks of staff hanging signs, wiping down equipment and counters with disinfectant and sticking taping to the floors to mark where people can stand at checkout.The move comes as the number of active cases of the virus continues to decline. The Health Ministry reported that there were only 5,434 people infected with corona 142 less than the day before. Some 239 people have died and 69 are intubated. So far, 10,637 people have recovered almost twice as many as those who are currently infected.May 7 marks the second phase of the countrys exit strategy. The third phase is expected to roll out on Sunday with the opening of daycare centers, preschools and kindergartens. However, tens of thousands of parents across Israel remain unsure if their toddlers will have a classroom to go to on Sunday, despite the Health Ministry approving the governments plan to reopen state-supervised daycare centers next week as planned.The understandings between operators of the daycare centers and the finance and welfare ministries will enable the operation of centers in accordance with health guidelines, the Finance Ministry said in a statement.Opening the daycare centers is an important and necessary step in returning the economy and market to normal, Labor and Social Welfare Minister Ofir Akunis said. Opening the centers will enable about one million parents to return to work, and that is after ensuring the health of the children and staff.Approximately one-fifth of Israeli preschoolers attend state-supervised daycare centers. The others go to private centers, with which no agreement has yet been reached ahead of their planned reopening.Dr. Shulamit Bismanovsky, head of the Organization for Private Preschools, said no government official had met with the umbrella group so far.There are hundreds of thousands of children who have not yet received a response from the government ministries, she said. I appeal to the prime minister to intervene immediately, so that kindergartens can open as scheduled at the start of the week, and declare that the education from birth to three years old is a critical service in the State of Israel.Parents of preschoolers ages three to six are also in limbo after the Education Ministry determined to open schools Sunday but without after-school care and with preschool classes broken into groups, with each learning three consecutive days in a row at school and then three from home. Despite the ministrys best efforts, parents said with such a framework, they will not be able to return to work.Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon and Social Equality Minister Gila Gamliel on Wednesday said they hope to offer an alternative education program at local community centers to accommodate these children.Israelis will not be locked down on Lag Baomer, but it will be celebrated in a more limited capacity than in previous years. On Wednesday, the government approved that on Mount Meron, three bonfires will be ignited, one for Ashkenazi Jews, one for Sephardi Jews and one for the religious-Zionist community. Some 50 people will be allowed to attend each bonfire ceremony by invitation and approval only. Participants will be identified, and anyone who is not supposed to be there will be removed, even by force.Moreover, between May 14 and 17, directly following the holiday, entering and loitering in the area of the tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai on Mount Meron will be forbidden, as will renting guest rooms in the area. Public transportation will stop during this period, too.The government also voted to prohibit the lighting of all bonfires, even in private yards, from May 7-13.Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.

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Malls, markets and gyms reopening today - The Jerusalem Post

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Posted By admin on May 8, 2020

The Subcommittee on Intelligence, Secret Services and Captive and Missing Persons, chaired by Lt.-Gen. (res.) MK Gabi Ashkenazi (Blue and White), has approved a three-week extension of the emergency regulations permitting the Shin Bet (General Security Service) to assist in the national campaign to curb the spread of the coronavirus by tracking the cell phone activity of confirmed coronavirus cases in order to locate anyone who had been in their immediate vicinity and instruct them to go into quarantine.

The extension was granted in order to allow the government to keep the program in place while legislation to enshrine it in law is drafted.

The government had asked the subcommittee for a six-week extension of the measure, but after a detailed discussion on the issue, the subcommittee endorsed Chairman MK Ashkenazis proposal to extend it by only three weeks.

During the meeting, National Security Council head Meir Ben- Shabbat, who is coordinating the governments response to the pandemic, said that despite the decline in the number of infections, continuing the tracking was essential. Precisely at this time because the infection potential is increasing, we need a tool that will enable rapid surgical action that will cut the infection chain and allow the population to continue with its life, he said, adding that at this stage there are no available alternatives.

We are continuing to search for alternatives, and activating the Shin Bet for this purpose is not our first choice, he said. If we can find a tool to answer this need, we will certainly adopt it.

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Shin Bet Receives Three Week Extension to Tap Personal Cell Phones - JerusalemOnline

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Posted By admin on May 8, 2020

On a Friday evening in February, former Sen. Joe Lieberman stepped out of his hotel in Germany en route to the second annual presentation of the John McCain Dissertation Award, on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.

The destination was a restaurant more than a mile away, and Lieberman, who is Shabbat-observant, was planning to set off on foot for the long walk when he ran into his former colleague, Chris Coons, the junior senator from Delaware who was also attending the dinner. To Liebermans surprise, Coons decided to accompany him. It was a great opportunity for conversation, Lieberman fondly recalled to Jewish Insider.

He is a thoughtful internationalist and an extraordinary person, Lieberman said, citing Coonss longtime interest, among other topics, in issues associated with Africa, which is unusual for members of the Senate. Lieberman noted the similarities in their worldviews. He understands the special relationship between the U.S. and Israel, but he also understands the importance of our alliances in the world, Lieberman explained, before opining that Chris would make a wonderful secretary of state.

Lieberman isnt alone in thinking that the senator would be a strong contender to lead the State Department if Coonss Delaware predecessor is successful in November. Jewish Insider discussed the possibility of Joe Biden selecting Coons for Foggy Bottoms top job with a dozen foreign policy experts, Delaware insiders and Jewish community leaders.

Aaron David Miller, who spent more than two decades working at the State Department under six different administrations, suggested that Biden would need a larger-than-life figure to help his administration restore global confidence in American leadership after four years under a Trump administration. Biden needs a secretary of state who truly can stride the world stage, someone with charisma, he said, someone with political experience, a figure that has tremendous gravitas.

Coons seems to fit the mold, observers say, given the 56-year-old Democrats longstanding ties with the former vice president as well as his extensive foreign policy experience and relationships around the world.

Senator Coons would make an excellent secretary of state, former Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, who knows both Biden and Coons well, told JI. He has terrific global experience both before and after entering the Senate, and he is widely respected in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and around the world.

Stuart Eizenstat, former U.S. ambassador to the European Union and an informal advisor to Biden, echoed that assessment, telling JI that Coons would be a very strong candidate for the role.

Coons, a former New Castle county executive, was elected to Bidens old Senate seat in 2010, and quickly asserted himself as an estimable figure in the foreign policy realm, and was named chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs during his freshman year.

His experience also extends to China, where he was recently part of a delegation to address fentanyl trafficking.

Coons has been building that portfolio for a number of years, said David Redlawsk, a professor of political science at the University of Delaware who recently moderated a talk on the relationship between China and the United States that included Coons as a panelist.

Mark Mellman, president and CEO of Democratic Majority for Israel, noted that Coons would certainly be one of the really outstanding choices that Biden could make. Hes deeply experienced in foreign policy from his service on the Foreign Relations Committee, hes strongly committed to the U.S-Israel relationship, and hes an extraordinary, bright and capable senator who has demonstrated an ability to bring people together around policy initiatives, Mellman said. And those are all important qualities for a secretary of state.

Coons whom Politico once described as the GOPs favorite Democrat has developed a reputation for bipartisanship. In 2018, the Delaware senator cast the present vote that allowed Mike Pompeos confirmation as secretary of state to advance in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee a move that brought former Republican Sen. Bob Corker to tears.

During my time in the Senate, I worked very closely with Chris Coons on foreign policy issues, Corker recalled in comments to JI. We traveled internationally together on several occasions to take a closer look at how U.S. policies work in practice and built a strong working relationship. He has a deep understanding of global issues and a true heart for the developing world. I enjoyed working with him and know he will continue to be a strong advocate for U.S. global leadership no matter what the future holds for him.

The senators history of reaching across the aisle could serve him well if he gets the secretary of state nod, said Nancy Karibjanian, director of the University of Delawares Center for Political Communication. There wouldnt be a real learning curve, she said. He already would be capable of doing the job.

And his knack for bipartisanship extends to lawmaking. In January, Coons and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) introduced legislation that would authorize $3.3 billion in annual security assistance to Israel. The events of the past few days remind us of the importance of U.S. assistance to Israels security, Coons tweeted at the time.

More recently, in mid-April, Coons worked with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) to push for a $12 million appropriation that would encourage cooperation between Israel and the United States in the effort to deter the novel coronavirus.

Coons understands the special relationship between the U.S. and Israel, Lieberman told JI. Hes voted that way its not just words.

If he joins a Biden administration, Coons would potentially have to address Israels unilateral annexation of parts of the West Bank. On a recent webcast hosted by the Jewish Democratic Council of America, Coons expressed hope that Blue and White leader Benny Gantz and Gabi Ashkenazi who is expected to serve as Israels foreign minister for the first half of the unity governments term would use their political leverage to block unilateral action. But the Delaware senator declined to elaborate in the webcast on how a Biden administration would address annexation.

Halie Soifer, executive director of the JDCA, who served as Coonss senior foreign policy advisor from 2010 to 2014, described her former boss as a principled and values-driven leader when it comes to U.S. foreign policy, including on the U.S.-Israel relationship.

The vice president has learned to count on Chris, said Miami-based developer Michael Adler, who is considered to be Bidens closest friend in the Jewish community. Chris doesnt just bring politics. He brings a deep concern and knowledge of the issues so that decisions can be made based on facts and not based on political motivations. Hes been able to develop relationships with Republicans and has worked closely across the aisle, especially on Iran and other foreign policy issues. That also is something that the vice president did when he was senator.

Coons, who currently serves as vice chair of the Senate Ethics Committee, was among the first to endorse Biden for president back in April 2019. That is a reflection of how close they are, Soifer averred.

American Jewish Congress President Jack Rosen, a longtime Biden supporter, hosted Coons for breakfast at his home in New York earlier this year. Though the two didnt discuss the matter, Rosen told JI that Coonss closeness to the presumptive Democratic nominee and his pro-Israel record would make him an excellent choice for America and for the pro-Israel community.

It remains to be seen, of course, if Coons is interested in the role should Biden make it to the White House. This is a very hypothetical discussion, Lieberman acknowledged. First Joe Biden has to get elected, then he has to decide he wants Chris Coons for his secretary of state and then Chris Coons has to decide he wants to do it as opposed to staying in the Senate but, in my opinion, Chris would make a wonderful secretary of state in every way, not just for Israel.

A spokesperson for Coons did not reply to a request for comment.

Stuart Grant, an attorney and Democratic donor in Delaware who has known Coons for 25 years, told JI that the senator may very well be interested in staying on as a member of Congress.

But even if he remains the junior senator from Delaware, there is no doubt, Grant concluded, that Coons would be an asset to a Biden presidency. He would be very integral, if there is a Biden administration, Grant said, in advancing our foreign policy.

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Chris Coons has the inside track to be Biden's secretary of state - Jewish Insider

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Posted By admin on May 8, 2020

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A volunteer group is investigating after paintballs were fired at an Orthodox Jewish man while on his Willowbrook porch on April 26.

The man, 20, was at a residence on Martin Avenue and was not the intended target, an NYPD spokeswoman said.

The incident occurred at around 5:10 p.m. when an unknown suspect drove down Martin Avenue and shot a paintball at an unoccupied parked vehicle, the spokeswoman said.

The person who shot the paintball and the 20-year-old man did not have any sort of conversation, according to the spokeswoman.

Staten Island Shmira, an unarmed emergency service formed a few years ago to assist with security, emergency aid and search and rescue throughout the borough, said on Twitter that the man was studying the Talmud when the incident happened.

Levi Leifer, the director of Shmira Safety Patrol, said that at least five paintballs were fired toward the man.

For a second he wasnt sure they were shooting at him. He jumped out. Thank God everything missed him to learn a minute later it was all paintball shots, Leifer said.

Leifer said that the paintball shots hit the 20-year-olds two cars and his house.

No injuries were reported, but a report for reckless endangerment is on file in connection to the incident, the spokeswoman said.

The investigation remains ongoing, police said.

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Group investigating after paintballs fired at Jewish man in Willowbrook - SILive.com

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Posted By admin on May 8, 2020

Shabbat: A gift

I have an exquisite gift in My treasurehouse; it is called Shabbat, and I wish to bestow it upon the Jewish people, Gd toldMoses. Indeed, Shabbat is a gift; a uniquely holy and special day. Ourobservance of Shabbat testifies to Gds creation of the universe and Hisabsolute sovereignty over it. By observingShabbat in accordance with halachah,we display our total commitment to Gd and His Torah.

In no fewer than 12 places, the Torahreiterates the prohibition against doing melachah,work, on Shabbat, but it is not clear from the Scripture exactly whichtype of work is included. People often assume the prohibition refers to going to work on Shabbat; others thinkthe Torah only forbids the use of electricity and modern technology. Inreality, although the Torahs prohibition does encompass many activities, itrefers to a very specific set of laws. From the way the Torah juxtaposes theendeavor to build the Mishkan (Tabernacle) with the commandment to observeShabbat, our sages deduced that the 39 types of work used in the constructionand maintenance of the Mishkan comprise the 39 melachot.

Each melachahactually refers to a category of work, with numerous derivatives that sharesimilar characteristics. Since these activities are an extension of the centralmelachah, they are called toladot (children), and the main melachah is called the av (father). The avot and toladot areequally forbidden on Shabbat. Throughoutthis section we will use these terms to describe the nature of each forbiddenactivity.

Lets use zoraya(sowing) as an example. The goal of sowing is to promote plant growth. Assuch, while actual sowing is the av,any other activities which promote plant growth, such as watering plants orpruning trees, would be included in the melachahand referred to as toladot.

The first eleven melachot encompass all the steps that go into producing bread, fromplowing the soil to baking the dough. The Talmud refers to them as the sidura dpat - the process of makingbread.

Here, we will define each melachah and trace its source in the Mishkan. We will also giveexamples of possible toladot of each melachah and point to common scenariosthat should be avoided. This is in no way a comprehensive guide to Shabbatobservance. The laws are numerous and complex, and its important to consult aRabbinic authority for practical application when confronted with a potentialissue.

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Introduction to the 39 Melachot - Shabbat - Chabad.org

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Posted By admin on May 8, 2020

By Rabbi Avi Shafran

Among the most disturbing spectacles over the months since the coronavirus was unleashed on the world have been the attacks on haredi Jews in both Israel and the United States.

Some criticisms, like Mayor Bill de Blasios stern tweets following a funeral in Williamsburg, are not born of antipathy to the Orthodox community. His choice of words in rebuking the Jewish community was regrettable but his relationship with the community during his tenure has been very good.

Other critics, attacking the entire Orthodox world without justification, are less defensible. Those violating social distancing in the haredi world are outliers, no more representative of haredim writ large than those who crowded along the Hudson River to watch the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds a week ago on Sunday are of New Yorkers in general. Most of us have been staying home for months, doing our best to keep ourselves and others safe.

The initial haredi reluctance to close schools was a function not of defiance but of valuing what the Talmud calls the breath of the mouths of children in their places of learning on which the world depends. To an Orthodox Jew, childrens Torah study is spiritually vital, and only to be compromised when it is absolutely necessary.

But once the gravity of the situation was clear, the haredi reluctance to close schools quickly gave way to full compliance with medical advice. Once the virus virality was clearly established, haredi leaders not only shut down shuls and schools but pleaded with their flocks to heed every governmental health warning.

Unfortunately, none of that has stopped those given to disparaging traditionally religious Jews from doing so once again. One particularly distasteful attack on haredi leaders, and on Jewish religious tradition itself, appeared in the Jewish Journal.

On April 20, Rabbi Irving Yitz Greenberg, after duly expressing his great sympathy for haredi victims of the coronavirus, offered his explanation for why some haredi communities seem to have suffered disproportionately from the plague.

No, it wasnt because of the density of many haredi neighborhoods. Nor were the regular interactions born of religious events, celebrations and daily prayer services salient factors. And no, poverty and the challenge of confining large families in small apartments were not the main things to blame.

The true villains, in Rabbi Greenbergs judgment, are haredim and their leaders, a longtime bugaboo of his.

With superb hindsight, he reprises how some Hasidic leaders in 1930s Europe hadnt foreseen the Holocaust, and counseled their followers not to panic and flee the continent. Jewish religious leaders, Rabbi Greenberg contends, are viewed by haredim as infallible.

This is nonsense.

The reason Jewish religious leaders are respected is their sensitivity and Torah scholarship, and that is very different from blind obedience. A great doctor is fallible, too, but her opinion is still invaluable.

Blaming Jewish religious leaders, of course, has always been a popular pastime. What good are rabbis? the Talmud (Sanhedrin 99b) notes, was even in antiquity a common refrain of renegade Jews.

Even before Purim, when there were no regulations limiting human interactions or closing schools or businesses, the national haredi organization Agudath Israel, which Im privileged to work for, alerted the community to the potential danger of COVID-19. It was acting as always on the directives of the major rabbinic leaders comprising the Council of Torah Sages.

On March 13, Agudath Israel communicated health authorities new recommendation issued the previous day about social distancing and large gatherings.

Two days later it shared the strong recommendation from infectious disease specialists to severely limit all social or communal gatherings, including closing shuls and schools. And as soon as government regulations were in place, they were endorsed and publicized at the instruction of haredi leaders.

In Israel, when the governments Health Ministry banned even outdoor minyanim, one of the most respected religious leaders in that country, Rabbi Gershon Edelstein, dean of the famous Ponevezh Yeshiva, declared that under the circumstances, public prayer is a danger, impossible a sin.

Haredi couples and families celebrated Pesach in seclusion without other relatives present for many for the first time in decades.

Rabbi Greenberg ignores all that in his quest to vilify haredi leaders. Haredim, he mocks, firmly believe that as long as humans please G-d [He] will defeat their enemies.

Haredim like all believing Jews know that we are not perfect and cannot rely on our mitzvot and avoidance of sin alone to ensure our safety, that we must make efforts on our own behalf, too. Despite Rabbi Greenbergs insinuation, we do just that. At the same time, though, we recognize the merit of our spiritual actions, which Rabbi Greenberg, astoundingly for any rabbi, seems to discount.

He claims, without any evidence, that some Haredim allowed themselves to be exposed to the coronavirus because G-d would protect them.

Rabbi Greenberg might do well to consider some actual facts. Like the overwhelming haredi response to calls for plasma donations from survivors of the infection. Facilities in New York, Baltimore and Lakewood were flooded with thousands of haredi blood donors.

Blaming easily identifiable and, to some, strange haredim for various societal ills is easy. But doing so is not only contrary to everything our society was founded upon but wont help us get through this crisis any faster.

At a time like this, we should be unified in doing all we can to protect ourselves and others, not point fingers, especially at imaginary culprits.

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We've got problems. DeBlasio isn't one of them. - The Jewish Star

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Posted By admin on May 8, 2020

RAANANA, Israel (JTA) Like all other mass gatherings now, Israels Karmiel choreographed dance festival, one of the largest of its kind in the world, was postponed.

The annual fest, which takes place at the end of June, draws thousands who take part in one of the countrys oldest passions: Israeli folk dance.

Those in the know say some 200,000 Israelis across the nation attend regular Israeli folk dance, including public and private sessions called harkadot, on beachfronts, sports facilities and more.

To cheer up those disappointed about the Karmiel fest, one of the leading authorities on Israeli folk dancing, Gadi Bitton, helped set up a 24-hour online folk dance marathon on Zoom from April 13 to 14.A team of 26 instructors shared the lead, depending on their time zones, serving as DJ for up to 1,000 dancers simultaneously in a mosaic of user screens.

Its an honor to arrange moments like this, said Israeli choreographer and instructor Elad Shtamer, who has been broadcasting dance live on Facebook four times a week. The feeling is amazing when you bring people together and make them feel theyre part of a community, which is the main goal of Israeli dance.

The 54-year-old Bitton in a typical year leads three huge festivals and gathers some 2,000 harkaholics three times a week for sessions in Tel Aviv and Kfar Saba. Hundreds of other instructors hold their own daily harkadot countrywide. The sessions are popular as well in the United States and other countries.

In the face of COVID-19, Bitton and others are moving their sessions online for the time being.

We have a big global community, Shtamer said. Its super important for them to continue to feel theyre connected. They cant lose the bond because we want them back when its OK to go back.

Bitton leads three large Israeli folk dance festivals in a typical year.

Jews and dancing go way back when Moses opened the Red Sea waters and the Israelites miraculously crossed it to the other side, they sang and danced in circles to celebrate their freedom. The Bible and Talmud refer to dance events several times. And in 1948, Israelis danced in the streets to celebrate their countrys independence.

Community dances first arose among the halutzim, or pioneers, of the First Aliyah in 1882, and others later brought them from the Diaspora. Major folk influences include thehora, which originally is a Romanian dance form, thetemanifrom Yemenite Jews, theHasidicfrom Eastern European Jews and thedebkafrom Arabic folk, as well as Kurdish, Druze, Bedouin, Latin and more.

We are proud to have something unique, with so many influences, said Bitton, who is the son of a haredi Orthodox rabbi but left the religious fold. Its very catchy all over the world, everyone can fall in love with our folklore in a minute.

When the coronavirus outbreak started, Bitton quickly put together an online studio called Ulpan Bitnua for theYeahbitproject, which mixes Israeli folk dance, gym and Zumba. Five times a week, his team of quarantined instructors hold morning sessions from their own porches or living rooms. In the evening, online viewers are offered diversified content about Israeli folk dance, including a talk show and lots of dances, of course.

I feel the responsibility to keep people connected, they need to feel the sense of community. We must stick together until this crazy situation is over, said Bitton, who serves as head of Tel Aviv Universitys dance school of teachers and leads the folk dance section of Israels national artistic committee.

There are challenges to the online format, said Levi Bar-Gil, 56, an Israeli folk dance instructor.

Touching one another is a basic Israeli folk dance thing. Holding hands is the root of what dancing together is about. Smiling, talking, hugging, kissing, talking, everything is connected, he said.

Every Sunday and Wednesday, Bar-Gil now holds a 45-minute Israeli dance session for kids on the Arutz Habidud, or isolation channel, a newly released online TV broadcast made live by the Hod Hasharon municipality.

But instructors around the world are adapting.

Brazilian-born Andre Schor, 33, is a rising star in the Israeli dance world. His hit dance routine to Achi Karov Alaich has been taught in several countries. Every Saturday online, he has been broadcasting Israeli songs to Brazilian dancers, where he comments live in Portuguese.

A look at the work behind Bittons Ulpan Bitnua online dance studio.

Allon Idelman was raised in Brazil and immigrated to Israel in 2019. He runs a performance group called Olim Rokidim, which gathers 15 dancers who are all immigrants from Brazil, Turkey, France, Mexico, France and Uruguay.

Its tough to rehearse over the internet, so we have been keeping the social element alive in our WhatsApp group, said Idelman, a 42-year-old physiotherapist from Raanana. We share Israeli dance-related material and celebrate personal dates and achievements.

When Sarita Blum moved from Rio to Berkeley, California, 11 years ago, finding an Israeli dance environment was among her top priorities. Today she is part of a group called Cafe Simcha, where she learns and teaches.

During quarantine, when you feel the absence of people, Ive never felt so connected to them, she said. We video call each other all the time. I have been watching and sharing videos of dances that remind me of special moments of my life or special people.

Blum travels to Israel every year and attends sessions with Bitton, Bar-Gil and several other instructors. Shes used to dancing in online videos because she often sends them to her 8-year-old Israeli granddaughter.

Israeli dance is everything to me. It gives you a sense of freedom and unity, she said. When you hold hands, you feel safe, you feel free. I hope well be all free to dance face to face together once again.

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Posted By admin on May 8, 2020

Brandeis will award honorary degrees to Ruth Calderon, Alan Hassenfeld, Marta Kauffman '78 and Howardena Pindell

Clockwise, from left: Jewish cultural scholar Ruth Calderon, television producer Marta Kauffman '78, artist Howardena Pindell, philanthropist Alan Hassenfeld

May 7, 2020

Brandeis will award honorary degrees to Ruth Calderon, a scholar of Jewish religious texts and a former member of the Israeli Knesset; philanthropist Alan Hassenfeld, retired CEO of Hasbro and co-chair of the Brandeis International Business School board of advisors; television producer Marta Kauffman 78, creator of the iconic series Friends and more recently Grace and Frankie; and Howardena Pindell, American painter and mixed-media artist whose body of work since the 1960s confronts racism and other forms of inequality.

All our honorary degree recipients have distinguished themselves through perseverance, resilience, and the ability to adapt with changing times. These are all characteristics shared by our impressive class of 2020, which has performed outstanding work this spring under extraordinary conditions, said Brandeis President Ron Liebowitz. Just as we plan to have an on-campus celebration of our 2020 graduates next year, we hope our honorary degree recipients will join us at Brandeis to be celebrated at a later date.

Changes to the academic calendar as a result of the conversion to online learning for all Brandeis students resulted in the university moving the official date of degree conferrals for undergraduate and graduate students to May 24 from May 17. The university and its individual departments are planning virtual celebrations for students on and after that date, and an on-campus celebration for all students receiving degrees this spring will be held next spring.

Ruth Calderon will receive a Doctor of Humane Letters honorary degree. She believes her personal mission is to create a Jewish renewal by encouraging and teaching Jews in Israel and in the Diaspora to turn to Jewish texts like the Talmud and Torah and interpret them with their own understanding. She has founded several pluralistic organizations dedicated to Jewish learning and culture, and spent two years in the Knesset, including serving as deputy speaker.

Alan Hassenfled will receive a Doctor of Humane Letters honorary degree. He spent 35 years at Hasbro, the toy company founded by his immigrant great grandfather in 1923, building it into a multi-billion-dollar global company. Since retiring as CEO in 2003 he has led his familys philanthropic foundation to make significant contributions to the health and well-being of children. He made a major gift to establish the Hassenfeld Family Innovation Center at Brandeis and serves as co-chair of the board of advisors of Brandeis International Business School.

Marta Kauffman 78 will receive a Doctor of Creative Arts honorary degree. Kauffman majored in theater at Brandeis and went on, with David Crane 79, to create and produce Friends, one of the most iconic comedy series in television history. The series garnered 62 Emmy nominations over its decade-long run. More recently, she created and produced Grace and Frankie, which has generated 11 Emmy nominations since premiering in 2015. Earlier this year, she received the Norman Lear Achievement Award in Television from the Producers Guild of America.

Howardena Pindell will receive a Doctor of Fine Arts honorary degree. Each of her pieces carries traces of her personal history, while also making bold statements on issues such as racism, sexism, AIDS, homelessness, and war. After earning her MFA from Yale University she became the first female African American curator at the Museum of Modern Art. Her five-decade-long career was the subject of What Remains to be Seen, a major exhibition at the Rose Art Museum earlier this year.

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Four extraordinary individuals to receive honorary degrees from Brandeis - Brandeis University

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Posted By admin on May 8, 2020

This letter was originally sent to members of Young Israel of Woodmere on May 7. It has been reprinted here with permission.

WOODMERE, N.Y. (JTA)

Dear Members:

Please excuse the length of this letter, but I feel that I have many important things that must be said to you now.

As an Orthodox Jew and an ordained rabbi, I am fully aware that the Torah and CHAZAL/Rishonim/Achronim/Halacha mandate that we pray every day. Ideally, praying with a quorum of ten men, at a minyan in a synagogue is the better way to do the service of the heart. From my perspective the Halacha is unequivocal and we are duty-bound to accept it in both theory and practice.

The inability to pray with a minyan has been a painful consequence of this pandemic for many Orthodox Jews. And the desire to have a minyan three times daily, in any venue, is a genuine yearning of the soul for Orthodox Jews.

In the best of all possible worlds, in the worst of all possible circumstances, a deceased Jew deserves a eulogy in front of his family, friends and fellow community members. The deceased deserves a quorum at the cemetery to do the burial and to enable sons, daughters (if they choose), or in the absence of children, someone else, to say Kaddish at the grave.

The mourners merit a week of Shiva with a minyan in their home and the opportunity to say Kaddish. The mourners and those outside the immediate family deserve the opportunity to share in the grief and to offer consolation by means of a personal visit. And the mourners deserve an available minyan to say Kaddish daily after the Shiva.

The pandemic has denied everyone these opportunities. The deceased has suffered the worst fate. The families of the deceased have suffered terribly over the loss itself and by being deprived of a normal Shiva week. Consolation visits have been by telephone or by Zoom. Kaddish has not been said except by designating some stranger far away to serve as a second-string substitute. Feelings of guilt are present in large doses.

I believe that Halacha applauds both mourners, communities and Shuls for their conduct over the last few months. Those who have endured and made disciplined but painful choices are courageous heroes!

We must understand the complex reality of human beings in an imperfect but real world. Rav Yochanan ben Zakkai instructed his five great students to GO OUT and SEE a good path to follow and a bad path to avoid. Why should five of the greatest Rabbis of the Mishnah have to Go OUT and see? Why not tell them to Go IN and see? Doesnt the Bais Midrash contain all of the answers inside its sacred walls? The answer is that perhaps the Bais Midrash alone is insufficient if the Torah is to be a living Torah! Perhaps the lessons of the Bais Midrash must be applied in a practical way to the realities of an imperfect world.

A choice had to be made between observing our religious normal and adjusting in a safe way to our coronavirus infected world. What is a valid halachic determination as to how to conduct ourselves? On the one hand, we could choose to change nothing and continue to function as we always have. The downside of that choice is to put ourselves in a clear and present danger of getting sick and dying.

Jewish law is clear that danger to life takes precedence over everything else except for three unusual circumstances. The sanctity of life supersedes all religious obligations. Indeed, protecting the sanctity of life is the overriding choice of Halacha. Hence the social distancing and all sanitary guidelines that we have been following is the expectation of Jewish law. That means no communal prayer services. That means no normal funeral services. That means no Kaddish. That means no Shiva visits. This determination is absolute and irrefutable.

But in the days of social media, rabbinic authority goes as far as the choice to agree with the Rabbis or not. If one feels the Rabbis are wrong, then one chooses to do as he wishes. Hence, wherever the government has not forbidden it, one goes ahead and creates a religious service that does not comply with community standards. You implore mourners to come and say Kaddish. You find a Rabbi who agrees with you and who is willing to break the communal unity and norm. That is what has happened both in our community and in other places all over the world.

In my view, the services that have been conducted to date in defiance of the community are worthless. They are a violation of Jewish law. The Kaddish is of no value. It does not honor the soul of the deceased.

Some rabbis and attendees at these services are well meaning but misguided. Others use the cover of piety. From their perspective, they see themselves as wiser than the community. The Talmud has a term for that. It is called yuhara, hubris. They say that they are praying for the community and saving everyone from a terrible disaster. They have done a very poor job. Just look at the numbers of sick and deceased people.

One of the reasons we say Kaddish is to restore the image of God that has been diminished by the loss of a human being who was created in His image. A British Rabbi said that by not saying Kaddish for his father at a religious service, he felt that he was honoring his father and was restoring the image of God by virtue of his compliance with communal rules. All of those people who have conformed to the rules of not attending services indoors or outdoors have honored the memory of their parents. Going to an illegal service and saying Kaddish would disgrace that memory.

Now we come to a new situation. There is no question that things have gotten slightly better. There is no question that there are ways that safe services can take place. But once we loosen our current standards, chaos will ensue. It is human nature to seek a social environment. Many unsupervised social gatherings (Kiddushes, invitations to meals in someone elses home) will transpire. Safe standards will be dropped. The possibility is that nothing will happen. So why not take a chance?

The alternative possibility is that one person will get sick and one person will die. Who will it be? Is relaxing our standards of caution worth the risk of the loss of even one life? To my mind, that is called, safek pikuach nefesh, a possible risk of human life. Jewish law is very clear that for a circumstance like this, it is forbidden to take a chance.

There is always the possibility that the worst has passed and with the arrival of warm weather, the virus will disappear forever. But there is also the possibility that there will be a resurgence. And there is the possibility that the resurgence will be so bad that it will not only afflict people who were not sick this time around, but also those who were sick and felt a sense of immunity. Do we take a chance? Governments are under tremendous pressure to relax standards. And they are doing that! But the jury is still out.

We have no control over what the government does. But we do have control over what we do. My view is: in the meantime, we should maintain the restrictions. I know it is painful. But I also believe that the more pain we suffer now, the better off we will be in the future, for a long period of time. Life might even return to normal without having to suffer the consequences of a resurgence of the disease.

Let us be disciplined. Most of us are well. Lets stay well. Lets hope and pray those who are not well recover quickly and completely. Pray at home. No Kaddish yet. Make Shiva calls by phone or zoom. See the light at end of the tunnel. Be hopeful. We shall overcome.

I wish to clarify that I wrote the letter today because there have been many minyanim in the Five Towns in violation of our community standards which are based on both medical advice and our halachic authorities and the halachic authority of others.

I refer only to the past. It has always been possible to create a religious service that was safe. But we did not do it because our doctors and religious authorities thought that it could lead to unsupervised violations of medical advice. That could lead to a spread of disease. This was the universal position of almost the entire Orthodox Jewish community.

The violations that I referred to are ones that have occurred to date.

Some mourners have felt particularly bad about obeying our standards and having to give up saying Kaddish for their loved ones. Avoiding one of those minyanim took a lot of courage.

Going forward, our doctors and religious authorities are of the opinion that at present, things must remain the same for us.

But you will also see that in some communities standards are going to be gradually relaxed sooner than we will do it. As long as they function with their religious authorities and good medical advice, I have nothing bad to say about them. From their perspective they are behaving responsibly. Everyone has the right to follow responsible halachic advice that coincides with responsible medicine.

From my perspective, I wish that the OU/RCA standards and the forthcoming Agudah standards will be the same. But if they differ, we will continue to rely on our doctors and poskim who are one and the same with the OU/RCA doctors and poskim.

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Posted By admin on May 8, 2020

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The Torah states that any kohen or animal with a mum (blemish) becomes unfit for ritual sacrifice.

Rabbi Sholomo Pappenheim (1740-1814) writes that mum and meumah derive from the two-letter root mem-mem, which denotes the smallest amount. Accordingly, he explains that mum refers to something that is either missing or extra such that it makes the object less than perfect. Thus, a body with a mum either lacks something or has an extra something it is not supposed to have.

Along these lines, Rabbi Dr. Ernest Klein (1899-1983) writes that mum without the letter aleph is probably derived from mum with an aleph (see Job 31:7 and Daniel 1:4) or meumah, which means something or a point. He explains that this word originally referred to a dot or speck on an otherwise pristine background and was later expanded to mean any type of blemish or defective imperfection.

Similarly, Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch (1808-1888) writes that meumah represents the smallest possible smidgen of existence; it is something that is only a bit bigger than nothing. He writes that its root is aleph-mem, which means mother (the source of all life/existence) and if (the precondition necessary for anything to exist).

Another word used for blemish is pgam. Rabbi Eliyahu HaBachur (1469-1549) writes that this word literally means groove or crevice. He points to the Talmud (Rosh Hashanah 23b), which refers to the pgam of the moon as the dark parts of the moon that are only visible at certain times of its monthly cycle. He also notes that pgam is the Talmudic term for a nick in a knife that renders it unfit for slaughtering (Chullin 10a, 17a).

In light of this, Rabbi Dr. Ernest Kleins contention that pgam is probably a cognate of the Arabic word fajama (to break off a bit) makes much sense. (These two words, by the way, are unrelated to the English word pajama, which is derived from the Persian words pay [leg] and jameh [garment].)

A slew of sources indicate that pgam literally refers to something lacking or deficient, and that blemish is only a borrowed meaning:

Why doesnt he take out a second Torah Scroll? Because people would then suspect that the first Torah Scroll had a pgam. Rashi explains that pgam means lack; people would think the first Torah Scroll was rejected because it lacked all the requirements that would render it fit for use.

Rabbi Pappenheim traces the etymology of pgam to the biliteral root peh-gimmel, which means weakened. For example, when Jacob was first told that Joseph was still alive and became the ruler of Egypt, the Torah says, His heart became weak (vayafag) because he did not believe them (Genesis 45:26).

As a corollary of this meaning, pag (Song of Songs 2:13) refers to unripened figs, whose sweetness is weaker than fully-ripe fruits. (In Modern Hebrew, pag refers to a baby born prematurely and to the expiration date of, say, a coupon.)

The Talmud (Avodah Zarah 67a) rules that taste from a forbidden food can render otherwise permitted food forbidden. However, if that added taste is taam lfgam (meaning, it detracts from the taste of the permitted food), it does not prohibit the food. In this case, pgam means weakness of taste (while in other contexts it means weakness of a knifes blade or the weakening of a girls worth).

One more word for blemish is simpon. The Talmud (Kesubos 57b) talks of a woman having a simpon that might retroactively null her betrothal. Simpon, though, actually has several meanings, each of which ultimately derives from a different Greek word.

In the Mishnah (Chullin 3:1), simpon appears in the sense of a bronchial artery which branches off from the lungs. In this sense, simpon is derived from the Greek word siphon, which means a pipe.

In Greek, symphonia refers to some sort of musical instrument (possibly a bagpipe or virignal). Rabbi Binyamin Mussafia (1606-1675) writes that Greek words entered the Aramaic lexicon as early as the times of Daniel. As an example, he cites the word sumponia in Sefer Daniel (3:5, 3:10, and 3:15).

Simpon also appears in the Mishnah (Bava Metzia 1:8) to refer to extra clauses or conditions added to a legal document as a sort of post-script. This word is derived from the Greek symphoneo, which means agreement or harmony, and it refers to parties to an agreement coming to terms with one another.

Rashi (to Kiddushin 10b, Kesubos 57b, and Bava Metzia 20a) explains that simpon literally means cancel, and refers to any sort of clause that can cancel a deal. An early commentary to Targum Oneklos ascribed to Rabbi Yaakov Dienna (published under the names Patshegen, Tzintzenet HaMan, and Sefer HaYair) suggests a Semitic etymology for simpon by explaining that it is derived from the Hebrew/Aramaic root samech-yud-mem, which means erase or destroy, and pon which (somehow) refers to something from the past.

To summarize, mum, pgam, and simpon can all mean blemish in some sense, but mum really means something, pgam literally means hole or lacking, and simpon literally means cancellation.

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