Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on March 24, 2020

Photo: Reuven Blau /THE CITY

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Early Tuesday morning, roughly 70 people gathered in a Brooklyn synagogue for a morning shachris prayer service.

I banged on the bima [prayer stand] and made them stop, recalled Tzvi Zucker, a member of Brooklyns volunteer Shomrim police who was enlisted by leaders of Congregation Hisachdis Yirieim Veretzky to help enforce a new 25-person limit per service.

Zucker said he also recently stopped congregants from sharing a cake: People started to eat it with their hands, he said. I had the entire thing thrown out.

While some big synagogues have closed their doors, the Midwood shul, colloquially known as Landaus minyan factory, has implemented restrictions to combat the spread of the coronavirus, even with services running 18 hours a day.

Elsewhere in Brooklyn, officials are struggling to maintain appropriate social distance in the boroughs Hasidic neighborhoods, which encompass different sects but face some common challenges amid the virus crisis.

Its a vulnerable community because of the centrality of large social gatherings, said Councilmember Mark Levine (D-Manhattan), chair of the City Councils Health Committee. Its what makes it a beautiful community in so many ways, but at times like this, it places them in peril.

Levine spoke amid some recent reports of large gatherings in Hasidic communities at a time when the state has banned events with more than 50 people and most New York City schools and religious institutions have temporarily shuttered.

Congregation Hisachdis Yirieim Veretzky in Midwood, Brooklyn, has put up two tents for outdoor services, March 17, 2020. Photo: Reuven Blau /THE CITY

At an event hall on Ross Street in Williamsburg, the FDNY responded to a call about a large wedding underway and broke up the event Tuesday afternoon. Photos of the guests outside the venue made the rounds on social media.

The gathering was contrary to the social distancing directives that are in place now, said Jim Long, an FDNY spokesperson. We inspected and found cause for action and we asked for the event to be ended.

In Borough Park, home to multiple Hasidic groups, the Jewish Telegraph Agency reported more than 100 people have tested positive for coronavirus at one local urgent care clinic, Asisa.

In Crown Heights, all yeshivas in the Lubavitch Jewish community have been shuttered since noon on Friday, and an edict from an area rabbonim, or rabbinical court, handed down Tuesday told all those over 65 to stay at home.

A fire is burning in our community, the letter read. It is absolutely forbidden for anyone over the age of 65 or with underlying health conditions to attend shul, mikvah, weddings or any other public places.

But many synagogues, or shuls, have continued services this week. The neighborhoods main synagogue at 770 Eastern Parkway remained open through Tuesday afternoon with a bustling crowd, as COLlive, a local news site, reported.

But by Wednesday afternoon its doors had been chained shut, CrownHeights.info reported.

The synagogues administrator Zalman Lipskier said the closure came at 3 a.m. Wednesday morning. Staff shut the doors, he said, because he has been sick in bed for three days.

The rabbis put out a letter to close the shul, we close the shul, he told THE CITY. You do what you gotta do, thats it. Theres nothing to say about it.

Crown Heights resident Andrea Karshan said she and others had been calling for the closure of all synagogues for weeks.

People are going to be dead because they didnt close 770, she told THE CITY by phone earlier from her home where she is self-quarantining with a rough cough and fever.

A man walks along Kingston Avenue in Crown Heights, March 17, 2020. Photo: Ben Fractenberg/THE CITY

Multiple sources in the neighborhood said Lubavitch people now hospitalized were attending services at the Eastern Parkway synagogue as recently as Saturday.

A Crown Heights man, Rabbi Zalman Goldstein, who reported that his father is in critical condition at a local hospital, sent out an audio message sounding the alarm through a post on WhatsApp from a local Lubavitch news site, CrownHeights.info.

In my family, right at the beginning, they thought we should keep it private. Its the biggest mistake, he said. Were letting the shuls stay open? People have to wake up!

[You can say,] Ah, its too late, everybodys already exposed, he continued in the recorded message. Lets say everybody, 95%, are exposed, but we can still save one or two people. Shouldnt we do that?

Goldstein could not be reached by THE CITY.

There is no way to know how many people have the virus in the Lubavitch community. But several locals who spoke with THE CITY say the numbers of suspected cases grow every day among people they know.

Karshan suspects gatherings for Purim, the holiday which took place on March 9 and 10, contributed to the apparent spread. A report from amNewYork Metro of a Purim party at 770 Eastern Parkway for the holiday showed young and old packed in together.

We cant be afraid to be together as a Jewish community. This is the source of our strength to be together, partygoer Shmuli Bronstein told the paper. If we get this virus, maybe we just get sick God willing. But if we die, its Gods will.

Yosef Hershkop, who manages four medical clinics in Borough Park, Williamsburg, Crown Heights and Queens, says hes seen an uptick in visits at all of his locations since last week. He said he is getting calls all the time from people who are worried they have COVID-19 symptoms.

Though theres a lot to be concerned about, hes encouraged by an about-face hes seen in the community.

In the last 48 hours, theres been a huge change for the better, he said Tuesday. Suddenly, even the most nonchalant people are like, Oh my God, this is serious.

A lack of testing, like elsewhere in the city and country, is making detection very difficult, Hershkop said. For now, hes telling patients over the phone: Stay home.

The Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters on Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, March 17, 2020. Photo: Ben Fractenberg/THE CITY

Levine agrees that things have begun to move in the right direction for the citys Orthodox community helped by the report of the 100 positive tests in Borough Park, some alarm from the Health Department and a few of us working the phones feverishly, he said late Tuesday.

The changes in the community are appearing online, as in a video of men praying together, separately, on outdoor porches and balconies. Jewish children in isolation at home are already learning from online classes from local yeshivas, one father told THE CITY.

At Landaus, the shul has set up two large white tents on the sidewalk outside for people to avoid overcrowding while keeping the required 10-person prayer quorum, known as a minyan.

Zucker funneled the hundreds of people arriving for the three daily services into the three main rooms inside the Avenue L synagogue and to the tents. The number of people attending services there was up in part because many other Midwood shuls, and yeshivas with prayer services of their own, have closed, Zucker said.

Meanwhile, a large sign on the front door discouraged elderly people and anyone even slightly sick from entering.

This is about saving lives, he said, noting the services from 7 a.m. to 1 a.m. each day would go on until government officials demanded they stop.

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As Symptoms Spread, Hasidic Leaders Sound the Alarm: 'A Fire Is Burning' - THE CITY

Category: Hasidic | Comments Off on As Symptoms Spread, Hasidic Leaders Sound the Alarm: ‘A Fire Is Burning’ – THE CITY
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Posted By admin on March 24, 2020

A vicious rumor has been making the rounds: Hasidim are neglecting to take the coronavirus pandemic seriously because we are selfish.

But as someone born and bred in the Satmar community in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, who now lives in Jerusalem and writes for Yiddish publications, I can say thats wrong. There are many reasons why the COVID-19 outbreak has been worse in communities like mine than elsewhere, and why the response has unfortunately been slower. But none of them have to do with a lack of care for others.

The first major obstacle is access to information. There are virtually no televisions in Hasidic households, as well as very limited access to the internet. Many people werent aware of the developments leading up to the crisis, the severity of the situation and official announcements as quickly as those who live in constantly online communities.

The second major reason this pandemic has spread rapidly in our communities has to do with physical space and social interaction. The average Hasid comes in contact with hundreds of fellow community members daily starting with morning prayers and continuing through communal learning, weddings and celebrations. This is especially true on holidays like Purim, which this year fell out when the outbreak was just beginning to spread in Israel and the United States.

Generational trauma also has a huge effect on my communitys ability to accept extreme measures imposed from the outside. Shutting down synagogues and schools inevitably brings up dark memories in a community that consists primarily of descendants of Holocaust and persecution survivors. Its natural that leaders are extremely reluctant to accept such measures.

We certainly have a lot of lessons to learn, and its easy to jump to conclusions. But to say that my community doesnt value human life or is being selfish reflects a fundamental lack of understanding. Replacing vilification with understanding would help us play the role we deeply want to in the collective effort to slow the spread of this terrible pandemic.

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Why Coronavirus is Rapidly Spreading in the Hasidic Community - Jewish Journal

Category: Hasidic | Comments Off on Why Coronavirus is Rapidly Spreading in the Hasidic Community – Jewish Journal
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Posted By admin on March 24, 2020

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in New York City more than doubled in just one day, reaching 1,871 on Wednesday. As the outbreak continues to spiral, officials continue to pile on more social restrictions in hopes of slowing the spread.

Businesses will now be ordered to keep half their employees at home, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced. Health care providers, grocery stores and other essential services are exempt. But shopping malls, amusement parks, and bowling alleys (were you people still bowling?) are ordered to close by tonight.

What New York has not yet done is impose an order for residents to shelter in place. Cuomo has pushed back on warnings including from Mayor Bill de Blasio that the order could be coming soon, telling CNNs Wolf Blitzer Wednesday night he doesnt want anyone to get the idea theyre imprisoned or losing individual mobility.

But shelter in place orders elsewhere havent quite reached such scary levels: in the Bay Area, for instance, people can still do things like go to the doctor, visit the grocery store and exercise outside.

That sounds very much like a possible scenario in New York, because the governor has said he is considering stricter limitations in the near future if current restrictions dont significantly slow the spread of the virus.

Finally, federal help may be on the way, but that comes with a significant asterisk. A military hospital ship, aptly named the USNS Comfort, has been dispatched to New York Harbor, where it will offer 1,000 hospital beds. But it turns out the ship is undergoing maintenance and not ready to deploy, and it will be weeks before it gets here. And while President Donald Trump said he would invoke the Defense Production Act to order industries to manufacture medical equipment and supplies, he later said he wont use his powers to force such a ramp up yet.

GOOD NEWS: 108 New Yorkers have recovered and been discharged from the hospital, Cuomo said Wednesday, and the first positive test a health care worker who was quarantined but not hospitalized has now tested negative.

IT'S THURSDAY. Got tips, suggestions or thoughts? Let us know ...By email: [emailprotected] and [emailprotected], or on Twitter: @erinmdurkin and @annagronewold

WHERES ANDREW? Appearing on NBCs Today Show, MSNBCs Morning Joe, and CNNs New Day.

WHERES BILL? Holding a virtual press conference on coronavirus.

IF YOU LIKE DATA: Track state-by-state testing efforts with POLITICOs interactive. Were updating as new numbers keep rolling in from the The COVID Tracking Project.

A message from the Healthcare Education Project:

Tell Albany: Now more than ever, we must keep the Medicaid Promise! Medicaid is the difference between life and death for some of the most vulnerable New Yorkers, including seniors, children, and people with disabilities. One third of all New Yorkers are covered by Medicaid and millions more benefit indirectly. Learn More.

NEW YORK CITY is working with the hospitality industry to possibly convert entire hotels into hospitals for patients without the novel coronavirus, in an effort to increase capacity at medical facilities as the outbreak grows. The citys emergency management commissioner, Deanne Criswell, said in an interview Wednesday that hotels could be vital as New York City needs more beds to treat those with Covid-19. The hotels would be for those non-Covid patients who are really minor but need care, she said. It couldnt be determined how many beds would be immediately available for these patients or how much the city would pay hotels. The city currently uses hotels for some quarantine, and could use them to house health-care workers who need places to stay, Ms. Criswell said. With the citys tourism industry hit by the virus, many hotels are now empty, she added. New York City has 1,339 confirmed cases of the virus as of Wednesday afternoon, with 10 deaths. Wall Street Journals Katie Honan

In one day, 1,000 retired and private practice doctors and nurses volunteered to join the effort to fight coronavirus.

CITY EDUCATORS say they're bracing for herculean challenges in adjusting to teaching students remotely and are racing to adapt their lessons as the city rolled out additional guidelines for principals and teachers Wednesday. Teachers and parents POLITICO spoke to described an onslaught of information being rolled out as the city begins the process of teaching more than 1 million students from afar, at dramatically different levels of learning, affluence and technological savvy nevermind students who don't speak English or those have special needs. Islah Tauheed, a general education second grade teacher at P.S. 567 Linden Tree Elementary School in the Bronx told POLITICO 20 of her school's families are in shelter and about 100 are living doubled up with relatives. When it came to Sunday night I was so heartbroken, Tauheed said referring to when the city finally decided to close schools amid the rapidly spreading coronavirus. I didnt have a proper goodbye or proper closure, or the fact that in the Bronx 37 percent of our students are in temporary housing, just not knowing where they were gonna get their food. POLITICOs Madina Tour

HEALTH OFFICIALS EXPRESSED growing alarm on Wednesday that the coronavirus is spreading quickly in tightly knit Hasidic Jewish communities in Brooklyn, saying that they are investigating a sharp spike in confirmed cases in recent days. More than 100 people have recently tested positive for the coronavirus in two Brooklyn neighborhoods with sizable Hasidic Jewish populations, all of them at two urgent care centers that have been crowded with anxious patients, according to an urgent care center employee. The burst of positive diagnoses in Brooklyn has been centered in Hasidic communities in Borough Park and Williamsburg. The tests were conducted at Asisa Urgent Care facilities in each neighborhood, and the results were all received by the end of the day on Tuesday... On Wednesday, the state health commissioner, Howard Zucker, said his office was aware of the high number of cases in Borough Park and was investigating it as a possible cluster. Theres two possibilities: Theres a lot of testing thats going on or potentially one or more individuals that have been infected, Dr. Zucker said. So thats something thats new on the radar and were investigating that. New York Times Liam Stack

Hasidic leaders have begun sounding the alarm.

THE CORONAVIRUS HAS quickly wreaked havoc on New York Citys economy, sending portions of the workforce into a tailspin and lurching the city budget into potential chaos. A leading financial watchdog, the Citizens Budget Commission, estimated the city could lose $5 billion in revenue in the upcoming fiscal year, based on the prior two recessions. Yet unlike recessions, this fiscal crisis was hastened by orders from the city government, suddenly bringing unprecedented challenges to the citys economy. On Monday, all bars and restaurants a staple of New York Citys vibrant nightlife were ordered to shutter or provide only takeout. Broadway and movie theaters have gone dark by order of the state. And with travel restrictions from Europe, the partial closure of the Canadian border and increasingly stringent rules on domestic trips, the hospitality industry is in free fall. Almost overnight, these edicts have decimated the arts, entertainment, hotel and food industries, which accounted for roughly 10 percent of the citys 4.7 million private-sector jobs as of December. In a recession people might go out to eat less, or go to a less expensive restaurant, Andrew Rein, head of the budget commission, said in an interview. That is not the same thing as saying, No one is going to go out to a restaurant at all. POLITICOs Joe Anuta

The New York Stock Exchange will temporarily close its historic trading floor and move to all electronic trading after two people tested positive in screenings it set up.

Gig economy workers are left out of state relief efforts.

Anywhere between 20,000 and 30,000 New York City hotel workers are likely to lose their jobs over the next month.

An Amazon warehouse worker in Queens has tested positive.

See snapshots of a changing New York City economy.

A RIKERS ISLAND guard and inmate tested positive for novel coronavirus and a Department of [Correction] investigator has died, spurring the citys top lawmakers to demand at-risk detainees and those paroled on lesser charges be immediately released. Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and City Council Member Brad Lander called on Gov. Cuomo, Mayor Bill de Blasio and the citys district attorneys to release low-level offenders, chronically ill New Yorkers and those more than 50 years old. 'Theyre in cages and theyre afraid,' Williams said. 'We want to make sure everyone is actually protected.' Of the 900 older detainees, about 600 have chronic medical conditions, about 300 are held on a parole warrant, about 200 are held on bail and 75 are being held on a minor city sentence, the lawmakers said. Patchs Kathleen Culliton

Homeless shelters have not yet fully complied with social distancing guidelines.

The MTA is borrowing $1 billion to stay afloat amid a massive ridership drop.

The NYPD is telling police officers to keep working even if theyre been exposed to coronavirus, as long as they dont have symptoms.

The MTA is stopping shared Access-a-Ride trips.

The NYPD and Jamaica Hospital offered coronavirus testings for first responders, but ran out of tests by noon.

Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams is still requiring nearly his entire staff to work from the office.

ON WEDNESDAY, Assembly and Senate members warily returned to Albany to find a different kind of Capitol: its usually bustling hallways empty, its cocktail bars shuttered and its fund-raisers canceled, with normally gregarious legislators avoiding shaking hands or hugging. The transformed landscape led veteran lawmakers to wonder aloud whether their tradition-bound rules needed to be adapted for the outbreak. Theres got to be a 21st-century way to deal with this, said Assemblyman Daniel ODonnell, 59, a nine-term Democrat from Manhattan, who said he was driving to Albany in a car packed with sanitary wipes and rubber gloves to push a button. Im not a hypochondriac, he said. But Im very anxious about this." New York Times Jesse McKinley and Luis Ferr-Sadurn

PRO SUBSCRIBERS: Check out scenes from an empty Capitol, from newly minted POLITICO photographers Nick Niedzwiadek and Bill Mahoney.

Anxiety is mounting among many state employees who are still being required to report to crowded offices.

STATES BRACE FOR BUDGET CLIFF: Some states, like California, may be better prepared to weather the storm, sitting on a surplus and $20 billion reserve fund built after lessons learned from the last downturn. But others will have to figure out which programs to cut for the first time in years. Illinois, for instance, doesnt even have a rainy day fund. That was on Gov. J.B. Pritzkers wish list for this years legislative session which has now been put on hold. States such as New York are already talking about building contingencies into their spending plan. Trigger cuts a well-worn tool during the last recession are already entering the conversation.

Washington, of course, can use its borrowing powers where states can't, as it did during the last recession with a massive public works package intended to create jobs and buoy local economies. Congress and the Trump administration are now discussing a package of more than $1 trillion in stimulus, and state and local leaders have begun to press for emergency federal aid to support sectors from transportation to dining. Were going to need the federal government with us in a big way, said New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat. And I think everybody recognizes that and I dont mean just New Jersey. Were going to need help. This is beyond any one state. But Democrats in particular wonder if the Trump administration will be eager to increase funding to areas it previously slated for cuts, such as Medicaid and social service programs that would serve as a safety net for those hit hardest by coronavirus economic damage. POLITICOs Kevin Yamamura

County governments in New York could face an economic hit of $350 million to $1 billion in lost revenue as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, a report found.

THE LEGALIZATION of marijuana for recreational use in New York is likely off the table in the state budget, which is due in two weeks, because of complications in negotiations spurred by novel coronavirus, State Sen. Liz Krueger, D-Manhattan, said Wednesday. Krueger, the lead sponsor of legislation that would legalize the drug, said she didnt believe lawmakers could negotiate a deal on marijuana legalization by the April 1 deadline. I dont believe marijuana is going to be negotiated in this budget in the next few days, Krueger said. I just dont see it as realistic. New York Nows Dan Clark

MRT II MUSCLES ON: A redefined Medicaid global cap, a 60-month look-back period for home- and community-based care eligibility and increased across-the-board reductions are among the dozens of proposals the Medicaid Redesign Team II is expected to recommend lawmakers adopt to close New Yorks budget shortfall. The 21-member panel, which Gov. Andrew Cuomo tasked with identifying $2.5 billion in program savings for his fiscal fear 2021 budget, issued a series of recommendations late Tuesday, according to documents provided to POLITICO from multiple sources. The MRT II, which is set to hold its third and final public meeting Thursday, is expected to discuss the recommendations outlined in an executive summary and scorecard during a Wednesday afternoon call, various sources have confirmed. POLITICOs Shannon Young

ICYMI: New York has delayed enforcement of its statewide plastic bag ban for another seven weeks amid coronavirus concerns. Its welcome news for folks fighting the ban already who are pointing to plastic products as a defense against virus spread. There is ample scientific research concluding reusable bags can contribute to the spread of bacteria and viruses, and now more than ever we need to take every step possible to ensure that New Yorkers are safe and healthy, American Recyclable Plastic Bag Alliance executive director Matt Seaholm said in a statement.

#UpstateAmerica: Amid limited medical supplies statewide, a Liverpool couple is using 3D printers in their basement to make face shields for coronavirus testing workers.

WASHINGTON is mobilizing to rescue the country from potentially disastrous economic consequences from the global coronavirus outbreak, with the Senate on Wednesday passing a multi-billion dollar emergency package and quickly getting to work on a larger stimulus agreement. With Senate leaders vowing to work at warp speed to blunt the financial fallout from the pandemic, the Treasury Department unveiled to lawmakers a plan for $250 billion in direct payments to Americans starting April 6. Meanwhile, Senate Republicans were inching closer on Wednesday to unveiling their proposal for a third, even larger stimulus package to address the epidemic, which is likely to include some of Treasury's ideas. The Senates approval Wednesday of the House-passed coronavirus bill, known as phase two, comes as Republican senators are expected to begin negotiations with Democrats on a trillion-dollar phase three stimulus package as early as Wednesday nightDespite real shortcomings in the legislation, McConnell said, in this case, I do not believe we should let perfection be the enemy of something that will help even a subset of workers. POLITICOs Marianne LeVine and Andrew Desiderio

Brian Lehrer in the age of pandemonium.

LISTEN: De Blasio Struggles to Communicate Amidst COVID-19 Crisis, by WNYCs Brigid Bergin.

The Met is projecting $100 million in losses and expects to remain closed until July.

Police gave criminal summonses to two businesses that refused to shut down in response to coronavirus orders.

The fleet of trash haulers that pick up commercial garbage are bracing for a major hit with the shutdown of many businesses.

Ex-NYC Transit boss Andy Byford is stuck in England.

Retailers prohibited from price gouging on key supplies say they themselves are being gouged by their suppliers.

Danny Meyers Union Square Hospitality Group is laying off 2,000 employees, representing 80 percent of its workforce.

A woman threw an oxygen tank in front of an oncoming subway train, sparking an explosion.

Convicted Nxivm sex cult leader Keith Raniere is getting another delay in his sentencing date thanks to the coronavirus outbreak.

Cuomo had informal discussions with prosecutors, criminal justice advocates and NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea on Wednesday about potential changes to New Yorks bail laws.

Some New Yorkers are taking to city parks as a way to escape the pandemic-brought disarray.

A firefighter has tested positive for the virus, marking the fourth confirmed case within the FDNY.

Assembly Democrats appear to be hesitant about Cuomos priority budget proposal to accelerate the siting of new renewables.

Former prosecutor Linda Farstein sued Netflix for defamation over a series about the Central Park Five case.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Jill Abramson is 66 Kayla Cook, COS at Axios, is 35 Van Scott of ABC News Kivvits Ian Hainline is 31 T. Christian Miller, senior investigative reporter at ProPublica CBS Emma Gottlieb Alissa Krinsky (was Wednesday): Jaime Venditti, managing partner and president of J Strategies, Inc. (hat tip: Adam Morey)

MAKING MOVES Paul Dans is now White House liaison and senior adviser to the director of OPM. He previously was at HUD, where he was senior adviser in the Office of Community Planning & Development. Dans began his legal career as an associate at New York law firms LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae and Debevoise & Plimpton.

MEDIAWATCH Per Talking Biz News: Chao Li has joined The Wall Street Journal as a weekend strategy editor. Recently, she held the post of associate director of product operations at Group Nine Media. Jack Brewster, founder and managing editor of Newsreel, a political news platform for a young audience, will be joining Forbes as a politics reporter.

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO on Wednesday announced that all nonessential businesses must have no more than 50 percent of their employees working outside their homes. The executive order laying out this mandate, which has not been publicly released, is expected to take effect Friday. Building Trades Employers Association President Louis Coletti said his organization has called on state and city officials to include construction among the essential businesses to be exempt from the rule. After his announcement, Cuomo tweeted that the order would apply to businesses that rely on in-office personnel, which would figure to exclude construction. But the construction industry still seeks a formal characterization as essential, alongside healthcare providers and grocery stores, so construction sites could remain active in the event of a shelter-in-place order. Mayor Bill de Blasio has asked New Yorkers to prepare for such an order, but Cuomo wants to first see if less drastic measures will stem the pandemic in the state. Real Deals Kathryn Brenzel

A message from the Healthcare Education Project:

Now more than ever, we need Albany to keep Medicaid strong. New Yorks Medicaid program provides critical health insurance to low-income children and adults, seniors, and people with disabilities so that they and their families can get the healthcare they need to get healthy and stay healthy, particularly in times of crisis. It allows them to see a doctor when they are sick, get check-ups, buy medications, and go to the hospital. Medicaid is the difference between life and death for some of the most vulnerable in our communities, and there are millions more who benefit indirectly from this essential program. No New Yorker should have to choose between paying for healthcare and paying for rent or groceries. As our state leaders address the budget deficit, they must recognize essential spending on services and a quality workforce. Tell Albany: Now more than ever, keep the Medicaid Promise! Learn More.

Its been a busy week for the Buffalo Bills. Mario Addison is a pass-rusher in a win-now mode, something reinforced by the loss by the Patriots of Tom Brady. Guys like Quinton Jefferson and Josh Norman, the latter signed to play cornerback, only enhance the defensive options for a Buffalo team that already tilted that way last season. The big addition came on offense, though: Stefon Diggs changes the way the field is going to look to quarterback Josh Allen. The Bills are legitimate Super Bowl contenders.

The day ahead: Both NBA League Pass and NFL Game Pass are now available, free, to us all. So obviously, Im going to start you on May 8, 1970. The Willis Reed Game. Go enjoy the shock as he emerges from the tunnel, 50 years ago somehow.

See more here:

NYC coronavirus cases double Businesses ordered to keep half of workforce at home City looks to turn hotels into hospitals - Politico

Category: Hasidic | Comments Off on NYC coronavirus cases double Businesses ordered to keep half of workforce at home City looks to turn hotels into hospitals – Politico
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Posted By admin on March 24, 2020

When the rabbis of New Jerseys suburban Bergen County took the bold step of shutting down almost all facets of communal Jewish life last week, they left the doors of one institution open: the womens mikvah, or ritual bath.That pattern has been repeated in place after place this week as the Jewish world has responded to the coronavirus epidemic. In multiple communities in the United States and across Israel, womens mikvahs have stayed open even after synagogues, schools and even mens baths have closed.

Found in virtually every significant Jewish community in the world, mikvahs enable Jewish women who observe religious law to resume physical relations with their husbands following the completion of their menstrual cycle. For Jews who observe the laws of mikvah most scrupulously, closing the womens baths could mean not only no sex, but no hugging or touching their spouses in any way for the foreseeable future an extreme privation and technical challenge for families stuck at home together.

Women familiar with mikvahs say that with some minor adjustments, the baths meet all the requirements for a safe environment. But at a time when nearly all public spaces are temporarily closing, the continued operation of the baths raises questions.

It would be safe to say that most epidemiologists would suggest that if there was a way to have an opportunity to put a stay on this type of activity until this epidemic has passed, that would be prudent, said Ted Cohen, an epidemiologist at Yale Universitys School of Health.

A decision Thursday by the Village of Kiryas Joel, a Hasidic enclave an hour north of Manhattan, may hint at whats to come. The town announced a complete lockdown, including its ritual bathhouses, to stop the coronavirus spread.

Erin Piatetsky, the board president of a mikvah in the Washington, D.C., area, said that although the facility is staying open, board members are extremely concerned about the spread of COVID-19.

We are all wondering when will the time come when perhaps we will have to [close], she said. We think that hasnt come yet. Weve been constantly putting in stricter and stricter cleaning precautions and checking precautions.

Jewish womens ritual immersion has distancing built into the process. Typically a woman goes in the water only in the presence of an attendant who checks that her immersion is done in accordance with Jewish law, which requires women to be clean and unadorned when they submerge themselves. That means that women who visit the mikvah face a lower risk of disease transmission than those who attend services in a synagogue crowded with other worshippers.

Youre talking about one person immersing and one volunteer, said Carrie Bornstein, the executive director of Mayyim Hayyim, a community ritual bath in Newton, Massachusetts, which has closed its education and art centers but kept open its mikvah.

Were also having people stay distant from each other when they are in the mikvah so its a much more controlled and contained environment, Bornstein said.

The Eden Center, a Jerusalem-based group that works to educate women about mikvah usage, wants all mikvahs to adopt similar regulations. The center is pushing for mikvahs in Israel to remain open, and its director, Naomi Grumet, said she thinks closing the baths would be a last resort for the Israeli government.

Its part of the way of life of many, many people here, and I think in deference to that, the government officials will certainly want to try to keep it open as long as possible, Grumet said. Thats part of keeping a healthy and stress-free environment.

Nishmat, an Orthodox womens seminary in Jerusalem, has published guidelines with safety measures for mikvahs.

This is a critical part of Jewish practice, and assuming all of the rules of social distancing and disinfection are kept, according to the health professionals with whom we have consulted, a visit to the mikvah should not pose any extra health risk, said Atara Eis, the director the North American branch of the seminarys program to train women in the laws of mikvah usage.

Rabbi Lila Kagedan, a graduate of the Orthodox womens seminary Yeshivat Maharat who has a background in bioethics, said she has provided guidance to some 50 mikvahs since the outbreak of the coronavirus.

This is really a rapidly evolving situation, so guidelines are going to evolve over time, but in the here and now there is certainly a move to keep mikvahs open and operational with restrictions, she said.

The closure of mikvahs would pose a challenge to many traditionally observant couples, according to Rabbi Dov Linzer, the head of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, a Modern Orthodox rabbinical school, but not one that is insurmountable. While Jewish law calls for new communities to build the mikvah before a synagogue, many women have historically been unable to visit ritual baths because of where they live or their particular medical needs.

The stress that this can bring to the marriage and the human difficulty that this means, I dont mean to in any way minimize that, but it is important to realize that were talking about a few months and people have managed, Linzer said.

Jewish law offers other options. Natural bodies of water, including lakes and oceans, can be used as a mikvah. Private pools can in some cases serve as mikvahs, and in fact Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, a prominent American Orthodox rabbi, helped construct such a pool for a community he served in Belarus in the 1920s.

Under the right circumstances there are definitely people who have ruled that a swimming pool is OK, Linzer said, but you have to have those right circumstances.

Linzer added that he thought the coronavirus pandemic might result in some flexibility.

I would not be surprised that if this goes on for awhile and the mikvahs are shut, that there will be rabbis who will come out with that ruling, he said.

Another area of potential flexibility could be the possible lifting of some stringencies around non-sexual touch. The biblical prohibition is against sexual intercourse, but rabbinic stringencies include non-sexual touching, too.

Thats an area that I think some rabbis will consider, Linzer said. This doesnt totally solve the problem, but it might solve it partly.

The 24-year-old woman in Jerusalem says that regular touch like a comforting pat on the back concerns her more than sexual intimacy.

Sex is not even the point, but just about the comfort and closeness that touch can give when youre feeling alone and scared, she said.

Peninah Feldmans mind is also on closure and how it would affect her home life. The 29-year-old doctoral student, who lives with her husband in Highland Park, New Jersey, has already considered alternate scenarios, including going to a secluded area at a nearby lake or beach if her local mikvah closes.

Its not like its the end of the world, she said. But so much of the way Im hoping to keep myself sane in the course of this process is to make things as normal as possible. It would be such a big disruption to have that part of our lives inaccessible.

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Posted By admin on March 24, 2020

(JTA) After a week in which the headlines seemed to grow more grim by the day, its worth remembering that even as cities go dark across the globe, the world continues to turn. Babies are born, people are getting married, and thankfully the sun still rises every morning.

As we wind down a work week unlike any weve experienced before, here are three Jewish stories of hope and joy to take you into the weekend.

Alana and Yisroel got married

Theyre not the only Jewish couple to get married in the midst of a pandemic, but few photos capture just how surreal this moment feels for many of us as this one of Alana Cooper and Yisroel Ygbi, who were married Thursday afternoon in Brooklyn outside the headquarters of the Chabad Hasidic movement at 770 Eastern Parkway.

Alana Cooper and her husband, Yisroel Ygbi, center, at their wedding in Brooklyn. (Courtesy of Rabbi Ari Kirschenbaum)

Presided over by Rabbi Ari Kirschenbaum, the director of the Chabad center in the Prospect Heights neighborhood, the wedding was as makeshift as they come, with passersby recruited to participate in key parts of the service.

Nothing was ordinary but everything was extraordinary, Kirschenbaum wrote in an email Friday.

Cooper and Ygbi werent even the only Jewish couple to get married in the neighborhood this week. One couple that couldnt have guests at their wedding drove through the streets in a convertible while people cheered for them.

Jacob Frey and his wife are expecting

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey known in some quarters as the nations foremost Jewish political sex symbol (watch out Bernie Sanders) announced that he and his wife Sarah Clarke are expecting a baby in September.

Hey everyone, Frey said in a short video posted on Twitter. I figured that youve gotten enough talk on coronavirus lately.

It doesnt even matter that Frey appeared not to know what to call an ultrasound. Presumably, hes got other issues on his plate. Like many major cities, Minneapolis remains under a state of emergency.

We are super excited, Frey said in the video. And so are we. Mazel tov, Jacob and Sarah.

Westchester attorney emerges from coma

Lawrence Garbuz, the attorney at the center of the coronavirus outbreak in New Rochelle, New York, emerged from a coma on Wednesday.

Garbuz was patient zero for the coronavirus in New York, the common denominator among 37 early confirmed cases of the disease in the state. The Young Israel of New Rochelle synagogue, which Garbuz attended, was forced to close after his diagnosis. A one-mile containment zone was set up around the synagogue.

As the crisis intensified, Garbuz was placed into a medically induced coma from which he emerged on Wednesday. He is awake and alert and seems to be on the road to full recovery, his wife, Adina, said in a post on Facebook.

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Posted By admin on March 24, 2020

On Friday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that he would ban all non-essential gatherings in an executive order, the latest step in the states increasingly stringent and sweeping rules to enforce social distancing and limit the spread of the novel coronavirus.

This is not life as usual and accept it and realize it and deal with it, he said.

But when his office released guidance on the ban, along with the list of essential businesses that would be allowed to keep their doors open after Sunday, it didnt clear up a key question for observant Jews: Does the ban on gatherings extend to religious prayer services?

In a crisis where rules to help prevent the spread of the virus are being written and tested on the fly, there remains some ambiguity about whether New York State could or would force prayer groups to stop if they violated Cuomos latest rules. And Orthodox Jews, who pray in groups of at least 10, say that ambiguity from government officials on social distancing rules makes it difficult to ensure total cooperation from their community.

Indeed, Orthodox Jews on Monday spread the language exempting houses of worship from closing on social media despite wide adherence to social distancing rules. One message, a screenshot of [the page on the governors website with guidance on the new rules on gatherings, with the section about houses of worship circled in red, was being forwarded on the messaging app WhatsApp.

The guidance released Friday noted that houses of worship are not ordered closed, even though worship services of 50 or more have been banned since March 15.

In an emailed statement, a spokesperson for the governor wrote: Nonessential large gatherings of any kind are not permitted at this time. Regarding houses of worship, we strongly urge them to follow the CDCs social distancing guidance. We are proud that many houses of worship have proactively adopted these procedures to protect the health of their congregants and slow the spread of this virus.

As a public service during this pandemic, the Forward is providing free, unlimited access to all coronavirus articles. If youd like to support our independent Jewish journalism, click here.

The spokesperson did not respond to a specific question about how the ban would be enforced for religious gatherings.

By Monday, nearly every Orthodox group had released a statement urging observant Jews to stop attending prayer services and to comply with social distancing guidelines. Yeshiva World News has reported that every single decisor of Jewish law in America has ruled that no Jew should pray in a synagogue or in a minyan a prayer gathering of 10 or more people due to the chance of spreading the novel coronavirus.

In a joint statement Monday, several major Orthodox umbrella groups urged all observant Jews to cancel their Passover travel plans, and to drastically change their Passover routines in order to limit social interactions that could spread the virus.

Yet the Orthodox world has struggled to convince all its adherents to shut down daily prayer services or to stem traffic to ritual baths. Leaders in the community have consistently cited differences in policies touted by different levels of government as a barrier to convincing all Hasidic Jews to stop sending their children to school, stop going to synagogue to pray and to overall limit trips outside.

Rivkie Finer, an Orthodox business leader in Monsey, N.Y., said that people she knows in the Orthodox world are confused as to whether religious gatherings are allowed. But, she said, it would be hypocritical of the governor for, to example, hold press conferences with over a dozen people who are spaced far apart from one another, but not allow religious Jews to have small prayer gatherings.

Consistency is key, she said.

Scattered prayer gatherings in the Orthodox world continued over the weekend, as New Yorkers across the city took to parks and public spaces to see friends and play sports. The Forward reported a large prayer service outside the headquarters of the Chabad Hasidic movement in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, on Friday night. Police posted outside called their superior, wondering what to do, but did not get guidance to break up the event.

The situation in New Jersey was different. Police there arrested two men for hosting weddings that had more than 50 guests, a violation of the states social distancing rules.

On Saturday, Moshe Kahan, a Hasidic investment advisor in Williamsburg, said he attended a 10-person minyan at a synagogue, where the men stood several steps from one another.

If the government tells me, or indicates, even, that a religious service is non-essential, I will follow what the government says, Kahan said in an interview Monday morning. Indeed, he has changed his handle on Twitter to Follow Guidelines.

But, he said, If auto repairs is considered essential, then a minyan is definitely essential.

The screenshot with the relevant guidance about houses of worship was being shared widely even as a top aide to Cuomo, Melissa DeRosa, said at a Monday morning press conference that the ban on social gatherings was across the board in response to a question about the extent of the ban.

Theres no gatherings of any kind, including weddings, parties, birthday parties, DeRosa said. That was a directive. Its not a recommendation.

To be sure, Orthodox Jews are not the governors focus. On Sunday, Cuomo said that New York City would have 24 hours to address crowding in public places, after he visited the city and saw people playing recreational sports and gathering in groups, particularly in parks. In a press conference Monday morning, Cuomo singled out younger people who he said were gathering too often and not taking social distancing seriously.

Its reckless and its violative of the spirit and your duty as a citizen, as far as Im concerned, he said.

Yossi Gestetner, a public relations executive and the director of OJPAC, a group that uses public data to counter negative narratives about Orthodox Jews, said that if the rules allow for the kind of behavior specified by Cuomo, they allow for minyans as well.

If for a guy from Manhattan it means doing exercise, and for this guy it means having a socially-distanced minyan in a park, then so be it, he said.

Ari Feldman is a staff writer at the Forward. Contact him at feldman@forward.com or follow him on Twitter @aefeldman

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Posted By admin on March 23, 2020

There were glimpses of how much could be at stake.

A month before the coronavirus outbreak led to orders that tens of millions of Americans largely stay at home, white supremacists had urged each other to spread the virus by filling spray bottles with saliva, spitting on elevator buttons and other ways, intelligence officials said.

The bioterrorism plot was detailed in an unclassified intelligence briefing in late February by the Federal Protective Service, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security. Hate group members used the instant messaging application Telegram to urge each other to weaponize the virus and target law enforcement officers and nonwhite communities.

There was no evidence members of hate groups took any of those actions.

But Jonathan Greenblatt, the chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League, said in an interview Sunday that its not surprising that hate groups have been trying to seize on the anxiety and confusion over the coronavirus outbreak.

I think were all in the fog of war trying to understand what the coronavirus will mean for our families, our firms and our society as a whole, Mr. Greenblatt said.

And sometimes, the virus and traditional police work intersect.

On March 6, police in Portland, received a report of the theft of 20 to 25 cases of N95 respirator masks, each case containing 400 masks. The next day, the theft victim discovered someone selling what seemed to be the same masks on Craigslist. A 22-year-old man was arrested on theft charges, eventually 13 boxes of the masks were recovered, and the theft victim donated all the masks to local hospitals for dealing with the coronavirus, police said.

Still, across the country there have been few arrests so far related to the coronavirus. That was in stark contrast to the stringent approach of police forces abroad.

In Jordan, 400 people were arrested after violating a nationwide curfew introduced on Saturday. A 26-year-old man was arrested on the Isle of Man, in the Irish Sea, after failing to self-isolate. He faces a possible fine of up to 10,000 pounds (about $11,500) and prison. As of Friday, more than 31,000 people in Spain had been reported for not abiding by stay-at-home rules, according to the countrys Interior Minister, Fernando Grande Marlaska.

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Posted By admin on March 23, 2020

The world is panicking and locking down in response to a virus. Some are asking, is God angry with mankind? The answer should dictate your response.

Why is this happening? Coronavirus is grinding the world to a halt. Countries are locking down, closing borders and banning public gatherings. Sports, tourist attractions and major events are being canceled. Cities are eerily quiet. Masses of people are being forced to stay home. Hoarding is rampant. Store shelves are empty. Shoppers are panicking. Businesses are being destroyed. Stocks are plunging, and economiesnational and globalare being ravaged.

Is God angry with mankind? Is this fulfilling Bible prophecy? What can we learn from this extraordinary event?

When we experience this kind of disruption and trial, we need to learn what we can from it. We dont want to stumble through and hope everything ends as quickly as possible simply so we can return to life exactly as before.

You need to know what the Bible says. You need to know what a Christians response should be. You need to know how to react, physically and spirituallybecause even more-serious crises are coming.

United States President Donald Trump declared Sunday, March 15, a National Day of Prayer for All Americans Affected by the Coronavirus Pandemic and for Our National Response Efforts. In a White House statement, the president noted that though a lot of churches were closing, in this time we must not cease asking God for added wisdom, comfort and strength, and we must especially pray for those who have suffered harm or who have lost loved ones. He asked for people to pray for Gods healing hand to be placed on the people of our nation, to pray for the health and well-being of your fellow Americans, and to remember that no problem is too big for God to handle. With Gods help, we will overcome this threat.

It was a fairly tame proclamation. It said nothing about why God might be allowing this pandemic. It avoided talk of humbling ourselves before God or seeking to restore Gods favor. It didnt mention repentance, or turning from sin. It merely recommended asking God for comfort, strength, protection, health and healing.

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Still, many people reacted viscerally. They ridiculed prayer as being anti-science. One woman tweeted: Wishful thinking isnt going to make testing and care available to those who are sick. Wishful thinking isnt going to feed people or pay their bills. It doesnt keep us warm or safe from harm. Rep. Rashida Tlaib issued a vulgar response scorning national prayer.

Others demanded separation of church and state, as if encouraging voluntary prayers is somehow enforcing a state religion. One woman tweeted: This goes against everything the founding fathers stood for. Apparently she is unaware that Americas founders were deeply religious and praised and thanked the Creator God in the nations Declaration of Independence. Among them were men like John Adams, who said, Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.

In the overall national conversation on the news, God is not being talked about. Instead, you are hearing from every doctor, scientist, celebrity and pundit regarding containment measures and projecting worst-case scenarios. You are hearing experts speculate that around two thirds of the worlds population could get the disease, and that tens of millions could die.

This is creating a lot of hysteria. Most of the shocks to stock markets have not come from problems already hitting, but from fear of problems that could hit. Shortages in groceries and general stores mostly arent resulting from problems with supply, manufacturing or distribution, but from fear, panic and hoarding. Plenty of food, toilet paper and other essentials still exist, but people are frantically grabbing more, looking after themselves and their own.

This is exposing some ugly truths about ourselvestruths certain to prove extremely relevant in the time ahead. We are getting a preview of how people react in crisisand Bible prophecy says far more and far worse crises are coming.

We are getting a preview of how people react in crisisand Bible prophecy says far more and far worse crises are coming.

What would happen if a more lethal disease or an environmental or financial disaster actually disrupts the supply chain? What if earthquakes or other natural phenomena destroy infrastructure or wipe out food production, or long-term economic depression hits, or currency values collapse, or we suffer an energy embargo, or terrorist strikesperhaps nuclear, biological or chemical weapon attacksoccur in several cities? Such threats are very real.

Witness how people are behaving in this comparatively minor crisis. The world has never reacted to a pandemic as it is reacting today. Even if worst-case scenarios dont materialize, this shows how quickly an unexpected disaster can arise from nowhere and utterly alter the global landscape.

This is a time we need national days of prayer. We need to be sincerely looking to God, not just for comfort, strength, protection, health and healing, but also for guidance and, yes, correction. We need to see this from His point of view. We must see how He is involved and what He is trying to teach us.

Yet the notion of God being involved in something like a disease pandemic is entirely foreign to people.

For Christians, this terrible virus is not a punishment but a test of our faith and charity, the Telegraph wrote on March 16. This author ridicules the idea of divine punishment, and explains how Enlightenment reasoning has overtaken medieval thinking. Very few Christian leaders have blamed the coronavirus on sin (even if there is a lot of it about), and some clerics have been so keen to discourage us from going to church, lest we cough on the congregation, that one is left wondering what faith has to offer when nature goes mad. The solution this author provides: Christians should look after other people.

Acts of charity toward those in need are certainly noblebut can we casually dismiss the idea that a crisis like this may be a curse from God?

Think about this for a moment. Suppose God did want to correct us. Suppose He does hate sin and hates how it harms us. Suppose He wants us to see how selfish, covetous, materialistic we are, how glutted on sports and entertainment. Suppose He does want us to change, to turn from sin, to turn to Him, and to live better lives.

What if He wanted to warn us that bigger trials are coming, and to give us a taste of those, a dose of reality, so we could examine ourselves to begin to see who we really are?

Suppose God wants to show us that modern conveniences and luxuries are dominating our lives and drawing us away from the spiritual. Suppose He wants to help us see how we trust ourselves too much and to realize how fragile the civilization we have built really is, how tenuous the social fabric.

Suppose God wants us to get a good look at our own selfish human nature and to help us see that we arent as good-hearted as we think. Most of us get along well enough as long as we are materially well offbut its when we experience hardship and deprivation that our true character begins to emerge. What if God wanted to show us how little hardship it takes to begin to expose our ugly tendencies like selfishness, tribalism, factionalism?

What if He wanted to warn us that bigger trials are coming, and to give us a taste of those, a dose of reality, so we could examine ourselves to begin to see who we really are? What if God wanted us to stop our sports worship, our entertainment addiction, if He wanted us to hit the pause button on all the moviesso we would slow down a moment, stay home with family, think, and consider our ways? What if God actually did want to correct His children for their sins, and to lead them to repentance?

Isnt it possible He could use a disease pandemic to do it?

God makes the answers to all these questions and more plain in His revelation to mankind, the Bible.

Gods Word tells us why events like this are happening. It explains in detail why God allows trials like this oneat times on a mass scaleto accomplish specific purposes. It also tells us what God expects of us: what Gods standards are and how to recognize when we are astray. It explains how to see the evil in our own hearts and to combat it.

The Bible is also full of examples of God correcting people through trial. There are biblical examples and many biblical prophecies of God specifically using health trials and diseases to correct people.

So the Bible is an invaluable resource to guide us through an event like this. It can tell us what to expect and how to successfully navigate these choppy waters.

First lets see why God is allowing mankind to go through this ordeal.

God has a magnificent purpose for man. But that purpose requires that we have free choice; God will not force us to go His way. At the beginning of the book, our first parents, Adam and Eve, were given that choice. God spelled it out for them and let them choose between the tree of life and the tree of death. They chose death (Genesis 3).

God has a magnificent purpose for man. But that purpose requires that we have free choice; God will not force us to go His way.

The rest of that chapter shows that because of their decision, God pronounced certain curses on them. He banished them from the Garden of Eden and cut off their access to the tree of life.

Their decision cut mankind off from God, His truth, His knowledge and His guidance. Ever since, man has been building civilization apart from Him, trying to figure out how to make things work on our own. This is why the world is so rife with misery: because, with few exceptions, we are not submitting to God. We are living a way that is leading to our own destruction.

Its a way God prophesied would actually end with our annihilating ourselves from off the planetif He didnt intervene! Jesus Christ Himself prophesied this about the time that would occur just before His Second Coming: For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved (Matthew 24:21-22).

God wants to restore to us the awesome human potential that Adam and Eve turned their backs on. He wants to convert the heart of every person in the world, to help us see our error in going the wrong way and instill in us a love for His way. The Lord is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).

Repentance means comparing ourselves to Gods law of love to see where we are sinning and flawed, and then changing direction and obeying that law!

Gods law, for example, commands that you love God with all your heart, mind and strength (Deuteronomy 6:5; Matthew 22:37). Repenting of not doing this means striving to change. Gods law forbids putting anything before the true God (Exodus 20:2-3). Repentance means searching your life for areas where you are prioritizing other interests, people or things before God. Gods law says you shall not commit adultery (Exodus 20:14; Matthew 5:27-28). That means turning away from all forms of sex outside of marriage, including fornication, pornography and all lust and perversion (as God defines it, not as society does).

Gods law is perfect and it is liberating (James 1:25). It is a law of love (Romans 13:10). Gods law defines how He thinks, how He lives, and who He is. It is the way that Jesus Christ lived. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments (1 John 5:3).

Our own thinking, reasoning and ways are fatally flawed. The unstable, unjust, unhappy world we have built is abundant proof of that. God wants each of us to see reality, the plague of his own heart (1 Kings 8:38). He wants us to avoid the suffering that comes from each of us relying on ourselves and comparing ourselves to others. He wants us instead to live by His law because that is what is best for each one of us, and for the world we inhabit.

God has an amazing future for all those who will be willing to come to repentance.

This is a tremendous ambition for God to have, because each human heart is terribly plagued by weakness and evil (Jeremiah 17:9). God is not yet trying to turn people to repentance on a mass scalebut His master plan does eventually include everyone. God has an amazing future for all those who will be willing to come to repentance.

True repentance bridges the gap between an individual and God. Thus, the very first step toward real, lasting happiness is a genuine, deep, complete repentance.

Have you ever repented before God? Very, very few people have. But nobody will ever begin to walk the path toward true happiness and fulfillment before doing so. We must recognize our own helplessness and inadequacy apart from God. That is the most fundamental lesson any of us can learn.

This is what was missing from President Trumps declaration for a National Day of Prayer. As 1 John 3:22 explains, Whatsoever we ask [in prayer], we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. Prayer alone isnt enough: We must also turn to Him in repentance and obedience. His ears are open to the prayers of the righteous, but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil (1 Peter 3:12). That is a major reason so many prayers go unansweredbecause people simply have not surrendered themselves wholly to God. They are still living in rebellion against Him. (You can learn more about this in our free book How to Pray.)

Once you understand that God is trying to bring us to repentance, then many of the prophecies of the Bible make sense.

Consider Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28, known as the blessings and curses chapters. They list the blessings God will give, even on the national level, to those who obey Himand the curses that will come to those who do not. These chapters are specifically directed at the Israelites and their descendants, which today include the United States and Britain. But the principle applies to us all, even individually.

But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field. The Lord shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me. The Lord shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee (Deuteronomy 28:15-16, 20-21). The word pestilence describes various types of destruction and death; it could even be violence we commit against each other.

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God then gets more specific, even discussing disease: The Lord shall smite thee with a consumption [chronic degenerative diseases], and with a fever, and with an inflammation [speaking of communicable diseases like influenzascoronavirus would be included], and with an extreme burning (verse 22).

To have God, who has total power, cursing you is terrifying! Few take this warning seriously, but this is just one of many biblical passages showing how God corrects His children when we go astray. He is like any father who loves his children: He will step in when he sees them hurting themselves.

Throughout Deuteronomy 28, God repeatedly says how these curses are aimed at turning us back to Him! If we would turnand as soon as we turnthe curses would stop! Only because we refuse to repent will they grow worse and worse.

Amid this current crisis, how many people are seeking God? How many are examining themselves according to Gods Word? How many are concerned about the sins of our peoples that are bringing these curses upon us?

Instead we see people hoarding, fighting over goods in stores, panic selling, and looking for entertainments to lose themselves in.

With great swathes of the world population physically distancing themselves from the rest of society, travel restricted, and schools and workplaces shutting down, we can expect a massive increase in screen time, the Telegraph reported. Last week, Telecom Italia reported a 70 percent increase in Internet traffic, much of it due to online games such as Fortnite. The coming age of self-isolation means experiencing live events, social interactions and learning through a device. Parts of life that were once analogue will now become temporarily, or perhaps permanently, digital (March 16).

So many of the things society loves are actually idols: sports, concerts, bars, comforts and luxuries, money and materialism, our work, our investment portfolios. Not that any of those things is evil of itselfbut many people put those things ahead of God, which is a form of idolatry. Now, suddenly, many of these gods are being forcibly stripped from us.

Use this opportunity to direct your attention to the more important things in life that are too often neglected amid the hurly-burly of everyday responsibilities and distractions.

Perhaps you are among the many people who cannot go to work. You have extra time on your hands. Use this opportunity to direct your attention to the more important things in life that are too often neglected amid the hurly-burly of everyday responsibilities and distractions.

God wants us all to see the error of our ways and turn our hearts to Him! He wants mankind to recognize just how failed and flawed the civilization we have built apart from Him is. He can use a crisis like this to try to drive people in that direction. But if people dont respond, what more can a loving God do?

If you look from Gods perspective at the way people are reacting, you can see why these problems are virtually certain to intensify. God wants to bring about repentanceso He can make the magnificent future He has for mankind possible. Thus, He is going to allow this world to endure even greater suffering.

The Bible includes some grim prophecies about disease pandemics in the end time. Even secular news sources have been quoting some of them.

In that Matthew 24 prophecy, Jesus was forecasting the conditions that would precede His Second Coming. He said, For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in [different] places. All these are the beginning of sorrows (verses 6-8).

Perhaps the most vivid forecast on this point is in Revelation, the Bibles most detailed book of end-time prophecy. Here is where you find the imagery of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. The fourth of these is described in Revelation 6:8: And I looked, and behold a pale horse, and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth. Among the weapons this horseman has, there are disease epidemics. Along with these other three horsemen, this anemic-looking horseman on a haunting, pallid horse will slay the fourth part of the earth. With todays population of 7.7 billion, that means nearly 2 billion people!

Coronavirus is definitely a problembut compared to the scale of the pestilence that is coming, it is barely significant. God prophesies of tens of millions of people killed by pestilence!

But do not lose sight of the reason. God is not destroying indiscriminately: He is punishing the world in love and in measureto help mankind ultimately turn from the paths of destruction to the way of truth and peace! God will allow coronavirus and other afflictions to affect mankind to precisely the degree needed to help people repentno more, no less. For most people, this will come when God resurrects them again to life in a world that He governs. (To understand this truth, read The Three Resurrections.)

Do not lose sight of the reason. God is not destroying indiscriminately: He is punishing the world in love and in measureto help mankind ultimately turn from the paths of destruction to the way of truth and peace.

God is trumpeting His end-time warning message to this world through this work, literally fulfilling His prophecy in Isaiah 58:1: Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. But if God cannot bring us to repentance through words, then He will try to do so through trials, afflictions and disasters.

When trouble comes, some will finally cry out to God for His intervention in their lives. But physically, they may be too late. We must seek God while he may be found (Isaiah 55:6).

Must you suffer alongside this world? No. The same God who controls world events is perfectly capable of protecting individuals. Act while the warning is still going out, not only after calamity grows worse. Heed Gods words and turn to God now, and you will receive relief from His curses. He promises to forgive and then to protect each person who repents. Why wait until the Great Tribulation, the worst suffering mankind has ever experienced, to respond?

God wants us to change our behavior so we obey Him and seek His will, not ours. The Bible is filled with examples of individual repentance and individual protection. If we repent, God can protect us just as surely as He protected Daniel from the jaws of the lions. Not one hair was singed when Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were cast into the fiery furnace. Other ancient prophets survived multiple disasters and intense persecution. Gods true Church received divine protection throughout the centuries when His people remained faithful to Him. God can bless us and be a shield in our individual lives just as He was for Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and so many others.

The Apostle Peter wrote that the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trial, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment (2 Peter 2:9; Revised Standard Version). This lesson permeates the Bible: God protects righteous, obedient people who seek His protection.

God has power over diseases. He says in Exodus 15:26 that if we diligently hear Him and keep His laws, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee.

God promises to heal upon repentance: Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases (Psalm 103:2-3). This does not mean you will never get sick. In fact, Gods promise of healing wouldnt apply to someone who never came down with a sickness or disease. Some of Gods people may even get coronavirus. God may allow that as a test of our faith.

But we need not panic during times like these. The world is panicking and fearful. People are so terrified of death, that panic is drawing them into ugly behavior and unnecessarily costly policy decisions. But those who put their trust in God are at peace. They are full of faith, hope and comfort. God promises these things.

Those who put their trust in God are at peace. They are full of faith, hope and comfort. God promises these things.

He also absolutely promises healing. Yet sometimes God allows His people to get sickeven to die in faith, not yet having received the promise of healing in this lifetime (Hebrews 11:35-39). Healing is a sure promise, and many who claim that promise are healed, even immediately! But for some, it will take place in the resurrection. (If you want more information on this inspiring biblical doctrine, request our free booklet The Plain Truth About Healing.)

God does not promise that you will never die in this physical life. Actually, God promises that you will experience trials! But with Christ in you, youll be able to battle those with faith. That makes all the differencewhether you live or die. Gods faithful people are not afraid of death.

God guarantees peace of mind during the worst of crises. He is in control, and He promises in Romans 8:28 that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. We may experience some of the same troubles that descend on the world. Yet we have a solid hope in the future God has promised as an anchor of the soul to keep us stable even in times of trouble.

Are you ready for crises to come? Start preparing by repenting before God. That is what God seeks above all. And to those who turn to Him with supple hearts, He offers individual protectionescapefrom the worst of the coming storms (e.g. Luke 21:36). That is the only sure place to invest your faith.

If you want guidance on how to repent and to act on what youre reading, we can help. We produce a lot of material aimed at helping you make Gods way of life your way of life! A good place to start is by reading our editor in chiefs booklet How to Be an Overcomer, starting with Chapter 1, Repentance Toward God. Sign up for our weekly PCG Signposts e-mail; it gives vital, practical Christian-living instruction to help you make real changes in your life. You can also find helpful, relevant education on our sister website, pcg.church. And if you want to speak with a Philadelphia Church of God minister, e-mail us at visitrequests@pcog.org.

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Blue and White Sides With Anti-Zionist Arabs to Oust Netanyahu - theTrumpet.com

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Posted By admin on March 23, 2020

Pete Gregson, Chair ofLabour Against Zionist Islamophobic Racism(LAZIR), writes:

Dear Ken,

Ive just read what youve been saying about me and I think its hurtful and unfair. You have declared me an anti-Semite and a mysoginist and I believe you have no grounds to do so. The determination of Zionists to obliterate those who campaign against their fraudulent and politicised definition of anti-Semitism knows no bounds. You have criticised me because they seek to tar you for having, at one time, supported me. (Youd liked the video Id made with Rabbi Ahron Cohen.)

So, please let me try and put the record straight. Since the day the Labour Party adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliances (IHRA) definition I have spoken out against it. I was also disgusted by the film The Lobby which showed how Israel was working with groups such as the Jewish Labour Movement (JLM) and Friends of Israel to undermine those who support Palestine and campaign against Israel, a racist state.

I wrote many emails to Labours National Executive Committee (NEC) demanding that the JLM be disaffiliated from Labour for its conduct. At the time I wrote those emails I had no idea that one of those on the NEC to whom I was writing was a senior member of the JLM; that person was Rhea Wolfson. In one of those NEC emails I mentioned I was a GMB Shop Steward. It was subsequently revealed at my GMB expulsion hearing that on the very day of that email, a complaint was lodged against me at the GMB. The grounds were that I had breached the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism, of which the GMB were early adopters, so I was therefore an anti-Semite for saying that Israel was racist.

Rhea Wolfson, along with Jon Lansman, was a key player in getting the IHRA definition adopted by Labour. She is also a senior paid officer in GMB Scotland, and so was way above my volunteer grade. The hammer was wielded on her behalf by Gary Smith, Secretary of GMB Scotland, who wrote me threatening letters almost on a daily basis declaring how vile I was for attacking Zionism. I made discrete enquiries and a senior member of GMB Scotland revealed that the person behind the drive for my expulsion and who had been complaining hard that the GMB needed to act against me for criticising her precious Israel, was Rhea Wolfson.

I subsequently exposed her actions on my website and said that I thought her to be a raving Zionist. I was furious with what she had done. So then the GMB added this to the charges against me and declared that I was bullying their young female Jewish employee and suggested I was therefore a mysoginist. But I have never met Ms Wolfson, nor have I ever communicated with her on a one-to-one basis. This was never bullying. And where does the misogyny come from? In what way have I attacked her for being a woman? The misogynist slur is nonsensical. All I have ever complained about is her support for a racist doctrine and that has nothing to do with her gender.

Are you so fearful of the stooshie that has been kicked up against you as a judge for Show Racism the Red Card that you think undermining other campaigners is going to get you off the hook?

So, why, Ken, are you now repeating the nonsense that senior GMB officers spout? Has it never occurred to you that you are doing the dirty work of the Board of Deputies [of British Jews] and other Zionist bodies? And where on earth do you get the idea that I am anti-Semitic? I have never criticised Jews nor spoken against them. I think they are a valued and vital group in our society. What I have said is that the holocaust has been exploited by Israel that Jews have leverage because of the holocaust, because the UK treated them so badly for so long that we have developed holocaust guilt so many Jews died in Nazi death camps because Britain refused to let them in. But I have always made clear that only Zionists exploit this leverage and that they do so shamelessly, claiming they continue to be at risk of extermination from Palestinians if they cannot have Israel exactly the way they want it.

Yes, I have been outspoken and I have probably gone too far when I said that Israel exaggerated the holocaust for political ends, when what I really meant was that they exploited it. I have never doubted that six million Jews died in the most monstrous fashion and I have never exhibited prejudice or discriminated against Jews, so why do you call me an anti-Semite? Are you so fearful of the stooshie that has been kicked up against you as a judge for Show Racism the Red Card that you think undermining other campaigners is going to get you off the hook?You say my views and behaviour are utterly reprehensible but what have I done thats so bad? I had published the audio of my expulsion trial at Labour Against the Witch-Hunt, brought about by my publishing a link to a Herzl article that contained as I said at the time toxic views on Auschwitz, espousing theories which I later exposed as bad science. Freedom of speech matters too much for views to be condemned as reprehensible with neither examples given nor right of reply sought.

It is depressing that you have chosen to attack me. In your last email to me you signed off saying Solidarity! I would have thought that someone who said that would choose to contact me to clarify the facts before speaking publicly, rather than wading in with low blows, having swallowed guff from those that want to get me. Clearly, the Zionists want me smashed. Your decision to pick up the cudgel on their behalf only fans the flames of bogus anti-Semitism and plays directly into the hands of the Board of Deputies and the JLM who want all to believe that anti-Semitism is rife in the UK. It is not there is only support for boycotts, divestment and sanctions, something Israel is determined to crush. By your actions in attacking me, you are diverting energy from that vital cause. I thought we were meant to be on the same side.

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Open letter to Ken Loach regarding his attack on anti-racism activist Pete Gregson - Redress Information & Analysis

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Posted By admin on March 23, 2020

NEW YORK (JTA) One of Avi Webbs favorite times of the week is Sunday morning, when he takes his children to morning prayers at his synagogue and stays for a lesson on Hasidic thought. His kids play at an arts and crafts table while he studies.

Webb is usually at synagogue three times a day for prayers. On Shabbat mornings, when more than 100 worshippers pile into the sanctuary to pray, he serves as gabbai, one of the volunteer organizers of the service.

That all stopped this week.

Instead of praying in synagogue, Webb stuck his head out a window to hear the Mourners Kaddish, shouting amen as the prayer echoed down the streets of the Brooklyn neighborhood of Crown Heights. Instead of a crowded Shabbat service, the synagogue limited the main morning prayers to just 40 people one for each of the rooms long tables. And instead of his Sunday morning lesson at the synagogue, Webb tuned in via video chat as his kids played nearby.

Orthodox Jews normally consider themselves commanded by God to do all these things. But this week, Webb said, the commandment was not to do them.

Its the recognition that this is the mitzvah, he said, using the Hebrew term for commandment. I think that is, to me, very comforting. Its not that I have to either lose out on it or drop it. This is the mitzvah today.

As in much of the world, the coronavirus outbreak has disrupted patterns of life for Hasidic Jews. But Hasidic life is particularly communal, and social distancing has been an especially stark adjustment.

Many men pray in groups of at least 10 three times a day. Classes are always on offer. Weddings routinely draw hundreds of guests who dance arm in arm.

Reluctant to give up on such mainstays, many haredi (or ultra-Orthodox) communities in New York were slower to adopt new social distancing measures than the rest of the city. After news broke on Monday that 100 people in the heavily ultra-Orthodox Borough Park neighborhood had tested positive for the virus, haredi institutions began to close en masse.

The hub of the Chabad Hasidic community at 770 Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights closed only on Tuesday night. For many haredi children, Wednesday was the first day off from school four days after New York City announced that it would shutter its public schools. As photos and video of large haredi social gatherings circulated online, the communitys leaders issued public pleas to stop.

On Wednesday, the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of America, a body of leading haredi rabbis, called on constituents not to leave home including for prayers and to conduct a half-day fast on Thursday and to pray for mercy and favor for the entire Jewish nation and the entire world who are now in distress.

Leaders of the Satmar Hasidic community in the New York state village of Kiryas Joel likewise announced on Thursday that all synagogues, schools and ritual baths would be closed an unprecedented restriction. On Wednesday, leading Satmar rabbis from across New York declared that those over 60, and anyone with a health condition, are exempt from public prayer and immersing in ritual baths, or mikvahs. In New Square, a New York town populated by the Skverer Hasidic movement, a cantor took to a town public address system to lead daily prayers remotely.

In Israel, the Sephardic chief rabbi, Yitzchak Yosef, issued an order this week for followers to leave their phones on during Shabbat in order to receive test results or notifications regarding the coronavirus. Orthodox Jews are prohibited from using electronic devices on the Sabbath, though that restriction is waived in life-or-death situations.

This is a tragedy for the Jewish nation, said Rabbi Shea Ryback, an educator in the heavily haredi city of Lakewood, New Jersey. This has got to be one of the first times in a long time that our children werent able to go to school. Its a time that God is giving us a challenge to overcome.

For some haredim, the closures of schools and synagogues recall historical traumas from Eastern Europe, when governments persecuted Jewish communities and shuttered their institutions, forcing them to practice Judaism clandestinely. The difference this time, of course, is that the closures are being done willingly.

Its surreal, said Rabbi Berel Majesky, who lives in Crown Heights. My grandparents are Russian and during communism, they would literally crawl out to go to a minyan. And here were doing the exact opposite. Here were living in the freest country in the world, where Jews have the greatest freedom in history, probably, and were choosing not to go to shul.

Majesky is particularly concerned for the special needs children in his community. As directors of the local chapter of Friendship Circle, a Chabad-run organization that serves those with special needs, Majesky and his wife, Chani, coordinate 300 volunteers who visit the groups clients once a week.

Now those visits are happening virtually, which Majesky says is no substitute for in-person interaction. He also worries that children with special needs who have been attending school will see their progress evaporate now that classes are canceled.

Thats all going down the drain, he said. So the panic is not just kids being bored. Now its literally months and months of work of medical professionals, put into kids, thats going down the drain. And the emotional toll its taking on families is tremendous.

Remote education is also harder for some haredi communities that are wary of unfettered internet use. Torah Umesorah, an association of hundreds of mostly haredi schools, offered guidelines for teachers on how to conduct remote learning via telephone conference as well as internet video chat. A note from its board instructs all those who use the internet to do so only with a filter in place.

The Orthodox Union, an umbrella organization for American Orthodox Jews, has lobbied state governments to provide emergency funding for technology and remote learning for private as well as public school students during the current closures.

Weve heard from schools that never in their wildest dreams thought about doing remote learning that are now saying, How do we get our kids laptops? said Maury Litwack, executive director of the O.U.s Teach Coalition, which is pushing for the government funding.

One Hasidic school is ahead of the curve. The Nigri International Shluchim Online School, which was founded to provide remote education to children of Chabad emissaries in far-flung places, has been conducting classes online since 2006. It now has approximately 1,000 students and has seen its student body grow 10 percent in recent days as other schools have closed.

Nigri is providing guidance to other schools that are now moving instruction online.

The biggest concern is how to engage the students, said Devora Leah Notik, the schools associate director. With the younger ones, how do they engage? How do you keep students involved in the lessons? One of the basic, basic things is encouraging the students to get up from the computer.

Several people who spoke to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency noted that a touchstone of Hasidic thought is to keep a positive attitude in trying times. Voluntarily closing communal institutions may be unusual; persevering through tragedy is not.

This is new for our lifetime, but this is not new for our history, Webb said. Jewish people have maintained not only dignity as people but this kind of focus that, come what may, were here for a specific reason, and here to serve our creator. And the way to do that is to serve each other and to help each other and to listen.

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Saying Kaddish from balconies and fasting: How Hasidic Jews are responding to the coronavirus - JTA News

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