Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on May 1, 2020

The Shin Bet tells you when to go to the doctor, the Mossad brings you your medical equipment and NSO Group or some other private organization may hold on to your private information until you are coronavirus-free (and maybe even after?).Do you recognize this world? It is a world in which government spy agencies and private organizations with alumni of those agencies are far more deeply involved in Israeli citizens lives and internal issues than ever before. It is a corona world where spying meets human rights.Former Shin Bet chief Yaakov Perry told the Magazine this week that there must be parliamentary oversight. This is problematic during this time. Yes, there are some operating Knesset committees, but there is not really fluid parliamentary oversight.The country must reduce Shin Bet tracking when we are at the end [of the corona crisis] or even near the end of the crisis, he added.Of the three involvements of current or former Israeli intelligence agencies in handling aspects of civilian life related to the coronavirus crisis, the role of the Mossad would seem to be the most positive.TO DATE, the Mossad has succeeded in bringing 10 million masks, hundreds of thousands of test kits (predicted to eventually reach around four million) and a variety of other medical items to the country in rapid fashion. Significant portions of the items were brought from moderate Sunni Arab countries that do not have diplomatic relations with Israel at least one of the reasons the Mossad needed to be involved. Generally speaking, this is only a plus.The government and the Health Ministry, according to numerous official reports, were inadequately prepared with enough medical equipment to cope with the crisis, and the Mossad stepped up to the plate to fill some of the holes. But some questions have been raised about involving the agency.Some have said that the Defense Ministry could have done a better job than the Mossad as a larger organization with a larger permanent presence overseas. However, the most interesting major twist that has been raised about the Mossads involvement in purchasing medical equipment relates to tactics.What happens when you move a spy agency used to bending laws, doing targeted assassinations and stealing Iranian nuclear secrets into acquiring medical equipment in a competitive environment? In an interview in late March with Channel 12 News, H, the Mossads project manager for the medical equipment acquisition efforts, seemed to admit that the agency had stolen some items from other countries trying to buy the same items. The seeming admission was significant because there have been rampant stories in the global media of competition between countries, sometimes underhanded, to acquire scarce medical supplies to cope with the corona crisis.In probably the most sensational storyline, six million masks purchased by Germany appeared to have disappeared into thin air at an airport in Kenya. Both Germany and France have at times accused the US of possibly intercepting purchases they had closed, though there are innumerable players in the arena to purchase medical items and no one has definitively accused a specific party of piracy. The Magazine has learned that H misphrased his comment.It is absolutely true that there is a torrid competition going on between nations to buy up corona-related medical supplies anywhere they can be found before they dry up. H even described some of this competition in the Channel 12 interview. This included instances where Israel believed it had a done deal only to show up to pick up items at what it found to be an empty warehouse. In other cases, one part of a foreign government was ready to sell medical items, but the transport of the items was blocked by a different arm of the same government.In this hazy malaise, the Mossad has used all formal and informal connections and tactics at its disposal to outcompete other countries in order to ensure that Israel not only gets into the ring, but actually ends up with the medical supplies physically in its hands for its citizens.An apt analogy might be basketball, where boxing out another player with physical contact is mostly allowed as long as you are seeking the basketball and are not focused on fouling the other player. Some of the best rebounders of all time who got the ball in their hands when several players jumped for it, learned how to push physical contact all the way up to the line where it could be called as a foul, without actually crossing the line (or without crossing it too far).This is what the Mossad has been doing, and partially explains why it is involved in trying to get the medical items. But the Magazine has learned that it has redlines and has not stolen items that others paid for and that Israel did not purchase. This does not necessarily resolve all of the questions about the Mossads involvement, but all of these questions pale compared to the severe questions about the Shin Bets surveillance of coronarvirus-infected citizens, which started in mid-March.ACCORDING TO a 2002 Shin Bet Law, the agency is charged with defending the homeland from terrorism, mainly under the assumption that its actions will be taken against hostile foreigners. The Shin Bet has never had any kind of broad power to deal with or spy on Israeli citizens, and has had zero authority to carry out surveillance of any Israelis unless there was overwhelming evidence of their involvement in terrorism.Suddenly, the Shin Bet is tracking not only Israeli citizens who have committed no crime other than to be infected by the coronavirus (which is not a crime), but also third persons who were in the vicinity of infected persons over a period of days. The homeland security agency is now using back doors to look at where infected citizens have been as well as tracking text messages and telephone calls between those infected citizens and others.If these surveillance powers reach their furthest extreme, they could mean tracking down the entire countrys population, far more than police, who need to get court approval for wiretaps. No other democracy brought in an intelligence agency to perform the tracking, though almost every country has rushed after citizens metadata to achieve similar purposes.All over the EU, countries have ordered or persuaded telecoms to pass on customers metadata en masse in order to follow trends regarding their infected citizens. In Germany, Deutsche Telekom handed over data on 46 million customers, a pattern which is repeating itself, with variations, almost across the board. Part of what is mind-blowing about what is going on within the EU is that its prized General Data Protection Regulation for protecting privacy went into effect in 2018 as the most serious regime in the world for protecting privacy.PRIVACY ADVOCATES have slammed the EU regulators for losing their will and their nerve in one of the first instances in which they faced a major test. EU regulators have responded either that the health emergency is so massive that they cannot spend any time considering privacy concerns or that they are ensuring that data is transferred in an aggregate or anonymous manner. In other words, they say that governments are getting to see the broad picture of what is happening with their citizenry, but cannot pinpoint individuals or their specific communications.In contrast, privacy advocates have argued that even if the official transfer does not identify individuals, that anyone who wants to abuse the information to invade an individuals privacy, can do so with ease. They say that cross-referencing various aspects of the information being provided with other information is an easy step. This means that, at the end of the day, there is no way to keep users and their data anonymous. Many countries are also creating their own apps for their citizens to download and have their progress tracked. Some legal scholars in Israel, like Israel Democracy Institute fellow and former Hebrew University Law School Dean Yuval Shany, have said this kind of a program on a volunteer basis might be preferable to the Shin Bet program. Still, the universe has changed when such an app is considered the less intrusive option.There are even EU countries using drones to track infected persons or to send them messages to stick to their quarantines.Similar efforts are going on in the US, and the names of hacking companies like Clearview AI and Palantir have been coming up in the news as possibly being involved. Even Glenn Greenwald, who helped expose the USs program for tracking data in the post 9/11 era along with Edward Snowden, has said that the enormity and speed of the crisis has left him more ready to entertain some compromises on privacy issues which he would normally fight with all of his might.All of this is also shocking because only weeks earlier, the West was slamming China for many of the same tactics (though Chinas surveillance state has gone even farther than Israel and appears to have even fewer checks and balances). The Western media had also criticized South Korea for surveillance that led to public revelations about where some of its citizens were spending some embarrassing night-owl hours.Perry told the Magazine, In a democratic state where the intelligence services are under the chain of command of the prime minister and they usually have very tight public oversight from the Knesset, the comptroller and some of the ministers it is very legitimate to use their intelligence abilities when in the peak of a crisis whose consequences are unforeseeable to protect public safety.Compared to other countries intelligence agencies, he said, the Shin Bet has far more experience with using tracking technologies, which explained part of why they were brought in to the fold.He pointed out that the Mossad is also helping with the crisis by purchasing medical equipment, while reiterating concerns that the involvement of the intelligence agencies needed to have a clear end date so as to avoid long-term violations of privacy and abuse.BUT WHAT will happen when the crisis ends, or even when it is more under control? Will governments who gained access to this new data, simply and immediately give up this access? Many in law enforcement and other parts of governments have wanted access to this data for years, only to be turned back until the coronavirus crisis.This is where the way the data is handled and what limits are placed on its transfer can be crucial. Important limits include oversight by the legislative and judicial branches of government and strict time limits for how long surveillance can continue.In his 2016 book, Between the Rule of Law and States of Emergency, Haifa Professor Yoav Mehozay wrote that Israels ongoing state of emergency since its founding has had a far greater impact on the general populace than previously thought. He argued that the role of emergency powers goes beyond what is commonly understood as security measures in the struggle against the Palestinians the execution of economic policies with emergency powers clearly demonstrates an impact on every Israeli resident.Further, he wrote that, in Israel, governmental flexibility has gone beyond the use of emergency powers as legal exceptions they are an integral part of Israels governing methodology.Mehozays book is a long list of instances where different Israeli governments used emergency powers to deal with an issue even if the ruling coalition likely could have dealt with the issue by passing a new law in the Knesset. Does this mean that Israel could be a country uniquely at risk, among democracies, of hoarding personal data even after the peak of the corona danger passes? Unfortunately, there are hints that the potential danger could be serious.Shany and other scholars and human rights advocates have said the surveillance program should expire no later than April. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel has a petition before the High Court stating that the program must end if the Knesset does not pass a new law, including a full debate about what kinds of checks and balances should be involved.In contrast, to date the High Court did force the government to hold hearings on the surveillance program in the Knessets Intelligence Subcommittee led by Gabi Ashkenazi (Blue and White.) But Ashkenazis committee decided to pass on requiring a new law as long as the government made some minor changes they requested and will keep them in the loop going forward.The message that Ashkenazi appeared to send the government was that even though it started the program without any oversight from the Knesset, there would be no consequences as long as his committee received updates. The changes Ashkenazis committee made were exceedingly minor and no real deadline or solid benchmarks were set for ending the Shin Bet surveillance. There was also no real threat that Ashkenazi unveiled to show that the government could lose something if it draws out Shin Bet surveillance too long.All of this after Deputy Attorney-General Raz Nizri frankly admitted on a press call that he and a variety of government officials had numerous preliminary meetings about Shin Bet surveillance a week before it started without a word to Ashkenazis committee. Nizri justified this based on the idea that they should present only a finalized plan to the Knesset.But this sounds like circular reasoning when Nizri and the Attorney-Generals Office also gave a green light to the program for nearly two weeks without Knesset approval when they said that the committee was not moving fast enough on the issue. Either Knesset oversight means something and then they needed to be brought into the process earlier, or the government gets penalized for ignoring the Knesset, or Ashkenazis committee becomes at most a fig leaf plus.AFTER ALL of this, at least the Shin Bet is an agency directly controlled by the state and one that is not motivated by personal profit. Yet, the last piece of the spy puzzle in this case former intelligence agents possibly from NSO Group jumping into the coronavirus crisis potentially in conflict with human rights, involves concerns of personal profits motivating behavior.Regarding NSO Group, there has been a concerted effort to move aspects of the Shin Bet surveillance program notably storing telephonic data over to them. This idea, mostly pushed by Defense Minister Naftali Bennett and his Yemina ally Ayelet Shaked, immediately set off alarm bells.NSO is beloved by the Israeli defense establishment. When Amnesty International sued in the Tel Aviv District Court to block NSOs export license, dozens of Israeli defense officials showed up at the court hearing to impress upon the court the importance that the organization plays for Israel.The Magazine has met with top NSO officials, and they emphasize both the organizations unparalleled ability to hack and track terrorists cellphones as well as the foreign policy gains to Israel by virtue of an Israeli company assisting European countries and even Middle East countries with whom Israel lacks formal diplomatic relations.But many say there is a dark side to NSO. There is a debate as to whether NSO actively undertakes positive activities only to combat terror or also is directly involved in helping authoritarian countries with suppressing dissent.NSO says that all of its activities are fighting terror, drug lords and child pornography, but it has admitted that in at least three instances it had to cut off client-countries who had abused its technology. There has been extensive speculation about Middle Eastern countries, Poland and elsewhere where its technology has been potentially misused.Even if NSO has the best of intentions, critics say that giving it responsibility for Israeli citizens personal data would be opening Pandoras box. In early February, Elector, a private company hired by the Likud to help it more optimally use voter registration data on its activists cellphones, accidentally publicized the entire Israeli voter registry of 6.5 million persons online. There has been no way to undo this damage.The prosecution has been slow to take action, as legislation covering such an unintentional infraction is hazy about the consequences and who can be penalized. What if the Shin Bet hands over citizens personal data and NSO unintentionally flubs on privacy protection or an NSO employee or affiliate goes rogue with the data? (This has also happened at least once, in January 2019).When Shaked raised the issue in the Knesset Intelligence Subcommittee, Chairman Gabi Ashkenazi shot the issue down. However, Shaked said she would continue to raise the issue.The debate about NSO then had a spin-off question when it emerged that NSO President Shiri Dolev is close friends with Shaked. Dolev even appeared with Shaked in a 2017 video, with Shaked saying she was one of her closest friends. Questions were asked in the media about whether Shaked had a conflict of interest. Shaked rejected these allegations in a telephone interview with the Magazine, saying that by definition there can be no conflict because she has no executive branch position to make policy.She also added that she has not tried to cover up her relationship with Dolev. In contrast, critics said that Shaked should not be on an oversight committee for a controversial group where a close friend of hers is a top official. Bennett said there was a principled reason to move the data to NSO, which was that it has a new data analysis tool that can carry out epidemiological studies of much larger numbers of infected Israelis than the Health Ministry. The defense minister did not address concerns about alleged past abuses by NSO or its clients, focusing on the unique contribution he believes it could deliver for rating Israelis level of infection or potential infection in a way that would save lives.None of these issues are easy to sort through and it is clear that during the corona era, privacy will not be what it has been until now. However, Israels decisions to involve spy agencies was not the only possible choice available and the possibility of continued involvement of spy agencies in the battle with corona going forward will continue to draw scrutiny.

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Spy agencies and human rights in the era of coronavirus - The Jerusalem Post

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Posted By admin on May 1, 2020

A New Iberia landmark was endangered Wednesday morning when a fire broke out in the attic of Congregation Gates of Prayer synagogue at the corner of N. Weeks Street and Charles Street, between Main and St. Peter streets.

The 116-year-old synagogue celebrated its first official service in 1904. The building remained unchanged until 1950 when a hall was erected behind the main temple for religious celebrations and community gatherings.

It remains the only temple in New Iberia, serving 30 families.

According to witnesses at the scene, the fire started after lightning strikes in the area. New Iberia Fire Chief Gordon Copell said he is awaiting the results of the investigation to declare a cause for the fire.

It was confined to the attic, said Copell. We had four trucks on the scene. Right now there is no smoke and it looks to be out.

In order to preserve some of the synagogues religious works, scrolls and other important items were taken out of the building to a fire rescue vehicle while firefighters worked to save the structure.

Units arrived on the scene shortly before 9:30 a.m to fight the blaze. By 10 a.m., firefighters declared the fire under control.

Fortunately the fire did not make its way into the temple proper.

We didnt see any damage outside of the attic, Copell said.

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Fire damage at synagogue believed limited to attic - The Daily Iberian

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Posted By admin on May 1, 2020

This year, the Torah reading of Aharei Mot-Kedoshim falls during the coronavirus pandemic where we have been forced into physical isolation.

These texts contain the sources that have been interpreted to condemn sex and relationships between men and are the source for much of the homophobia and violence against LGBTQ+ people in the world.

Traditionally, these texts would be recited aloud in synagogues and cause immense pain to LGBTQ+ people who belong to our community. With synagogues closed and minyanim forbidden, this is one of the first years that these verses wont be recited aloud hopefully providing much needed respite to our LGBTQ+ friends and family.

The juxtaposition of this Torah portion and the current lockdown will inevitably cause rabbis to ignore these painful verses, instead choosing to reflect on the other verses contained in this portion about kindness and holiness. This is why I feel compelled to recall the last time I felt a strong sense of isolation.

Fifteen years ago, I read the Kedoshim portion at my synagogue for my bar mitzvah. When I first saw these verses during my lessons with our local rabbi, I was acutely aware of my homosexuality. I felt a deep sense of dread at the thought of having to publicly recite the very verses that condemned my secret identity. I recall standing on the bimah at Edgware United Synagogue, in front of family and friends, worrying that my pain and fear would be clear on my face and I would let out the secret of my sexuality to the whole community.

What should have been a coming of age moment of celebration was filled with fear and isolation.

Fifteen years on, I sit in my home in London in physical isolation, but it is the least isolated I have ever felt. I feel able to share who I am with those important to me and live in a way that ensures my dignity is preserved. I feel able to share my voice with the world and raise the voices of others. My homosexuality and Jewish identity now work in tandem and enrich each other. My experience as a gay man contributes to my view of Judaism and my Jewish values inform how I live as a gay man.

This didnt just happen. It took 15 years, personal sacrifices, multiple therapists, supportive family and choosing to engage with a Judaism that affirms who I am and provides me with the dignity befitting all of G-ds creatures.

This isolation was borne out of an inability to communicate my innermost feelings without fear of rejection, violence and pain. There are still too many LGBTQ+ Jews who are unable to share core parts of themselves with loved ones and the world around them.

During this pandemic, many LGBTQ+ Jews are isolated with people who dont accept them. This dual-isolation is incredibly dangerous. This Shabbat, I implore you to devote the time you would have spent listening to the Torah reading, to tell those you are isolating with, that whomever they love, a place exists for them in your home and community.

And if that place doesnt exist in your home and community, this is the year to start building the bricks. As King David said: the stone that the builders rejected can become the cornerstone. (Psalms 118:22)

Joe is a religious LGBT activist

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Dual-isolation of LGBT Jews during this pandemic - Jewish News

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Posted By admin on May 1, 2020

We are starting to get new data measuring the possible impact of the coronavirus situation on religious behavior in this country. Gallup's April 14-28 survey finds 27% of Americans reporting having worshipped virtually within the past seven days. Another 4% claim to have worshipped in person, despite the coronavirus restrictions in place in most states.

The combined total of 31% who have worshipped within the past seven days either virtually or in person is roughly in line with recent, pre-virus trends. This tracks with what I reported in 2001 and 2008 -- little lasting change in general worship behavior after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the beginning of the Great Recession. As was the case then, the disruptive virus situation has apparently neither expanded nor diminished Americans' existing worship propensities.

The unique feature now, of course, is the fact that this pattern of worship behavior has stayed stable even as the way in which worship is carried out has shifted dramatically. While we don't see a substantial change in the number of Americans who are worshipping, we do find a major shift in how they are going about it.

The 27% of Americans who say they have worshipped virtually is calculated on the base of the entire U.S. adult population. But about 20% of the population has no personal religious identity and would not be highly likely to be worshipping in any situation. Among the population of those with a religious identity, 33% have worshipped virtually.

Additionally, slightly over half of U.S. adults say they are not a member of a church, synagogue or mosque. Although the lack of church membership would not necessarily preclude one from worshipping, past analysis shows non-members are unlikely to worship on a regular basis. Among those who are members of a church, synagogue or mosque, 49% have worshipped virtually within the past seven days, and another 6% have worshipped in person.

A separate question included in the April 14-28 survey asked respondents about their typical or usual worship patterns. Among the group who normally worship weekly or almost every week, 58% report having worshipped virtually within the past seven days (and another 9% say they worshipped in person). This documents that a clear majority of normal churchgoers, but by no means all, have shifted their worship to a virtual modality.

The latest Gallup survey included a general question asking about prayer behavior: "How often do you pray to God outside of religious services?" The question had no specific reference to the virus situation or to the object or content of prayer. The results show that 58% of all Americans say they are praying "often," 17% sometimes, 9% hardly ever or only in times of crisis, and 14% never.

Is this higher than normal? It's difficult to answer that question with precision because there aren't a lot of data to use for comparison. Gallup last asked the "how often do you pray" question 30 years ago, and at that point (in 1990), the level of very frequent prayer was somewhat lower, with 49% saying they prayed often. However, another 28% of those interviewed in 1990 said they prayed sometimes, meaning that the combined category of often/sometimes prayer is about the same today as it was in 1990 (77% then, 75% now).

Pew Research in 2014 found that 55% of Americans reported praying daily or more often, and another 16% weekly -- roughly in line with what we are finding now, although the different question wording makes strict comparisons difficult.

More recently, Pew found in a March 19-24 poll that -- as a result of the coronavirus outbreak -- 55% of Americans said they had prayed for "an end to the spread of the coronavirus." A Fox News poll conducted March 21-24 found that 70% of Americans reported having prayed within the past week for "health and healing."

None of these data suggest that the current 58% "often" prayer frequency is unusually high. This is despite the interesting finding from a study reported in late March showing that Google searches worldwide for the word "prayer" had jumped after the beginning of the virus situation (there doesn't appear to be a more recent update on this indirect measure of interest in prayer).

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Update on Virtual Worship in the US During COVID-19 - Gallup

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Posted By admin on May 1, 2020

SHARON BERGER: In these weird times, everyone is missing out on their larger circles of Jewish and non-Jewish involvement

IN MY TEENAGE YEARS I became more religiously observant and found a great feeling of connection with the Jewish world through davening and ritual. I lived in an area in northern California that wasnt walking distance to any Orthodox synagogues so every Shabbat I prayed devoutly by myself. My bemused parents helped me set up timers and tried to not belittle my pre-cut toilet paper. I felt a connection to others who were observing Shabbat, wherever they were.

When I joined a community, I loved the fact that you could go to any synagogue and recognise the service. As someone who spent much of their early years on the move, this really spoke to me.

I remember being on a class field trip to Washington DC over Pesach in Year 8 and sitting outside my room reading the entire Haggadah. It was comforting that although I was alone, I was connecting to something much bigger than me, that was woven with thousands of years of tradition and culture, linking me to my ancestors.

Over time I have changed my views, partly due to my difficulty reconciling my feminist thinking with orthodoxy but also mixed with my questioning around God. My synagogue attendance has lapsed over the years. While I always try to attend for the holidays, it has become increasingly haphazard.

On first day Pesach this year, I joined my communitys online service but found myself distracted by the other tabs on my computer. I half listened while checking my emails, Facebook and my newest obsession, the John Hopkins map which tracks Covid infections and deaths. I wasnt inspired enough to rejoin for the end of festival or Shabbat but have caught bits of webinars and other content on offer.

I realised I could hold my own service, with the same siddur I used as a teenager, but quickly dismissed this option. Later, questioned why.

For me synagogue now serves as a way of connecting to the community and worshipping together feels more meaningful than praying alone. While my faith may be weaker than it once was, I still feel connected to Judaism. While many of the rituals are individual or home-based (we light candles, we observe Pesach and I even made challah on Friday), being part of a community is more important than I understood before Covid-19.

In these times everyone, including my kids, while continuing their home rituals, are missing out on their larger circles of Jewish (and non-Jewish) involvement.

In these weird times I havent been focused on my Jewish identity, but rather on the broader picture of destruction and death that this pandemic is causing worldwide

My son is meant to finish high school this year and was planning on gap year in Israel next year. With all the uncertainty, particularly around international travel, its unclear whether this will happen. The youth movement shnatties in Israel have been in lockdown for weeks and who knows when they will be able to resume their planned programs? I am hoping that by 2021 international travel will have restarted and this pinnacle experience of youth movement involvement can resume.

My daughter has been eagerly looking forward to going to Israel for six weeks at the end of the year with her year 10 cohort. This has become a highlight of their shared high school experience. I am not holding my breath.

They will both miss out on movement camps in July, although I understand the movements are trying to put together some virtual programming. Hopefully by the end of 2020 interstate travel will be allowed again so they can at least see their friends from across Australia.

The movements have had some get togethers online and school has offered Kabbalat Shabbat services. But as we all know from working remotely, its not the same as face-to-face engagement.

In these weird times I havent been focused on my Jewish identity, but rather on the broader picture of destruction and death that this pandemic is causing worldwide. While I meticulously check the totals in both Australia and Israel every day, my real concern is the growing international health and economic impact, particularly in those countries where people dont have the luxury of self-isolating, access to running water and top-level healthcare.

While Jewish communities in the UK and the US have been disproportionately impacted by Covid-19, this virus doesnt discriminate, regardless of your faith, or lack thereof.

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'Being part of a community is more important than I understood before Covid-19' - Plus61 J Media

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Posted By admin on May 1, 2020

The Talmud, Yoma 85b, discusses the origin of the concept that saving a life overrides Shabbat. Rav Yehuda said in the name of Shmuel: It is written (Vayikra 18:5) vchai bahem, You shall keep My decrees and My laws which if a person obeys they shall live through them which implies that one should not die on account of observing the mitzvot.

The saving of life overrides any commandment. Yoma 82a explains that nothing stands in the way of pikuach nefesh, saving a life, other than the cardinal sins of idol worship, illicit relations or murder.

In Yoma, 83a, we are taught that if a person is sick on Yom Kippur, we feed them on the advice of experts since this is in the category of safek nefashot, uncertainty involving danger to life. In matters involving danger to life, we are bidden to rule leniently (safek nefashot lehakel). It is better to err on the side of treating the patient.

Rav Matya ben Charash taught (Yoma 84a): One who feels pain in his mouth, we put medicine in his mouth for him on Shabbat.

The rabbis derive from here that it is permissible to break Shabbat to prepare the medicine for him. If the medicine will be effective, it warrants the suspension of all of the Shabbat laws.

Why is it necessary for the mishna to add that every possible danger to life (safek nefashot) supersedes Shabbat?

Rashi explains that even if he will certainly not die this Shabbat, we are afraid that if we dont treat him right away, he may subsequently die. If the doctor requests that a person start to take medication on Shabbat then they should take it right away and not wait until Saturday night.

We are taught in Yoma 84b, that in matters involving danger to life on Shabbat, one who is quick is praiseworthy. They do not need authorization of the Beit Din (court) to proceed.

Some examples that are listed in the Talmud: If a child fell into the sea, or into a pit, one can bring him up. If a child is stuck in a locked room, one may break the door to rescue him. If there is a fire, one can extinguish it on Shabbat.

We see from here, that when danger to life is involved, saving a life supersedes the mitzvot.

During these difficult times, one may ask how it is possible that most synagogues in the world are closed. Isnt it important to pray with a minyan?

Since the health authorities feel that those who are packed into a synagogue can spread the virus, we must listen to them. Unfortunately, many were infected in Israel and throughout the world in synagogues over Purim as well as in daily minyanim and on Shabbat before the new regulations went into effect. Just as in the case of Yom Kippur, we trust the experts to determine if the person should eat or not, so too, we must trust the doctors who insist that we do not to open the synagogues at this time.

Although it is not easy to be away from the community for so long, we must also follow the view that even if there is a chance that there could be danger, we must take the lenient view and tell people not to pray with a minyan. In Israel, they are now allowing outdoor minyanim, where groups of nineteen can pray together outside if everyone is standing two meters apart. In some communities this may work. In others, people may not be able to resist socializing which could end up being very dangerous.

It is better to stay safe now and follow the orders, even if it means performing less mitzvot in order to keep the community healthy so that we will be able to observe more mitzvot in the future.

Sharona holds a BA in Judaic Studies from Stern College and an MS in Jewish Education from Azrieli Graduate School, Yeshiva University. Sharona was the first Congregational Intern and Madricha Ruchanit at the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, NY. After making aliya in 2004, Sharona founded Torat Reva Yerushalayim, a non profit organization based in Jerusalem which provides Torah study groups for students of all ages and backgrounds.

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Saving life supersedes the mitzvot | Sharona Margolin Halickman - The Times of Israel

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Posted By admin on May 1, 2020

It sounds like an old joke, about a rabbi and a priest walking into a bar.

But Keeping the Faith, a romantic comedy released 20 years ago this month, stretched the premise into one of the more clever films of its genre, and the rare Hollywood movie that takes questions of religious faith and obligation seriously.

Keeping the Faith was the directorial debut of actor Edward Norton, from a screenplay by the Jewish writer Stuart Blumberg, who had been Nortons roommate at Yale. Set on New York Citys heavily Jewish Upper West Side, the film stars Ben Stiller as Jake Schram, a young bachelor Conservative rabbi, and Norton as Father Brian Finn, a Catholic priest and Jakes lifelong best friend.

When their childhood friend Anna Riley (Jenna Elfman) comes back to town for work, both clergymen develop feelings for her, which in both of their cases is forbidden for Brian because of his priestly vow of celibacy, and for Jake because his synagogue would not approve of him dating a non-Jew. Nor would his mother (Anne Bancroft), who became estranged from her other son following his marriage to a gentile.

Keeping the Faith is smart enough to realize that these arent the sort of silly contrivances that keep couples apart in movies they are serious questions involving vows, obligations and religious beliefs. Stillers rabbi character a youngish guy whose bearing on the bimah often resembles that of a stand-up comedian is a familiar one to many American Jews.

The film is also uniquely attuned to the specific anxieties of being an unmarried junior rabbi at a synagogue in New York City in the early 21st century (the synagogue scenes were filmed at Bnai Jeshurun). Rabbi Jake fights with the president of his board, he disagrees with the cantor over whether its right to have a gospel choir sing Ein Keloheinu and hes constantly fighting off mothers seeking to set him up with their daughters.

Keren McGinity, a Jewish lecturer of American studies at Brandeis University, describes Keeping the Faith as one of her favorite romantic comedies. She has included the film on her class syllabus and discussed it in her book Marrying Out: Jewish Men, Intermarriage, and Fatherhood.

The interfaith love triangle illustrates the modern quandary faced by current rabbinical students involved in interfaith relationships, she told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

How true is Keeping the Faith to the reality of clerical life in America 20 years later?

We asked some real rabbis and priests about their thoughts on the matter.

Rabbi Hillel Norry, Atlanta(who served as a rabbinic consultant for the movie): I met with Ed Norton, and they asked if I would be their consultant. I said I do want to do it, but I need to see the script and I need to know that its not disrespectful to rabbis and Judaism. They sent me a script, and I signed on, and I actually really like the story.

Rabbi Howard Jaffe, Temple Isaiah, Lexington, Massachusetts: It was one of the most realistic presentations of a rabbis life I have ever seen. Having been single for the first 9 1/2 years of my rabbinate, I could absolutely relate to what it was like to be a single rabbi and to go through with what he dealt with. Fix-ups, pressure from the community, etc.

Rabbi Marci Bellows, Congregation Beth Shalom Rodfe Zedek, Chester, Connecticut: One of my favorite movies, and I felt it really represented much of what I was feeling early on as a young assistant rabbi in Manhattan. As a single woman rabbi, trying to date and feeling like youre under a microscope was very real.

Norry: The priest and the rabbi not only are they friends, but theyre very real people. Theyre not like these saintly, gray old men who are very unrealistic. Theyre also not criminals, or mobsters or pedophiles, or some other trope of the bad priest or the bad clergy. Theyre just normal people who are flawed, and you see their flaws unfold in the context of their faith, their faithfulness and their friendship.

Rabbi Rafi Cohen, Masorti Olami, New York: I think what the movie really tries to do, it tries to capture Jewish life in Manhattan. Imagine Gen Xers in New York City thats what they were trying to do. They were trying to be hip and cool. The rabbi and priest were trying to conduct themselves and offer what would be compelling to Manhattanites and urbanites.

Rabbi Joseph Black, Temple Emanuel, Denver: If I was an assistant rabbi, and at the end of a service I said to the cantor, Hold on a minute, change of plans forget about the song YOU want to sing, Ive got something better, I would be fired the next day.

Norry: One critique Ive heard is that [the movie] seems to accept or tolerate interfaith relationships and casual sex relationships for rabbis. You learn at the end that shes thinking about converting to Judaism maybe, kinda, sorta. But for the most part, heres a rabbi whos involved deeply, and intimately, with a woman whos not Jewish, and to whom hes not married. My response to that has always been, Who do you think we are? Who do you think rabbis are? Or these priests who do you think they are? Its just an honest portrayal about something and about somebody. Their failings are human failings. The non-Jewish thing? Of course its problematic. But thats why its a good story.

Rabbi Leah Berkowitz, Congregation Kol Ami, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania: I liked how they had both a horrible Jewish date and a great Jewish date [early in the movie] to show that it wasnt just that Jake didnt like Jewish girls. That meant a lot to me as a Jewish girl. In a lot of interfaith romance story lines, the potential partner from the same ethnicity is a horrible caricature.

Father Paul Garrity, Lexington Catholic Community, Lexington, Massachusetts: Celibacy is a real challenge and I thought the movie did an OK job of dealing with it. The movie was a romantic comedy, so an in-depth look at celibacy was not my expectation.

Rabbi Emeritus Elliot Gertel, Congregation Rodfei Zedek, Chicago(from his 2003 book Over the Top Judaism, reprinted with his permission): [The film] depicts a rabbi who wants sex and companionship with a Gentile woman but is unwilling to give up his congregation. Schram is able to make the synagogue grow, but the implication at every turn is that the crowd is attracted and misled by superficiality and emptiness. The New Age innovations are praised here but come across as hollow, as does the relationship between the rabbi and his girlfriend.

The film keeps insisting, even protesting, that Schram is doing a lot of good things, but it says nothing good about him and about his constituency. The synagogue members are either throwing their daughters at the rabbi or involved in trendy spirituality or in self-promotion. The senior rabbi, played by Eli Wallach, is a seasoned lackey with no real advice to offer.

Bellows: I especially love that Jenna Elfmans character converts in the end.

Jaffe: In truth, most of my non-Jewish friends are Christian clergy.

Rabbi Emeritus Norman Cohen, Bet Shalom Congregation, Minnetonka, Minnesota: It reminded me of how blessed I have been to have so many close colleagues of other faiths, who remind me that we are all in this together. We often share stories of congregants and their issues and opportunities to play such a significant role in their lives at critical times. Cant say we ever competed for the same women!

Father James M. Hayes, SJ, associate chaplain for mission, College of the Holy Cross: [Rabbi Norman Cohen] and I are dear friends but since are both 70, a woman is not going to get between us.

Rafi Cohen: If you look back on 20 years ago vs. today, I can certainly say within the rabbinate, establishing positive interreligious relations is very important. These relationships help any clergy person respond to acts against their faith community, whether it be anti-Semitism or graffiti on a mosque or church. When things arent so good you want those relationships You may not share sermon ideas, necessarily, but you have commonalities. We all have the same challenges and blessings, and issues that you work with.

Garrity: The rabbi friendship is very real. I can attest to that in my own life. The movie friendship antedates their professions, so that is a little different.

Berkowitz: It always seemed like a joke, a priest and a rabbi, but I have a daily check-in with a Jewish chaplain and two Episcopal priests, and that need for mutual understanding is very real.

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Rabbis and priests look back at 'Keeping the Faith' as it turns 20 - The Jewish News of Northern California

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Posted By admin on May 1, 2020

(JTA)-The new TV show based on Philip Roth's novel "The Plot Against America," helmed by David Simon, the Jewish creator of "The Wire," has premiered on HBO and made a splash with critics and fans.

The eerily captivating series, which borrows details from the iconic Jewish author's life and a crucial moment in American history, depicts an alternative reality in which isolationist Charles Lindbergh defeats Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1940 presidential election and encourages anti-Semitic attitudes throughout the country.

The story follows the Jewish Levin family-young Philip, his brother Sandy and his parents, Bess and Herman-caught in an America that's veering toward fascism, where anti-Semitism has become mainstream and commonplace.

While "The Plot Against America" is a work of fiction, it features many real newsreels from the period and involves several true stories. Let's separate fact from fiction and explore the real historical figures and events behind "The Plot Against America," with some help from the JTA archive.

Who was Charles Lindbergh?

He was a decorated U.S. aviator, writer, activist and, sadly, anti-Semite.

In 1927, the 25-year-old Air Mail pilot from Detroit rose to fame, literally, when he flew the first nonstop solo trans-Atlantic flight. Lindbergh was trying to win the Orteig Prize, which was being offered by the American hotelier Raymond Ortieg to whomever could complete the first nonstop flight from New York to Paris. The award came with $25,000-the equivalent to about $370,000 today.

"Lucky Lindy," as he was nicknamed, became an American icon following the flight and crowds greeted him wherever he went. His autobiographical tale about his flight, "WE," became a bestseller and President Calvin Coolidge awarded him the Distinguished Flying Cross medal. A statue of his likeness was erected in Maryland-ironically by a Jewish sculptor, Louis Rosenthal.

The tragic kidnapping of Lindbergh's 20-month-old baby in 1932 became a huge story. Lindbergh paid the ransom, but his son was found dead two months after the abduction.

Lindbergh used his fame to become an activist and promote the field of aviation around the world. But he also became a leader of the America First movement.

As Uriel Heilman wrote for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in 2016: "Created in 1940 after Hitler already had invaded Poland, the America First Committee argued that the U.S. should take a neutral approach toward Nazi Germany, and even do business with it, because the Nazi regime did not threaten America directly."

Was Lindbergh anti-Semitic?

Lindbergh's words, both in speeches and in his letters and journals, suggest that he was both a white supremacist and an anti-Semite.

In 1939, he wrote in Reader's Digest: "We can have peace and security only so long as we band together to preserve that most priceless possession, our inheritance of European blood, only so long as we guard ourselves against attack by foreign armies and dilution by foreign races."

Lindbergh, the son of Scandinavian immigrants, was a believer in eugenics. He also believed that Germany had a "Jewish problem," and that the influence of Jews in society should be limited.

He was close friends with Henry Ford, another known anti-Semite.

Did Lindbergh really give that rousing anti-Semitic speech?

In the first episode of "The Plot Against America," Herman Levin hears a Lindbergh speech on the radio full of anti-Semitism.

The "greatest danger to this country lies in their [the Jews'] large ownership and influence in our motion pictures, our press, our radio and our government," Lindbergh said, among other things.

Infuriated, Herman calls over his wife, Bess, and says"He's calling us war agitators."

The answer is yes: The excerpts played in the show come from a real speech that Lindbergh delivered in Des Moines, Iowa, on Sept. 11, 1941.

But while in "The Plot Against America" the public embraces Lindbergh's speech, in reality his words were met with an outcry from across the country. As JTA reported, veterans, religious leaders and editorials in newspapers across the country denounced the speech.

"The voice is Lindbergh's but the words are the words of Hitler," one major newspaperwrote.

Did Lindbergh really run for president?

No, he did not-but that idea is not simply a product of Roth's imagination. In 2000, when Roth was reading an autobiography of the historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr., the famed Jewish author "came upon a sentence in which Schlesinger notes that there were some Republican isolationists who wanted to run Lindbergh for president in 1940," Roth told The New York Times.

"That's all there was, that one sentence with its reference to Lindbergh and to a fact about him I'd not known," Roth said, "It made me think, 'What if they had?'"

Is the poll about the attitude toward Jews quoted in "The Plot Against America" real?

At another point in the first episode, a Jewish newsreel projector tells Herman about a 1939 poll in which "Only thirty-nine percent of the respondents agreed that Jews should be treated like everyone else. Fifty-three percent believed that 'Jews are different and should be restricted.' And ten percent believed that Jews should be deported."

Sadly, that was a real Roper Poll from that year.

Was Lindbergh really a friend of Hitler's?

No, but he did receive a medal from the Fuehrer. In 1938, Lindbergh was awarded the Service Cross of the German Eagle by Hermann Goering on behalf of Adolf Hitler.

Lindbergh also had contacts in the Nazi Foreign Ministry.

As JTA reported in 1962, "in a communication marked 'most urgent and top secret,'" the Nazis told the German Foreign Ministry and the German chief of general staff that "Lindbergh represents the best of the Americans, who are most important for us now and in the future. The contacts with him are maintained through a group in the general staff which has the greatest importance as a counterweight against Jews and warmongers."

What really happened in the 1940 presidential election?

Roosevelt easily defeated the Republican Wendell Wilkie, a dark-horse candidate and former Democrat, to capture an unprecedented third term. The popular incumbent picked up 55 percent of the popular vote and won in the Electoral College by a wide margin.

Did Philip Roth really grow up in a suburb of New Jersey?

Yes, Roth grew up in the Weequahic neighborhood of Newark, just like the Levins in the TV series.

His dad's name also was Herman, his mother, Elizabeth, also went by the moniker Bess, and his older brother, Sanford, went by the nickname Sandy. And just a reminder, the littlest Levin in the show is named Philip. Roth was born in 1933-that would have made him 7 years old during the 1940 election.

Just like Sandy in the book and series, Roth's real brother was a gifted artist. And just like the TV father, Roth's real dad was an insurance salesman.

Was anti-Semitism really a part of Roth's childhood?

"Even before I started school," Roth told The New York Times the year "The Plot Against America" came out, "I already knew something about Nazi anti-Semitism and about the American anti-Semitism that was being stoked, one way or another, by eminent figures like Henry Ford and Charles Lindbergh, who, in those years, along with movie stars like Chaplin and Valentino, were among the most famous international celebrities of the century."

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The real history behind HBO's 'The Plot Against America' - Heritage Florida Jewish News

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Posted By admin on May 1, 2020

In its 106 years of existence, Russ & Daughters, a world-famous Jewish appetizing store in New York, had never closed its doors for more than a day or two other than on holidays.

Even in 9/11 we didnt close for more than one day, says Niki Russ Federman, fourth-generation salesperson of pickled herring and bagels and lox the trademark items at their store, located on Manhattans Lower East Side.

On the day of the attack, she adds, we were open until almost 3 oclock in the afternoon; people who didnt understand what was happening stopped on the way to pick up food. The next day we shut down for 24 hours, and then we reopened.

During Hurricane Sandy, in 2012, the stores doors were shut for two days (The power grid went down, and as soon as we got a generator we opened up again). Neither World War II, nor the Great Depression nor even the Spanish Flu pandemic affected the activity of the iconic store.

Beginning in mid-March 2020, with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, the shop was closed for two full weeks.

The emergency regulations allowed us to make deliveries, Russ Federman says in a phone interview with Haaretz, but the space is so small that we didnt know how it would be possible to continue to operate and also maintain a safe working environment for the staff.

Anyone who has visited the long, narrow store at 179 East Houston will be familiar with one of the secrets of its charm: At any given moment there are eight or nine experienced salespeople in white aprons behind the fish counter, managing to slice, fillet, wrap and charmingly serve dozens of customers. The staff and customers, many of whom have been buying at Russ & Daughters for decades, starred in a popular 2014 documentary, The Sturgeon Queens, which was devoted to this cultural institution, the family behind it and the flavorsome food they sell.

During the past decade, the fourth generation Russ Federman and a cousin, Josh Russ Tupper opened a popular caf in the spirit of the family store not far away, on Orchard Street, along with two other branches, a small one at the Jewish Museum, on the Upper East Side, and a larger place in Brooklyn, the latter of which has a sales counter, a bagel bakery and room for seating.

Before the coronavirus crisis, we employed 160 people, Russ Federman says. We had to furlough most of them, so they can get unemployment. The caf shut down overnight. We tried to keep the museum branch operating even after the museum closed down, but it didnt work. There was a feeling of a huge crisis. Mostly we tried to figure out how to survive and to make sure the ship doesnt go down.

As of last week, the Russ family still had 50 working employees and were offering delivery service from the spacious Brooklyn branch and the original store (which reopened after the temporary closure in a limited fashion).

Boosted business

Business at Russ & Daughters has gotten a boost in recent weeks, thanks also to a project initiated and managed by the nonprofit Jewish Food Society. Within the framework of the program, Jewish and Israeli restaurants send pre-packaged lunch and dinner meals to the medical staff at 25 hospitals treating the citys staggering number of COVID-19 cases.

Naama Shefi, a New York City resident who was born on Kibbutz Givat Hashlosha, in central Israel, founded the society in 2017 and is its executive director.

The Jewish Food Society was established in order to preserve, celebrate and revitalize Jewish culinary heritage, Shefi explains. The core of our work is the creation of a digital archive of family recipes from different Jewish communities worldwide. Our cultural DNA flourishes not only in home kitchens but also in iconic institutions that have been operating in the city for decades, and in some cases for more than a century. New York wont be the same if we dont have Russ & Daughters waiting for us with a bagel and lox, hand-cut on their counter.

One of the supporters of Shefis nonprofit, The Paul E. Singer Foundation (established by the Jewish American philanthropist of that name), contributed the initial funding for the health-care workers meal-delivery project.

They donated 50,000 meals at $20 per meal for purchase from the restaurants, Shefi says. And since that contribution became known, private individuals have given another $100,000, and donations are continuing to pour in. Many of the donations are in multiples of 18 [which stands for life in Jewish numerology], whether its tens or thousands of dollars.

The inspiration for the JFS initiative came from similar projects in the city, such as Feed the Frontlines.

Shefi: Its a double crisis, of health and the economy, and the idea has been to help people who are fighting on the frontlines doctors, nurses and the maintenance staff and at the same time to try to keep the restaurant industry from collapsing. It was important to us that as many restaurants as possible take part in the project, and to try to give them a lifeline for the long term.

We also want to open the project to restaurants that are not Jewish or Israeli, but it was easier to start with our community, because logistically, its an amazingly complicated operation, and its no simple task to coordinate between the needs of the hospitals and the needs of the restaurants.

Along with Russ & Daughters and Katzs Delicatessen, the JFS initiative also includes other independent, small- and medium-size eateries known to the New York public, including street food places and restaurants identified with Israeli cuisine, such as Einat Admonys Tam, and Miznon, owned by Eyal Shani.

All but one of the restaurants opened by chef Shanis group around the world (including in Israel) have been closed since the outbreak of the coronavirus crisis. Only one branch of his Miznon chain in New York is still operating, with five staffers thanks to the meals-for-hospitals effort.

Until a month ago we employed almost 150 people, says Mika Ziv, the groups manager in New York. We had to furlough most of them. But the JFS initiative of meals has provided a stable and sure source for the start of deliveries. It set in motion the wheels of the food chain a source of livelihood not only for our staff but also for suppliers and manufacturers of raw materials that we work with.

Suddenly we are ordering pickles and olives again from the pickled goods man, tahini from the manufacturer and meat from the butcher in the market. In about another 10 days, Miznon in Chelsea Market will open in a similar format.

No one in the restaurant business, internationally or in Israel, is even talking about profitability these days. At most, theyre doing deliveries to cut losses and keep the flame burning. Its not at all clear to anyone when, or if, eateries in the Big Apple will reopen and in what form, since the city has been so badly hit by the crisis. Restaurateurs and chefs are talking cautiously about six to 12 months until the routine resumes.

We send 200 meals to hospitals every day, says Bethany Strong, director of operations for Einat Admonys group of restaurants. Every three days we get an operative plan that includes precise instructions where to send, when and how much and that gives the staff a sense of purpose and keeps the lights on. We meet the liaison person outside the hospital were not allowed in.

Strong adds: The pictures and posts were sent afterward by doctors, nurses and maintenance people, who dont have time to go out and buy food, are gratifying and provide incentive. Its mutual nourishment and that gives us the strength both to make deliveries to regular clientele and to work with other needy groups.

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In New York, bagels and lox have been recruited for the coronavirus fight - Haaretz

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Posted By admin on May 1, 2020

These are interesting times, with things changing on a daily basis and so much more that is unknown than is known, said Keith Dvorchik, CEO of The Roth Family JCC as he shared some things the JCC is working on.

Getting back to work slowly

The Roth Family JCC has received Paycheck Protection Program funding and because of this, they can bring back the staff in a strategic fashion, according to Dvorchik.

On April 27, the ECLC supervisors, JCC department directors and accounting staff remotely went back to work.

On Monday, May 4, the majority of the ECLC lead teachers, assistant teachers, and specialists will be back on the job. Throughout the month of May, the ECLC staff will be training on operational and procedural changes while preparing to address the needs of its children and families after the extended closure.

We will be reviewing the CDC guidelines and making sure everyone is fully trained and well-versed on what the new reality will look like when we reopen our doors, Dvorchik wrote in the newsletter.

Camp J

It is our full intent to offer camp, as long as we can do so in a safe manner, Dvorchik stated. The JCC camp director and assistant camp director began working last week to determine how to hold Camp J.

Both the CDC and the American Camping Association will be issuing guidelines in early May that the JCC staff will incorporate into the preparations to ensure a safe and healthy camp experience.

Dvorchik explained that it is too early to commit to an official opening date, however he said the JCC staff are working hard to ensure the JCC can reopen as soon as it is safe to do so.

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An update on The Roth Family JCC - Heritage Florida Jewish News

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