Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on April 26, 2020

JTA Midway through Lila Dukes bat mitzvah ceremony, her familys cat made an appearance. Minnies interruption was one of many ways that Lilas coming-of-age ceremony was different from what she had expected.

While the 12-year-old still read her Torah portion in front of more than 100 people, still got to wear a pretty dress and still was showered with candy, she was at home with her parents, Susan and Jon, and younger siblings, Naomi and Ezra, not at her familys Atlanta-area synagogue.

Lila addressed community members on Zoom rather than giving her sermon in a sanctuary. She read the Torah portion she had been practicing for a year from a book instead of a scroll and therefore wasnt able to recite the blessings she had been practicing. And at one point, Minnie jumped up on the table where the family had perched a computer on top of several stacked puzzle boxes and her mom had to rush to get the animal out of the way.

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Such is the bat mitzvah in the coronavirus era.

With synagogues closed and gatherings prohibited, traditional bar and bat mitzvah celebrations which typically include participation in communal services and big, sometimes splashy parties have become impossible.

Lila Duke celebrated her bat mitzvah at home as more than 100 guests tuned in on Zoom. (Courtesy of the Duke family/via JTA)

Its different right? Everyone has their bat mitzvah or whatever, but not everyone has had a Zoom bat mitzvah, Lila said in a phone interview with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency a few days after the rite. I was sad I didnt get to have a party though.

Lilas family plans to have a party for her once it is deemed safe. But even though parties can be postponed, it is harder to delay the service itself. Most kids spend a year training to chant the Torah portion for their specific date, and choosing another date would mean they would have to learn a different reading.

So as with so many events these days, many families are opting instead to do the service virtually, sometimes with drive-by, socially distanced celebrations as well. (Orthodox synagogues do not allow livestreaming on Shabbat). One event planning company has even started offering virtual bar and bat mitzvah planning services, including helping to organize a virtual party complete with party favors and hora dancing.

In Lilas case, going virtual meant making some tweaks.

Illustrative: In this February 1, 2020, photo, Rabbi Jacqueline Mates-Muchin follows Hanna Raskin as she carries a Torah scroll during her bat mitzvah at Temple Sinai in Oakland, California. (AP/Noah Berger)

At a typical bat mitzvah, a number of family members are called to the Torah to say a blessing ahead of the scroll reading. Since Lila was reading from a book rather than a scroll, however, the Hebrew blessings could not be said. Instead, family members prepared short blessings in English to mimic the traditional order.

The Dukes set up two monitors in their living room, so they could watch both the service leader and the congregants tuning in. Susan Duke had decorated the room with orchids, peonies, tulips and roses from a local florist to make it look festive.

Guests typically shower the bat mitzvah with candy after she completes the haftarah reading. In Lilas case, her parents and siblings threw Hersheys kisses at her, while the congregants threw sweets at their computer screens and sent her candy emojis in the Zoom chat. Her parents also hoisted her up on a chair after the reading, as is customary during Jewish celebrations.

And just because the guests werent meeting in person didnt mean they didnt dress up, though the Duke family opted to go without shoes since they werent leaving the house and Lila wore a comfortable cotton dress rather than the long satin gown she had initially picked out.

Illustrative: There was much rejoicing at Tiffany Haddishs bat mitzvah in Beverly Hills, California, December 3, 2019. (Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Netflix via JTA)

Following the three-hour service, Lilas family recited the kiddush and ate the French toast casserole that her mother had cooked as they video chatted with a smaller group of relatives.

Rabbi Analia Bortz, who with her husband, Rabbi Mario Karpuj, leads Congregation Or Hadash, the Conservative synagogue where the Dukes are members, had worried originally about whether there would be technical difficulties. But she left the service impressed by how well it worked out and how the community came together to celebrate Lilas special day.

In 30 years in the pulpit, many things have changed and have left a big hallmark in our lives, most of the time for good reasons, but this one was one of the highlights of our careers, Bortz said. It was very, very special.

Susan Duke said the service exceeded the familys expectations.

We just thought wed try it, and it was so much more intimate and personal and successful than I imagined it could be, the bat mitzvah mom said.

Lila Duke participating in her bat mitzvah service with her parents. (Courtesy of the Dukes/via JTA)

One unexpected perk of doing the service on Zoom was that Lila, who had been anxious about doing her Torah reading in front of a large audience, felt less nervous.

I didnt have a bunch of people watching me doing scary stuff, she said. They were there but they were on the screen. I felt it wouldnt be as big of a deal as if I was actually there in front of everyone.

Meanwhile, Lila hopes she can serve as a model for other kids who will have to do their coming-of-age ceremonies virtually, too, as it becomes increasingly clear that limitations on large gatherings wont be lifted imminently.

People were watching me, other people who are going to probably do the same thing, she said. They wanted to know what it was like.

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Posted By admin on April 26, 2020

While Charlotte Coker planned to hold her Bat Mitzvah and celebration on May 23, the COVID-19 crisis has forced her to cancel her party. Wochit

For aboutfive years, Charlotte Coker has attended Hebrew School three times a week at Temple Concord in Binghamton. A 13-year-old seventh-grader at Vestal Middle School, Charlottestudied Hebrew, learned music and memorized passages of the Torah with the expectation that the years of hard workwould conclude in a Bat Mitzvah.

The date for that special rite of passage had been set: May 23, 2020.

You become an adult in the eyes of the Jewish community, Charlotte said.

About 180 people were invited to the event, with some traveling as far as Arizona, Florida and Wisconsin. The ceremony was to be followed by a party inin Temple Concord's social hall. A block of hotel rooms had been reserved, and a DJ, caterer and ice cream truck were booked.

Apalachin resident Charlotte Coker pauses during a Hebrew class with Orly Shoer, director of the religious school at Temple Concord. Charlotte will become a bat mitzvah in May, though the day has been reimagined due to restrictions imposed by the public health crisis.(Photo: Provided)

But as large events have been canceled to curb the spread of COVID-19, it's become clear Charlotte's party is not going to happen.

A case of purple yarmulkes bearing her name and Bat Mitzvah date sit in the family'sApalachin home, along with socks purchasedfor gueststo wear while dancing.

"You have in your head as a parent,kind of a mental image, that of all of this study, and all of these hours, and all of this driving, and all of this homeworkand work is going to lead up to this big day, Charlotte's mother, Rachel, said over a Zoom call.

While Charlottehas continued to attend Hebrew school through virtual classesin thehopes she can conduct the ceremony privately inside Temple Concordand then broadcast it to friends and family through Zoom exactly how Charlotte's Bat Mitzvahis going to appear is still unclear. Will sheeven be allowed to be with herRabbi in the sanctuary that day?

Maybe they'll mailthe yarmulkesto family members to wearon Charlotte's big day.Perhaps they'll hold a party in the future?

"Were thinking of other types of projects and other ways we can both celebrate the day for our family, but maybe also find ways to do something nice for the community," Rachel said.

In mid-March, Gov. Andrew Cuomo'sNew York Stateon PAUSE plan forced the closing ofhouses of worship, requiring them to cancel, postpone or find alternatives to religious ceremonies and events. This has coincided with a busy season forBar/Bat Mitzvahs, communions,confirmations and other rites of passage.

Like Charlotte, families are forced to wait even longer for those special moments, or get creative and find alternatives. In Vestal, 13-year-old Zev Rosalesheld his Bar Mitzvah in his home on April 19, while 100 or so friends, family and community memberswatched over Zoom.

But in the Catholic Church, confirmations and communions have been put on hold for the time being.

"Unfortunately there are many things in both parish in diocesan life that remain in limbo, and they may do so for a while depending on the status of the pandemic," Douglas Lucia, Bishop of Syracuse, said in a letter to the diocese on Tuesday. "This can be a great source of frustration for you and me, but I have seen many blessings coming from our trials and tribulations."

In his letter issued to members of the Syracuse Diocese, Lucia said some events may be re-scheduled, or may not happen this year. The dates of First Communion and Confirmation celebrations will hinge on rules regarding public gatherings.

In his letter, Lucia said he is working with local civil and health authorities to find ways Holy Mass and the Sacrament of Penance can be celebrated publicly.

"As a first step, I am asking our parish priests to look at the seating capacity of their church buildings using the formula for social distancing," he said.

Lucia is also exploring the possibility of conducting outdoor mass, with participants remaining in their cars, at churches with large parking lots. This would be an "interim measure if not permitted to gather in our church buildings," he said.

On Thursday, Chemung County setguidelines allowing for parking lot church services, which must include separation of cars, and a stipulation that congregants must remain in their cars and can't sit in the beds of pickup trucks.

Churches are now left deciding whether to postpone these ceremonies, or find alternatives to the traditional sacraments.

Coincidentally, and unrelated to the coronavirus, the Confirmation ceremonyfor high school students at Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Vestalwas not planned for 2020, but instead scheduled the event for 2021.

OLS had scheduled First Communion for the first weekend of May, but instead PastorJohn Donovanplans to holda few communions at each mass for a few weeks once churches re-open.

"The guidelinesmay require us to limit the number of people coming to any oneMass," Donovan said in an email. "Therefore, we and several other parishesmay have to add additional Masses so all can attend any given weekend."

At St. James Church in Johnson City, Confirmation was scheduled for April 19, and First Communion for May 2.

"Unfortunately, it is impossible to know at this point when gatherings will be allowed again and what restrictions may be imposed on public gatherings, once allowed," a spokesperson for the church said in an email.

The Rosales family had big plans for Zev's Bar Mitzvah.

They had a whole weekend of plans beginning April 18: A dinner Friday evening, lunch at the synagogue Saturday afternoon and a formal dinner that evening at the Binghamton Club. They'd treat travelers to brunch the next day.

"It was going to be a big bang," said Zev's mother, Cherese Rosales. "It's like a wedding."

Zev's father is from Brazil, so loved ones from across the globe were planning to attend the festivities, which were canceled. The family first hoped to do a service in the synagogue, open onlyto family members, but soon learned that would not be possible.

For Zev, not having a large Bar Mitzvah was a relief. He was nervous to stand in front of 100 or so people, so it was less intimidating to do his ceremony over Zoom.

"I felt like my heart was beating slower than it would if I was on the stage in front of everyone and doing everything on the same day," he said. "And I feel like with that, the reward of finishing it is smaller."

Friends and family of Zev Rosales, of Vestal, watched his Bar Mitzvah through Zoom the weekend of April 18-19.(Photo: Provided)

Bar Mitzvahs are tricky to postpone, as the Torah passage read is connected to a certain day of the year.

"If we postponed it, we'd be out of sync," Cherese said. "It's almost like we'd have to wait until next year, that exact lunar calendar time."

The family opted for a Bar Mitzvah inside their home, available for their loved ones to watch on Zoom. The Torah was delivered to the family's house the week before his Bar Mitzvah, so Zev could read the passage he'd been learning since the summer.

Zev was the focus of Temple Israel's services for the weekend, including his Bar Mitzvah on Sunday.Rabbi Geoffrey Brown added extra services and eventsto the weekend than would have taken place in person.

"I thought it would be fun to engage the family and the community in multiple interactions," Brown said. "Because right now people are seeking human interaction and it's who we are."

It marked the fourth weekend of Temple Israelservices streamed through Zoom, which Brown said have a higher attendance than in-person services.

Temple Israel is located at 4737 Deerfield Place in Vestal.(Photo: File photo)

Brown has helped studentscomplete theirBar/Bat Mitzvah studiesvirtually in the past. But he's never attended a Bar Mitzvah through Zoom.

"This, for me, wasnot a stretch," he said. "And because the kids today are so device driven and media savvy, it's like just another day with another face and another screen. They don't object."

The next Bar Mitzvahon the Temple's calendar is not until the end of June, but whether or not it will be in person is yet to to be decided.

"We'll see, we don't know," Brown said. "Certainly, with having done it once we have all the room to improve on it and to get feedback of what folks would like to have in addition or in subtraction. So, we're completely wide open and interested in, if we have to go down the road again, improve on it."

Local friends who planned to attend the Bar Mitzvahorganized a parade outside the Rosales household, with 15-20 cars driving by and holding up signs.

"My dad said something was coming out of the sky, just to get me outside, then a bunch of cars came by," Zev said, laughing. "It was actually crazy. It was really exciting to see all my friends just coming by and all my family friends."

Another friend dropped off a cake made by Underground Baker, complete with a face mask and yarmulke.

"They were celebrating with us, in a community way, the best they could," Cherese said.

The family plans to hold Zev's celebration once it is safe to hold large gatherings, possibly on the one-year anniversary of his Bar Mitzvah.

"Before, it was almost like this seems too extravagant, he's 13," Cherese said."And now, this is a huge life event and we want to be able to celebrate these life events as best we can. So now, I can't wait until we can have a party."

From a distance, Zev's loved ones celebrated his Bar Mitzvah. Some threwcandy at the screen.

And their message to Zev?

"Mazel tov."

Follow Maggie Gilroy on Twitter @MaggieGilroy.Support our journalism and become a digital subscriber today. Click here for our special offers.

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Posted By admin on April 26, 2020

Rare Second Temple-era synagogue uncovered near Beit Shemesh will have to be relocated to another area to allow for already approved highway widening.

By Paul Shindman, World Israel News

An ancient Jewish village recently unearthed may have to stay mostly buried because it was discovered after a highway widening project had already been changed to accommodate another archaeological site, the Makor Rishon newspaper reported Sunday.

The ancient site from the Second Temple period was discovered just outside the city of Beit Shemesh, 20 kilometers (12 miles) east of Jerusalem, adjacent to an existing archeological dig from the time of the First Temple.

Whenever new roads are built or existing roads altered in Israel, archaeologists are called in first to make sure antiquities or artifacts wont be destroyed when construction begins. When archaeologists checked the area where Highway 38 was slated to be widened, they found First Temple-era artifacts. The route, which joins Beit Shemesh to the main Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway, was slightly rerouted to avoid damaging that site, but during excavations related to the route change, the Second Temple era site was discovered.

The new remains appear to be those of a Jewish village from the Second Temple period including a building made of unusual stones compared to all the buildings around it. Archaeologists from the Israeli Institute of Archeology initially thought it was a church, but it soon became clear that it was actually a synagogue, making it one of the few synagogues discovered from the Second Temple period.

With the highway diversion already approved, archaeologists said they will excavate and move the remains to a new location, Makor Rishon reported.

The synagogues relocation requires a budget that is in doubt in light of the national economic crisis amid the corona pandemic.

Tel Beit Shemesh, where the two sites are located, is considered one of the most important archaeological areas in Israel spanning an expanse that covers many time periods, the main one being the biblical period. Some of the finds are quite rare, including the solidly built synagogue.

Public buildings in local communities during the Second Temple period are quite elusive, because we are talking about a time when there was a temple in which worshiping took place, said Dr. Yuval Baruch, an archaeologist with the Israel Antiquities Authority referring to the Temple in Jerusalem.

Boaz Gross of the Israeli Institute of Archeology believes the structure probably dates from the Herodian period and that the village unearthed now was abandoned during the Bar Kochba revolt against the Romans.

Since the road construction program has already been approved it cannot be cancelled. Work began this week on dismantling the synagogue before relocating it to another location to clear the area for the highway.

Baruch said that after the removal of the synagogue building, excavation would continue underneath, with many more weeks of work and research planned in the field.

archaeological siteBeit Shemesh

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Posted By admin on April 26, 2020

BERLIN (JTA) This capital city hasnt been locked down to the same extent as cities in France or Italy, or even different regions of Germany, like Bavaria. But the same harsh general restrictions on daily life apply.

Restaurants have been closed with exceptions made for takeout and delivery. Schools have been shut down, as have religious institutions to the public, and live performances are canceled.

Nevertheless, citizens of Berlin, known as of one of the worlds epicenters of creative life, have adapted in fittingly creative fashion. Jewish life from the spiritual to the culinary is changing rapidly, but also thriving in certain ways.

Bagels and books still selling

Laurel Kratochvila is a Boston native who launched Fine Bagels in 2013 to carry on Jewish culinary traditions here.

I would call it a very modern Jewish bakery and cafe, she said. We definitely fly a little under the radar, but if you know what were doing, you understand bagels, rugelach, all of that.

Fine Bagels sits in Berlins drabby yet chic Friedrichshain neighborhood right off of the M10 tram. Inside, visitors take their coffee and bagel surrounded by a small librarys worth of books, including a selection about the city and Jewish cookbooks.

When the pandemic struck and restrictions hit businesses hard, Kratochvila told her husband and business partner Roman that they had to find a way to do delivery.

They created a special Corona Deliveries! page with a selection of their usual bagels, books and pastries, and despite the yeast shortage, planned to sell their Shabbat challah offered only on Thursdays and Fridays. The transition has been surprisingly smooth.

Its funny how quickly weve been able to settle into a routine, she said. It feels like weve been functioning this way forever.

The response from customers?

Kratochvila calls it unbelievable, saying were actually busier than weve ever been, just in terms of working 12-hour days every day.

They deliver directly to customers doorsteps, and buyers can ask for a dropoff outside their home without human contact, as long as theyve paid by PayPal beforehand.

Were making less money, obviously, but Im totally happy because we still have work for our staff as a result and were going to survive this crisis, Kratochvila said.

Religious community grows online

Rabbi Jonah Sievers of the Pestalozzistrasse Synagogue says the pandemic forced religious leaders to find new ways to remain relevant.

His Liberal synagogue what would pass as Reform in the U.S. was quick to react to the closure of religious institutions by moving services online with livestreaming on Facebook.

A view inside the Pestalozzistrasse Synagogue in 2007. The Liberal congregation early in the pandemic moved to livestreaming services. (Bladt/ullstein bild via Getty Images)

Every response has been positive, he said, adding that members have appreciated the opportunity to stay connected. I must say theres been a lot of creativity that wasnt there before. Its nice to meet people, but weve seen that you can reach people and theres a new level of accessibility.

Rabbi Rebecca Blady came to Berlin with her husband, Rabbi Jeremy Borovitz, about four years ago to launch a popup project that would become Base Berlin a pluralistic Jewish space for young adults to learn and connect with each other. They paused all events in their physical home on March 13.

It was a very difficult decision because were an organization that places a lot of value on gathering and the tremendous human experience that is gathering, she said. And were not able to do that physically right now, so we are challenging ourselves to continue the work of building spiritual community without that aspect of gathering in person.

Like Sievers, the couple have transitioned much of their work online, offering classes, meditation sessions and a virtual Havdalah prayer to close the Sabbath. A silver lining to the situation: Participation is up.

Blady thinks that the ability to join from home has made it easier for introverts to more confidently join in the activities. In addition, she believes people from outside of Berlin, who wouldnt normally have a chance to attend a Base event, are tuning in.

I would say, on average, the numbers are higher, Blady said. I think people are definitely looking for community. I think theres a big sense of loneliness that already existed before the pandemic.

A kosher supermarket takes a hit

Lali Silber, manager of the kosher grocery store Lampari in the Charlottenburg district, struck a more somber tone.

Its been very difficult, she said while resting at home.

Silbers business, situated in an area with other Orthodox Jewish shops and synagogues, relies heavily on imports from Israel, which have been delayed. In normal times, Lampari distributes those imports to hotels, restaurants, communities and organizations throughout Germany.

Lampari has taken a definite financial hit during the crisis. But the new reality has allowed the store to better focus on the needs of individual customers and arrange deliveries.

Our employees are really putting in a lot of effort, Silber said. Not many would do what my employees are doing. They risk their health to make sure people get their groceries. Its not about the money now. Its about human life.

For a klezmer musician, an endless Shabbos

Daniel Kahn, a Yiddish-speaking klezmer musician and songwriter from Detroit, sees the potential for an even greater seismic shift in society.

Its like an endless Shabbos, he quipped. But with electricity.

Musician Daniel Kahn, shown with his wife, Yeva Lapsker, calls Berlin a collecting point and a place of refuge. (Oleg Farynyuk)

In sincerity Kahn, who plays accordion and guitar, suggested that the world needed this pause.

This idea that commerce falls away, the market falls away and youre left with yourself and hopefully your loved ones, your closest loved ones, he said. Youre left clinging dearly onto the basic connections that we can have with each other.

Kahn came to Berlin in 2005, where he later met his wife, Yeva Lapsker, a dancer and translator.

Berlin is sort of the center point between East and West, he said, where artists from different backgrounds have the opportunity to collaborate. Its a transit point and its a collecting point and its a place of refuge.

Kahn rattled off a list of canceled klezmer workshops, concerts and festivals that he and his wife would have attended.

Normally were traveling all the time, you know, like on tour and going to festivals, he said. Its just been a complete standstill and everything is now completely uncertain.

That said, Kahn also has been able to move some of his work online. He was set to perform at an international, interfaith unity concert and had plans to participate in a Yiddish Passover Seder. Later in the month, hell headline a solo online performance for the Folksbiene Theater in New York and then do another at home here.

Im not at all focused on how to monetize that stuff, he said. I dont see it as any kind of a functional replacement for physical performance.

Lapsker thinks people will soon tire of all the online offering and Zoom conferences, if they havent already.

I think it is a Band-Aid, she said, but it actually makes us just remember what were really missing.

A queer cabaret tries to keep the momentum going

Nobody had plans to cancel their Passover Seders earlier this month, only to adjust them. Some even ended up participating in more than one.

But none were quite like the queer-themed Seder held by the collaborators behind the cabaret group Jews! Jews! Jews! Lolita Va Voom, a burlesque dancer, and Nana Schewitz, a 96-year-old Jewish grandmother in drag played by a 25-year-old transplant from Florida.

Lolita is a tour guide by day and started Jews! Jews! Jews! after growing frustrated with her guests, who only seemed interested in seeing Jews as victims of the Holocaust. Nana echoed the sentiment.

The drag queen Nana Schewitz and burlesque dancer Lolita Va Voom lead a cabaret group called Jews! Jews! Jews! (Daniel Paikov)

People immediately want to apologize for their grandparents, Nana said.

So Lolita strove to show off another side of Jewish life in Berlin.

Berlin has such a rich and interesting Jewish history, she said. I wanted to do something to represent subversive Jewish art here in Berlin and show people that there are living, breathing, creating Jews here in Berlin and were not just some mythical fantasy or only Israeli or Orthodox.

They planned a queer Seder for the stage, but it had to be moved online, too. Nana called the Seder complete with a homemade Haggadah a combination of traditional and very silly, very queer elements, with Nana in full drag as her character and Lolita performing burlesque.

They were encouraged that a few dozen participated in the Seder, and while they cant perform their usual show in person these days, they have done so online a few times.

Thats what excites me about Judaism, Nana said. Its exactly what you make of it, and we were able to create and foster Judaism into what we want it to be and what we needed it to be.

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Posted By admin on April 26, 2020

Lori Gilbert-Kaye was an avid reader. The last book she bought was called A Time to Heal. It was on her nightstand at home when she was killed a year ago in the mass shooting at her synagogue, Chabad of Poway.

Sometimes her husband of 34 years, Dr. Howard Kaye, wonders if she left it there for him.

Its a little surreal, he said in a phone interview Friday afternoon, almost like she knew I would need it.

Written by influential Jewish leader Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the book is about coping with tragedy and loss, about finding a way to wring meaning and purpose from despair.

Kaye, 68, said its lessons have helped him to look forward, not back. To keep practicing medicine, my true mission, which hes done for 40 years as a specialist in rheumatology. To take the high road instead of fueling vengeance or anger. To lean on his faith.

And its helped him speak out on occasion about anti-Semitism, a deeply rooted toxin. His wifes alleged killer, now awaiting trial (and possible death sentences) in state and federal court, has been linked by authorities to an online screed, posted shortly before the shooting, thats filled with hatred and bigotry.

Lori was a person who demonstrated the very best of humanity, Kaye said, and the sad truth is she was killed because she was a Jew.

Hannah Kaye kneels at the burial of her mother Lori Gilbert-Kaye on April 28, 2019 in San Diego, California.

(K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

The April 27 attack in Poway, which also injured three other people, came six months to the day after one at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, which killed 11 people and wounded a half-dozen others.

It was followed by a fatal shooting at a kosher supermarket in Jersey City, N.J., on Dec. 10 and fatal stabbings at a Hanukkah celebration in Monsey, N.J., on Dec. 28.

Last Tuesday, the Anti-Defamation League released a survey showing that almost two-thirds of American Jews believe they are less safe than they were a decade ago. More than half have either experienced or witnessed an incident they suspect was motivated by anti-Semitism, and more than one-quarter have used strategies downplaying their Jewish identity to avoid being targeted.

This is not just some hate du jour, Kaye said. We keep lumping it with all the other hatreds, but its different. Its this unique, nonsensical hatred that never goes away. And when people hear it, they need to confront it. Dont condone it. Because this is where anti-Semitism ends up: killing people like Lori.

Howard Kaye, center, and his daughter Hannah Kaye hug after the final letter was inked into the new torah thats dedicated to wife and mother Lori Gilbert-Kaye, who was killed when a gunman attacked last April, during a celebration for the new torah at Chabad of Poway on Wednesday, May 22, 2019 in Poway, California.

(Hayne Palmour IV / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

April 27 last year was the final day of Passover, one of the designated times to offer memorial prayers to departed loved ones, and Gilbert-Kaye, 60, was at Chabad of Poway to say one for her mother.

Two weeks earlier, shed been at a wedding in Brooklyn and stopped into a bookstore to buy bibles for the Chabad, another way to honor her mother. Thats when she saw A Time to Heal and brought it home to her nightstand.

I think she bought it to help her with her grief over her mothers passing, Kaye said. But I dont think she ever got the chance to read it.

She was in the lobby at the Chabad when the gunman came in the front door, raised a rifle, and started firing. Also hit were Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, 57, who was shot in both hands and lost his right index finger; Almog Peretz, 34, who was shot in one leg; and Peretzs 8-year-old niece, Noya Dahan, who was wounded in the face and leg by bullet fragments.

Howard Kaye, who was in the sanctuary, heard the shots and then calls for help from the lobby. He rushed forward and saw a woman on the ground, bloodied and not breathing.

As he recalled it later, my lifesaving medical training kicked in, and he started trying to resuscitate her. After several moments, it dawned on him who she was.

In shock, he passed out.

The days and weeks that followed were often unbearable, he said, the emotional pain indescribable. Their daughter, Hannah, a college student, struggled as well, he said. She and her mother were close.

At first, Kaye declined media interviews, chose not to speak out about what he saw as the root evil behind the shooting. Then, in July, he wrote an article for Newsweek, encouraging people to follow a moral compass in their daily lives.

Each time a murderous, twisted individual commits a crime of hate, the urgency to educate society about the basic laws of human civilization grows, he wrote. It holds the potential to stop the next atrocity.

A month later, he filled in for Rabbi Goldstein at a speaking engagement at the Chabad of Mesa in Arizona.

I wanted the world to focus on who Lori was and how she was taken away, Kaye said, according to an account on the website Jewish News. From my standpoint, I view her death as a figurative warning canary. She was such a peaceful and pleasant soul, and to be taken away by such senseless evil, it should have been a warning to the world.

The annual Friendship Walk at Liberty Station honored Lori Gilbert-Kaye, who was shot and killed at Chabad of Poway.

(Nancee E. Lewis)

The Anti-Defamation League keeps track of anti-Semitism around the country in an annual audit. It recorded more than 1,800 incidents in 2018, the third-highest total in 40 years. They included the Tree of Life shooting, the deadliest attack on Jews in the nations history.

In 2017, the number of incidents went up 57 percent, the largest one-year surge ever, according to the organization. It hasnt yet released figures for 2019, which would include the Poway shooting.

But numbers arent the only way to measure its impact.

Darren Schwartz, chief planning and strategy officer for the Jewish Federation of San Diego County, said the Poway shooting brought a renewed focus here on security at synagogues and other buildings.

The community has really come together to examine how we can make the facilities safe and secure, he said, while balancing that with the need to preserve the feeling of being welcoming and open.

The shooting also made it easier to talk to elected officials about anti-Semitism, he said. Its really terrible that it takes something like this to remind people that Jews in the U.S. are still victims of bigotry and hatred, but its enabled us to move this conversation forward.

Those conversations occurred before the onslaught of COVID-19 and its stay-at-home restrictions, which may be lessening some of the anxiety among Jews because the kind of large gatherings that sometimes attract physical attacks arent currently allowed.

But that doesnt mean the problem has disappeared, said Tammy Gillies, regional director of the ADL in San Diego. Online harassment is a growing concern, and more people are online now because theyre stuck indoors.

People are angry and frustrated, she said, and what weve seen historically is that when things are bad, the Jewish community is a target.

Mourners gather outside of Chabad of Poway for a memorial service for Lori Gilbert Kaye on April 29, 2019 in Poway, California.

(Sam Hodgson / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

But San Diego, she said, might be in a better position to combat that because of the awareness raised by the Poway shooting.

I think the community, and not only the Jewish community, was really changed by that act of violence, Gillies said. It opened some eyes to the fact that anti-Semitism is still rampant in our society.

Thats led to public forums and workshops here over the past year, she said, and one-on-one conversations with a variety of people about the problem of hate and what can be done about it.

I think people have been trying hard to make some meaning of what happened a year ago in Poway, Gillies said. Theyre trying to look for the good, use it to build community, and shine the light.

Dr. Roneet Lev laughs when she thinks about how her friend, Gilbert-Kaye, would have dealt with the coronavirus pandemic.

She led a life where every moment counted, so it would not have stopped her, Lev said. She would have rushed around to check on people, make sure they were still OK, her mask on and probably a little askew. She would have found a way to help. Thats what she did.

Gilbert-Kaye was the kind of person who hosted elaborate Seder meals during Passover for two-dozen people and still managed to deliver flowers to friends who couldnt make it, Lev said.

So thats what I did this year. I put my mask on and brought flowers to people.

Its been a year of tributes to Gilbert-Kaye. A horse race in her honor at Del Mar in September. A bench dedication at Lake Poway in August.

Lori Gilbert Kayes family members cut the starting line ribbon before the annual Friendship Walk at Liberty Station.

(Nancee E. Lewis)

In May, a couple in Pittsburgh who didnt know her personally gave their baby girl the middle name Lea, a nod to Gilbert-Kayes Hebrew name. It just felt right, Judah Cowen told the online site Chabad.org.

In December, a short street in Poway, not far from the Kaye home, was renamed Lori Lynn Lane. The city doesnt do that kind of thing very often, Mayor Steve Vaus said, but in this case the decision was easy.

Rabbi Mendel Goldstein of Chabad of Poway, right, looks on, as Jane Cohen, left, Lidia Kotlyar, foreground, and Roneet Lev, unveil the street sign, Lori Lynn Lane at the intersection of Stone Canyon Road, December 20, 2019 in Poway, California.

(Howard Lipin / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

She was somebody who shined a light wherever she went, he said. One of the things Ive come to learn from her family is that she loved Poway, loved to hike on the trails here, go to the parks. She was a special person, and Poway was special to her.

After Gilbert-Kayes funeral, her husband noticed that AM Israel Mortuary in the College Area had given him a 50 percent discount. When he called to thank them, they explained that they did for her what they would do for any employee.

Employee?

For 20 years, Howard Kaye was told, his wife had gone to the mortuary to bring flowers and read messages of comfort to the deceased who had no survivors. The mortuary considered her an honorary employee.

I knew she went to funerals, he said, but not that many.

The last day of Passover this year was April 16, a time again to offer memorial prayers like the one Gilbert-Kaye had wanted to say for her mother. This time they were said for her.

But because of the pandemics restrictions, the Chabad of Poway was closed. Rabbi Mendel Goldstein went to the sanctuary alone and recited Yizkor, holding a Torah dedicated to Gilbert-Kaye in May.

Sunday at 10 a.m., the synagogue is scheduled to air an online memorial service for her on its website. Pre-recorded, the service will include performances by some of her favorite cantors and remarks by one of her favorite rabbis, Jonathan Sacks, a British religious leader, author and member of the House of Lords.

In his comments, Sacks talks about the historic resiliency of Jews, about becoming stronger after tragedy. Take a curse and turn it into a blessing, he said.

Howard Kaye is trying.

Howard Kaye, center, husband of Lori Gilbert-Kaye, carries the new torah dedicated to his wife as Rabbi Yisarel Goldstein, right, and other members of the Chabad of Poway synagogue celebrate the completion on Wednesday, May 22, 2019 in Poway, California.

(Hayne Palmour IV / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

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Chabad shooting, one year later: Seeking light in the darkness - The San Diego Union-Tribune

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Posted By admin on April 26, 2020

WASHINGTON (JTA) For the folks who monitor anti-Semitism, a pandemic-induced nightmare nearly became real this month.

A Massachusetts man was arrested for trying to set off a firebomb near the entrance of a Jewish home for the elderly.

He got the idea, federal authorities said, from the internet.

The incendiary device was planted near Ruths House in suburban Springfield, in western Massachusetts, on April 2. That was a day before the date designated as Jew killing day on a thread on white supremacist social media allegedly read by the suspect. The preferred target, the thread said, was a Jew nursing home.

Jewish security insiders have been fretting since January about the possible dangers of a pandemic. Chief among them: that spiking online activity during quarantine would bring more people in contact with the toxic brew of racism, anti-Semitism and the glorification of violence that occupies the dark corners of the web.

Jewish officials who track anti-Semitism are concerned that a more captive audience, more people spending time online, the ability for these messages to resonate with certain people could increase, said Oren Segal, the vice president of the Anti-Defamation Leagues Center on Extremism.

Amy Spitalnick, who directs Integrity First for America, a group that litigates against white supremacists, said a cohort of extremists with time on their hands posed the risk of increased and more sophisticated attacks.

All of these people are staying at home online and have all the time in the world to take part in these attacks and spread their hate and plan, Spitalnick said.

Michael Masters, who directs the Secure Community Network, the security arm of national Jewish groups, said the April 15 revelation of the arrest made concrete the worries his group had been relaying to its constituents across the United States since January, when SCN started considering the pandemic in its bulletins.

This incident goes exactly to our short- and long-term concerns: the increased anti-Semitism, fomenting hatred and incitement to violence in online forums and on platforms that motivates, encourages or supports individuals to potentially take action against our community, he said. This is not conceptual.

While the volume of anti-Semitic expression has increased online, and in at least two cases has spurred white supremacists to action, Masters said that other manifestations of anti-Semitism, like vandalism and graffiti, have not increased since the pandemic.

Here are some of the ways that the pandemic has changed, and potentially amplified, the threat of violent white supremacists.Big, vulnerable targets

Ten days before the attempted attack on Ruths House, Timothy Wilson was shot dead by FBI agents serving him with a warrant. The pandemic presented the known white supremacist, who blamed Jews for the coronavirus, with an opportunity.

Most gathering places, including synagogues, have been closed because of the pandemic. But Wilson, the FBI said, was planning a truck bomb attack on a large hospital in the Kansas City area, in part because of the mass casualties the pandemic would guarantee.

Wilson, who had contemplated attacking a synagogue among other targets, decided to accelerate his plan to use a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device in an attempt to cause severe harm and mass casualties, according to the FBIs alert.

Segal said the same logic applied to the chatter allegedly heeded by the Massachusetts suspect, advising attacks on Jewish homes for the elderly. Senior homes have made news as coronavirus hot spots.

Its doubling down, he said. Who are the most susceptible, the most threatened by this pandemic its older people.

The conspiracy contagion

Ancient theories of Jewish responsibility for plagues are resurfacing and gaining wider exposure, Masters said.

Starting in mid-January, we were identifying on our duty desk a lot of historic anti-Semitic tropes related to viruses and disease, bubonic plague and post-bubonic plague, he said. The tropes from the Middle Ages were resurrected related to the coronavirus, and it broke down to the Jews are spreading it, the Jews are responsible for it and intending to spread it for monetary gain.

Accusations that Jews are profiting from the pandemic have been circulating for months on social media favored by white supremacists, like Telegram and Gab, and then breaking through to mainstream platforms like Instagram and Twitter. Rick Wiles, a Christian pastor who runs a far-right news site, TruNews, said last month that the pandemic was simultaneously Gods means of punishing the Jews and spread by them.

Accusations that Jews spread contagion date to the centuries before Christ and flourished throughout the Black Plague in the 14th century.

The preeminent targets of bias attacks during the pandemic have been Asians. Early on, an array of Jewish groups condemned the phenomenon.

Weaponizing the virus

There has been chatter on white supremacist social media suggesting attacks on Jewish and other sites using the virus by licking doorknobs or violating social distances to spread disease.

Go to synagogues, travel to Israel, wear a kippah and cough on people were some of the scenarios that Masters said he has seen.

Masters said the threats to weaponize the virus itself seemed to be more trash talk than actual planning. Nonetheless, he said, they were emblematic of how the association of the virus with Jews was metastasizing among white supremacists.

What we assess in our conversations with law enforcement [is that] rather than being indicators of what people were going to do, its a troubling narrative arc from white supremacists, he said.

Uninvited guests

Another facet of the pandemic landscape is Zoombombing, malicious intrusions of the online gatherings that have replaced in-person ones for now.

White supremacists have interrupted online Jewish get-togethers, Torah study sessions and classes with Nazi slogans and obscenities. Just this week, a Holocaust memorial event organized by Israels embassy in Berlin ended after virtual intruders began displaying images of Hitler and shouting anti-Semitic slogans.

National and local Jewish organizations and synagogues have held webinars instructing constituents and congregants on how to set up barriers to the intruders. The ADL has consulted with Zoom, which has added protections.

Masters said the phenomenon was as much a manifestation of white supremacism as it was malign mischief-making.

Its what they say about idle hands being the devils workshop, people will exploit weaknesses where they can those who are trolling, and those who have a desire to scare the community, he said.

Masters said that Jewish Americans may also be more susceptible to the fears stoked by expressions of anti-Semitism because the pandemic is keeping people in isolation.

Incidents of anti-Semitic vandalism and graffiti have been no more pernicious than normal, he said. We see that sort of harassment and anti-Semitism regularly. But it is psychologically impactive to the community because the community is closed and everyone is vulnerable and socially isolated.

The pandemic may go but the sickness remains

Jewish Americans already were facing the most complex and dynamic threat environment weve ever seen facing the Jewish community in our nations history, Masters said, describing the wave of violent attacks on Jewish community targets in the year or so before the pandemic hit, including two deadly assaults on synagogues.

The social upheaval that undergirded those attacks will manifest at exponentially greater levels as we get out of the pandemic, he said, with massive increases in unemployment creating more alienation and people who may look for scapegoats for their misfortune. At the same time, Jewish institutions will be cutting back expenses, possibly in security.

As we reconstitute services and open the doors to congregants, JCC members, and students get back on campuses, with that increase in online hate speech as an excuse to spread anti-Semitism and hatred, there is a real concern that the individuals susceptible to that message will see our community get back to work, and they will pick up that call to violence and take action, Masters said.

Spitalnick, whose group is suing the organizers of the deadly 2017 white supremacist march in Charlottesville, Virginia, noted that they were able to exploit online platforms to spread their message of hate ahead of the march.

She said more must be done to prevent the current moment from magnifying those opportunities.

Our Charlottesville case shows social media enabled and allowed some of the violence to happen, Spitalnick said. There needs to be an approach that brings in the private sector instead of playing whack-a-mole in which we take them off from one site and they go to another.

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With white supremacists driven online by the pandemic, anti-Semitism trackers watch for new threats - JTA News

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Posted By admin on April 26, 2020

The Plot Against America is actually a gripping portrayal of a potential plot against the Jews. And it poses a worrisome question: Will the latent antisemitism depicted in this HBO series based on the Phillip Roth novel prove to be fact or fiction?

We only think were Americans, says Bess at a pivotal point in the television adaptation of Philip Roths dystopian novel The Plot Against America. Like it or not, Lindbergh is teaching us what it means to be Jews.

Her reference is to the real-life American hero who harbored antisemitic sentiments, sympathized with the Nazis and was adamant that the United States stay out of World War II. In this work of fiction, he also unexpectedly defeats Roosevelt in the 1940 presidential election, unleashing a torrent of violent antisemitism which he is accused of legitimizing, even if albeit unwittingly. Bess is the unassuming heroine of the story, an outwardly calm but inwardly terrified Jewish homemaker who has deciphered the writing on the wall and is convinced that it is time to move her family out of the United States.

No. They think we only think were Americans, replies Herman, her more confrontational and high-strung husband, who bridles at any assault on his certainty that he is American, or any derision of his insistence that he be accepted as such. They think with one more push, with one more shove that well break and run to Canada But its not up for discussion, Bess. They can call us others. They are the others. Lindbergh is the other. The man is unfit. He should not be the president. Its as simple as that.

It is difficult to disentangle this scene from current events, given the apprehension felt by so many of Americas Jews today in the face of the newfound confidence of bigots, white supremacists and antisemites to operate seemingly without restraint, and the sense that there is something happening in the public sphere that has given them the license to do so.

The prominence in the TV show of the America First movement of the 1930s raises further concern regarding America today against the background of an America that might have been. America First, after all, is the formal term used to define the doctrine of the Trump administration, language articulated repeatedly in an interview with the New York Times, in official White House position papers, and in the inaugural address of the president of the United States: From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land. From this day forward, its going to be only America First. America First.

While there may be little in common between the ideology of the America First Committee with its antisemitic undertones that a xenophobic Charles Lindbergh headed prior to WWII and American policy in 2020, revivification of the phrase has itself made the Jewish community uncomfortably anxious. So much so, that a full four years ago, the Anti-Defamation League and other Jewish groups formally requested that the words be abnegated. To no avail.

The degree of uneasiness experienced by American Jews has only risen since then. The ADL reported a rise of 57% in the number of antisemitic incidents in the United States in 2017 in comparison to 2016, growing to more than 1,800 incidents in 2018, including the horrific and unprecedented Tree of Life synagogue massacre. That was followed by more fatal attacks in 2019: at Chabad of Poway, California, in a kosher supermarket in Jersey City, and at a Hanukkah celebration in Monsey, New York in addition to hundreds of non-lethal physical assaults, acts of vandalism, verbal harassment, bomb threats, and vicious social media campaigns.

The data appearing in ADLs annual survey of antisemitism in the United States, released last week purposively on Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day should come, then, as no surprise. Among its findings:

And all this before the sharp spike in instances of antisemitism sparked by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The final episode of The Plot Against America was also released in Israel on Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day. I dont know if that was deliberate as well. I do know that for me the timing added a new layer of meaning to each. Towards the end of the program, Bess and Herman are again drawn into discussion of their options in the nightmare America has become.

You were right. We should be in Canada now, acknowledges Herman, crushed by the unfolding of events. I cant live here any longer You were right, Bess. We need to go.

We cant, she tells him. The borders had already been closed.

There has to be a way to get out, he responds in desperation. We have to get out. Now.

At a time when we are all second-guessing exit strategies (though they be of a different sort), far be it from me to suggest that what Herman was urging was the right one. But it is well worth considering that Bess was not the first to arrive at the conclusion that we only think we are Americans. Alfred Dreyfus thought so and was sent to Devils Island. Janusz Korczak believed it and was asphyxiated together with the orphans in his charge. Sigmund Freud was similarly convinced and barely made it across the English Channel. Albert Einstein was so inclined until recognizing his self-deception and fleeing across the Atlantic. The unwavering protestations of countless others that they, too, were first and foremost loyal patriots of the most civilized and emancipated countries the world has ever known evaporated in the smokestacks of Auschwitz.

As true as all this is, growing up carefree in a very Jewish enclave of America, this is not a piece I could ever have imagined writing. Even today, almost half a century after moving to Israel, I dont believe Id feel comfortable doing so had I not been animated by something I saw on a recent trip to America that wasnt supposed to be there. A question mark.

Approaching the majestic mansion housing The Community Synagogue, a thriving bastion of Reform Judaism in New Yorks affluent Long Island hamlet of Port Washington, there it was, at the edge of a long banner hung at the buildings entrance. Emblazoned over juxtaposed photographs of two marches one of Nazi soldiers in Germany and the other of white supremacists in Charlottesville was a question, NEVER AGAIN? In my day, it was an assertion, a buoyant vote of confidence in the promise of the goldene medinah.

But now, hovering between commemoration of the Holocaust and celebration of Israels independence, I relinquish the last word to Herzl, who foretold both.

We have honestly tried everywhere to submerge ourselves into the surrounding societies in which we live while preserving only the faith of our fathers. We have not been permitted to do so In countries where we have already lived for centuries, we are still cried down as strangers.

I dont know if thats still true. I do know its not the reason I moved to Israel, nor the reason for which I would want others to join me here. But it is good to know, 72 years after the Jewish state came into being, that if Bess and Herman were in need of a place to flee to today, there is a home waiting for them, and, I daresay, clandestine ways of getting them here as well.

Dr. David Breakstone serves as deputy chairman of the executive of The Jewish Agency for Israel and is the conceptual architect and founding director of the Herzl Museum and Educational Center in Jerusalem. He is also a member of the directorates of the World Zionist Organization, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael (JNF), Keren Hayesod, Yad Vashem, the Ethiopian National Project, The Schechter Institute for Jewish Studies and Masorti Olami. The opinions expressed herein are entirely his own.

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'We only think we're Americans' a piece I never imagined writing - The Times of Israel

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Posted By admin on April 26, 2020

Zoom is rolling out a new feature to help users fight pervs and trolls who hijack their video meetings.

The videoconferencing company said it will put a new button in its app to let meeting hosts report misbehaving users directly to Zooms Trust and Safety team, which will evaluate the problem and block the offending user if warranted.

The feature will be included in an update to Zooms app due to roll out this Sunday, according to the company. Its meant to address the phenomenon of Zoom-bombing, in which miscreants interrupt virtual meetings by shouting obscenities, displaying bigoted images or putting porn on the screen.

The incidents have plagued schools and government agencies, which have been forced to start using Zoom amid lockdowns meant to curb the coronavirus pandemic. The attacks have occurred often enough in recent weeks that the FBI issued a warning about them last month.

Silicon Valley-based Zoom has an online form where users can report attacks, but the new app feature is meant to make the process easier, according to PC Mag, which first reported on the update.

That report button will be added to the security menu, Oded Gal, Zooms chief product officer, said in a webinar last week hosted by the Anti-Defamation League. That helps us capture information about what happened in the meeting.

Zoom-bombing is one of several security problems the company has had to address as users flocked to its service during the virus crisis. Zoom is facing a shareholder lawsuit over concerns that it lacked adequate data privacy measures and put users at risk of having their information accessed without their permission. The firm has pledged to address security and privacy issues over 90 days in response to such complaints.

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Zoom will let users report 'Zoom-bombing' straight from the app - New York Post

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Posted By admin on April 26, 2020

Due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, ceremonies for Holocaust Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Day were canceled in Israel and across the world. But Yad Vashem and other institutions have found powerful and innovative ways to enable these events to be recorded, livestreamed and Zoomed, to allow us all to be separate but together in our ongoing efforts to keep the memory of the Shoah alive and ensure that Never again remains never again.At the same time, the corona era appears to have spawned a new wave of global antisemitism, and we need to be vigilant against blood libels blaming Jews for the current plague, as well as to prevent attacks against Jewish institutions.In one attack apparently motivated by online forums encouraging violence against Jews, US federal prosecutors said, a member of a white supremacist group planted a homemade bomb at a Jewish assisted-living home named Ruths House in Longmeadow, Massachusetts, last week.There have also been a number of cases of what has been termed Zoombombing, in which extremists have interrupted Zoom confrerences with antisemitic hatred. In one case, reported by The Verge, a woman was watching her uncles funeral in the US on Zoom when the words Die Jew appeared on her screen. On March 27, a synagogue in Maryland reported that virtual Shabbat services were interrupted by someone yelling Heil Hitler and Jewish scum.Extremists never miss an opportunity to leverage a crisis for their hatred, Oren Segal, vice president of the Anti-Defamation Leagues Center on Extremism, was quoted as saying. Theyre now trying to bring it into our homes.That antisemitism has raised its ugly head again during this pandemic is particularly disturbing. Israels first fatality from COVID-19 was a Holocaust survivor from Hungary named Aryeh Even, 88, who died in Jerusalem on March 20. Since then, a number of Holocaust survivors have succumbed to corona, including Benjamin Levin, the last of the partisan Avengers in Poland and a former fighter in the Irgun, who died on April 13, two days after his 93rd birthday, at a Westchester nursing home.It is even more tragic that survivors such as Even and Levin had to spend their last days alone, away from their families, and had to be buried after tiny funerals due to the virus.As we honor the memories of six million Jews who perished during the Holocaust and salute the estimated 400,000 survivors still alive today, we should also pause to remember the dozens of survivors who have recently died from corona complications.The opening ceremony for Holocaust Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Day was broadcast via the Yad Vashem website, YouTube and Facebook Live on Monday night. Its theme was Solidarity in a disintegrating world and included the gripping stories of the six torchlighters and heartfelt prayers from the chief rabbis.Thousands uploaded messages on virtual plaques on a special memorial site established by the March of the Living organization, which was forced to cancel its annual march from Auschwitz to Birkenau this year for the first time in 32 years, due to the virus.The combination of hatred and technology is the greatest danger threatening mankind, Simon Wiesenthal once said. Technology without hatred can be a blessing. Technology with hatred is always a disaster.As we grapple with the current pandemic, Wiesenthals words ring true. But so does the refrain of the Partisan Song, posted in English by The Jerusalem Posts Greer Fay Cashman on Facebook: Never say that you are walking on your final way. Though blue skies are hidden by days of gray, the hour for which we yearn will yet arrive; The earth will tremble with our tread; We are here!Despite the many tragedies experienced by the Jewish people, it has proven to be a resilient nation which today has a state of its own. Israel is a source of strength in fighting antisemitism and hate around the world. That is why, even as we are separated today due to the coronavirus, we stand together and declare Never again for the entire world to hear.

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The Holocaust and the coronavirus - The Jerusalem Post

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Posted By admin on April 26, 2020

By Saraana Jamraj

During their April 22 city commission meeting, the Tamarac City Commission voted, amidst a tearful discussion, to draft a resolution denouncing white supremacy.

The motion was brought forward by Commissioner Mike Gelin, citing facts from the Southern Poverty Law Center, a non-profit organization that specializes in identifying and monitoring hate groups.

Since Number 45 became elected, there has been a rise in the number of attacks from extreme[ist] groups, or white nationalist groups, he said, referring to President Trump.

He also shared that the Anti-Defamation League, which fights against antisemitism, reported an increase in incidents, distribution of propaganda, and demonstrations and that The Center for Strategic and International Studies found that terrorist attacks by far-right groups quadrupled between 2016 and 2017.

I dont believe we have any particular issue in the City of Tamarac [with white supremacy], but I do feel its important to make a statement and make it clear that our city does not support discrimination in any way, shape, or form, said Gelin, who added that a lot of the rise in far-right extremism is attributed to the hatred fueled by the current president, either directly or indirectly.

Vice Mayor Marlon Bolton stated that he wanted to make it clear to the residents of Tamarac that his support of this was not based on Gelins comments about the president.

We, as elected officials in the City of Tamarac, do represent residents who are Republican and love our president, said Bolton. We do have residents who feel that he is not racist, that he is not any of the above.

Commissioner Julie Fishman agreed with Bolton, stating that denouncing white supremacy goes beyond who the president of the country is, and pointed out that racism has been going on for hundreds of years.

Yesterday was Yom HaShoah, which was the anniversary of the Holocaust. Having a vote on this issue, today is perfect timing, Fishman said, in tears.

Mayor Michelle Gomez said she was in tears too, and agreed with the Bolton and Fishman.

It is a shame that in this day and age, it is still going on.

During the live stream, Facebook user, Scott Ob, asked Bolton for a reprimand of Gelin.

How about getting your colleague to apologize for not referring to our President as President Trump but as 45. His racism stands clear, said Ob.

Presumably, after reading the comment, Bolton did just that.

I just also want to clarify that I do not subscribe to the belief that you have to call the president of United States 45, said Bolton.

He clarified that he was a Democrat, by no means Republican, but still supported any elected president.

Regardless of who they are, whether or not we agree with them, I believe they should be respected to some degree, said Bolton.

Despite their minor disagreements on the president, the commission was unified to denounce white supremacyand voted unanimously to draft a resolution against it.

Got News? Send it toTamarac Talk.

She's currently the communications manager at The Salt Box in Parkland and has lived in Coral Springs since 2004.

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