Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on March 14, 2020

Tova du Plessis (Photo by Neal Santos)

This was all supposed to be a test run, Tova du Plessis sincerely believes.

The zaatar challah that flies off the shelves, the cinnamon hazelnut babka and the bite-sized chocolate rugelach that du Plessis bakes at Essen Bakery on Passyunk Avenue were all part of an experiment. It was all a chance to see what she could do after her stint as the pastry chef at the Rittenhouse Hotel.

It wasnt meant to make her a nationally known baker, and it certainly wasnt supposed to result in her fourth straight nomination for Outstanding Baker at the national level in the James Beard Awards. But thats what happened Feb. 26, and for du Plessis, the test run has become something just a little bit more permanent.

Thats really the recognition that I needed to keep growing out of this tiny space, she said.

When du Plessis opened Essen in 2016, her daughter had just been born, and she wasnt sure about what she wanted the bakery to be, nor could she have known where it would take her. Now, her daughter weaves in and out of the line of customers and hustling bakers, and du Plessis is starting to think about a bigger space for Essen.

Du Plessis grew up in South Africa, where she inherited her high standards for culinary excellence from her mother. Theyd bake challah and enjoyed the standard Ashkenazi fare, like potato kugel and gefilte fish. Though she was once content for cooking to remain a hobby while she steeled herself for medical school in the United States, she found that she was not meant for scalpel and stethoscope. Instead, at The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone, rolling pins and baking trays became the tools of her trade and her devotion.

She worked in Napa Valley in California for a while, which she called a phenomenal experience, before moving to Philadelphia, where she worked at Citron & Rose, Le Bec-Fin and other well-known spots before landing at her biggest job yet, at the Rittenhouse Hotel.After her daughter was born, she decided that the pace of the job at the Rittenhouse was too much for her. So, she did what anyone would do in that situation, and opened up her own business one that requires constant physical labor and odd hours. The space she took over previously belonged to another bakery, Belle Cakery, which made the opening a bit easier.

It was obvious to du Plessis from the beginning that she would go with a Jewish bakery concept for the first place of her own. Like any chef who works with the food of their youth, she explained, she was driven by a desire to improve on the original.

Whenever chefs talk about going back to their roots, and making things that they grew up with, theyre often not the versions that they grew up with, du Plessis said. They shouldnt be the versions that they grew up with.

Instead, du Plessis, like many of her peers, was determined to take the traditional food she was raised on and put her own spin on it.

Which is exactly what shes done. Since opening in 2016, Essen has drawn raves for its chocolate halva babka. Heres Eater, on Essens babka: Baker Tova du Plessis makes desert island babka. Last rites babka. Stick-em-up-give-me-the-babka-and-nobody-gets-hurt kind of babka.

Success came early, and it has continued for du Plessis and Essen as shown in those four nominations for Outstanding Baker. Though she hasnt captured a win yet, she sees the nominations themselves as validation of the work shes done. That, along with a product shes proud of and the lines out the door. (If youre thinking about orders for Passover or Rosh Hashanah, make sure to get those in sooner rather than later; at Essens current capacity, there comes a point where they simply have to turn orders away.)

No baker wants to send someone away empty-handed, which is why du Plessis would like to expand at some point. She cant do everything she wants to do at her current scale, she explained, and if shes going to pass the business off to her daughter one day, as she hopes to do, shes got some work to do.

In the meantime, the test run continues.

[emailprotected]; 215-832-0740

Read the original:

Philly Jewish Baker's Reputation on the Rise Nationally - Jewish Exponent

Category: Ashkenazi | Comments Off on Philly Jewish Baker’s Reputation on the Rise Nationally – Jewish Exponent
Tags:

Posted By admin on March 14, 2020

This is war, but its not a conventional one. Israelis, sadly, know how to carry on when rockets fall or with waves of terrorism. This is different germ warfare of the least expected kind, and no enemy to blame. Although the numbers of those infected so far are not huge, the psychological effects are taking a toll. Coronavirus goes against human nature and against Israeli instincts and lifestyle. Our strength lies in carrying on as normal, coming together, being an extended community. A group hug is complicated when more than 100,000 are in home quarantine and touching is a no-no. Israelis, who rarely realize that there are meant to be boundaries between personal and public space, are now being asked to keep a distance between one another. Kissing grandparents is out. So, for that matter, is kissing mezuzot. The custom of reaching out to touch the cases containing the Shema prayer placed on doorposts has been temporarily nixed by the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau. There are no signs of widespread panic buying and Im waiting to see if people will learn to keep a distance in supermarket and other lines. That certain buses have cordoned off the seats behind the driver to keep the passengers from getting too close seems unnatural.In typical Israeli fashion, with very little advance warning, the Central Elections Committee met the needs of providing special polling stations for those meant to be in isolation as possible carriers. Putting together a functional government, however, is another matter.Covid-19 provided inspiration for many Purim costumes this week. Its the perfect disease for the topsy-turvy holiday. But the traditional Adloyada parades and street parties were victims of the ban on large gatherings.The religious challenges posed by coronovirus are also considerable: Rabbis have been grappling with questions of balancing the need for a prayer quorum (10 men) and those in quarantine particularly those who are saying the Kaddish memorial prayer for a lost loved one, for example.In his commentary for the Torah portion Ki Tisa, Rabbi Kenneth Brander, president of Ohr Torah Stone, says: Theres a profound message in this weeks Torah reading about how to cope with a serious threat that faces human society.First, recent events remind all of us that even if Chinese culture and Western culture are very different, and our societies are quite dissimilar, we recognize that we share one world and what happens in one country affects the entire world. What happens in China affects what happens in Europe and affects what happens in America; were all part of one society, even if we have different philosophical perspectives, traditions and values.Ki Tisa teaches us a very important lesson that we can learn in relation to the coronavirus: the mitzvah of the half-shekel. This mitzvah is a reminder that everybody is obligated to give a half-shekel not a full shekel. It calls attention to the fact that we cannot do it alone; we are part of a larger group, a larger team.THE ECONOMIC cost of the governments coronavirus containment policy is enough to cause even healthy people to feel faint and feverish.When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on March 9 that anyone who arrives in the country must immediately enter 14 days of home quarantine, it was as if the skies had fallen. Essentially, air travel came to a halt. Weve been collectively grounded. The results were immediate and brutal. The airport authority, airlines and travel agencies sent home thousands of workers; tour guides, tour bus and tourist limousine drivers, restaurant staff, the staff in souvenir and gift shops were all literally or figuratively made redundant. Naturally, this will have a trickle-down effect throughout the economy.Cultural events have been canceled or pushed off causing huge losses to the organizers who have already paid out large sums. One of the casualties of the new policy was the annual Jerusalem Winner Marathon, which has been postponed. This has also set off a ripple effect that to some seems like a tsunami: Charities that rely on the funds from sponsoring teams are suddenly having to recalculate. The situation for many is already particularly bad this year, as the absence of a government and national budget mean that state funds are also not coming in.It seems strange that at the beginning of the year, the words novel coronavirus Covid-19 were unknown to the vast majority of the billions of people worldwide who will now never forget them. Possibly we wont know the full ramifications for a while. The disease is less significant than the measures being taken to deal with it. The travel industry will eventually recover, but it will be changed. The era of massive cruise ships, for example, might be over. Travel insurance will have new clauses. Work environments will be altered be it a move to working from home to a reconsideration of the open-plan office. Business conferences and trips will drop in number to be replaced by video-conferencing or similar virtual gatherings. Medical care will increasingly focus on home care and tests.Is the age of huge gatherings such as the Eurovision Song Contest over? Will the Olympic Games go on? Will spectators be present to support their competitors in future international contests?Some of the changes might be beneficial: Already air pollution is dropping in China; the carbon footprints of once-frequent travelers could become carbon tiptoes; the destruction caused by huge ocean liners could be reduced. The question is how to maintain the benefits without destroying local economies. In the cost vs benefits category, there are also the dilemmas posed by surveillance technology and the rights to privacy. The use of facial recognition technology and pinpointing the exact location of a specific cellphone could, on the one hand, mean that the authorities will be able to quickly identify who has been exposed to a contagious person, warn them, and stop the spread of disease. Similarly, it is easier to ensure that those who are meant to be in quarantine are indeed home alone. But who guarantees how such data is being used and who has access to it? The Israeli health authorities have avoided naming coronavirus carriers and just given them numbers, but their personal details are becoming known to all. In close-knit communities and small neighborhoods, its not hard to figure out exactly which neighbor is the focus of attention.Friends this week joked about the itineraries of corona-carrier suspects, which were widely published as warnings to those who might inadvertently have come in contact. Some of these suspects seem to be superwomen, combining in one day several hours work, shopping in more than one crowded mall, a couple of meals out, visits to relatives and friends, and a family celebration in the evening.I marveled at their energy and wish them good health and good luck with dealing with the confining period of self-isolation. I have nothing to hide, but nonetheless Id rather not have my prosaic comings and goings listed for general perusal: where I walked my dog and whom I stopped to talk to; what bus I took at what time; where I did my shopping, etc.Instead of collectively wringing our hands, we are being reminded of the importance of regularly washing them. This seems like a good idea any time. During an epic pandemic it is doubly beneficial: Washing hands helps prevent the spread of the disease and helps you feel like you can do something positive have a tiny bit of control.But nothing is simple. A psychologist in a television interview noted an unexpected problem that she had encountered: OCD sufferers who for years have been told theres no need to be obsessive about hand washing feel vindicated and they told the psychologist that she is the one with the problem. Like so much in life, its a question of proportion. Still, with Purim behind us, we might as well put our collective need for sanitization to good use and start cleaning for Passover. And remember the Hebrew saying: Avarnu et paro, naavor gam et zeh. We survived Pharaoh; well get through this, too.liat@jpost.com

More here:

Coronavirus conundrums and repercussions - The Jerusalem Post

Category: Ashkenazi | Comments Off on Coronavirus conundrums and repercussions – The Jerusalem Post
Tags:

Posted By admin on March 14, 2020

A lawmaker from the Arab-majority Joint List on Friday accused the IDF of an atrocity by spraying Palestinians with an unknown substance, before acknowledging the video clip of the incident actually shows Palestinian Authority forces disinfecting a West Bank checkpoint.

Another atrocity [being committed] by the occupation under the cover of the coronavirus the IDF is spraying Palestinians at the Qalqilya checkpoint with an unknown substance. Everyone agrees the spraying method is not effective in the fight against the virus, Joint List MK Aida Touma-Sliman wrote on Twitter

She added: The horrors being committed under the cover of the crisis cant be ignored.

Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email and never miss our top storiesFree Sign Up

Defense Minister Naftali Bennett quickly responded that the video was from the Palestinian side of the Eyal checkpoint near Qalqilya and that it was the Palestinian Authority who decided on disinfecting the area.

Youre a liar, anti-Semitic and contemptible, Bennett said. Its unbelievable that Bogie [Yaalon], Yvette [Avigdor Liberman, [Benny] Gantz, Gabi [Ashkenazi] and [Yair] Lapid are ready to form a government with your finger [on it].

Bennett, head of the national-religious Yamina alliance, was referring to lawmakers from the Blue and White and Yisrael Beytenu parties, who since last weeks elections have been holding talks on replacing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus government potentially with outside support from the Joint List.

Touma-Sliman later deleted the post and said she had been misled about the video.

This doesnt take away from the fact that this isnt a becoming sight and that spraying [disinfectants] is not useful regarding the disease. But this time the responsibility isnt on the occupation, she wrote on Twitter.

The Joint List MK also hit back at Bennett.

At least I have the courage and the integrity to admit mistakes. You continue to callously lie even when the truth is clear, she said.

The Twitter back-and-forth came after Netanyahu on Thursday spoke with Gantz about forming an emergency government to cope with the coronavirus. The two appeared to be at odds on including the Joint List in such a government, however, with Netanyahu saying it cannot have terror supporters and Gantz calling for it to include elements from all political sides.

The chances for such a government, which would end over a year of political deadlock following last weeks third round of indecisive elections, appeared dampened on Friday as Blue and White announced plans to replace the Knesset speaker next week.

Likud lambasted the move to replace Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein, a member of the party, accusing its rivals in a statement of playing small politics at a time of crisis.

There have been 127 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus in Israel, which on Thursday announced the closure of schools and universities as part of efforts to contain the virus.

Israel has also banned public gatherings of over 100 people, cancelled sporting and barred non-nationals who cannot prove an ability to self-quarantine for 14 days from entering the country, among other measures to combat the virus.

Palestinian Authority security forces man a checkpoint at one of the entrances to the West Bank city of Bethlehem on March 10, 2020, currently under lockdown due to coronavirus. (Musa Al Shaer/AFP)

In areas of the West Bank controlled by the Palestinian Authority, there have been 35 confirmed cases of the virus, according to the PAs official Wafa news agency.

Shortly after Palestinian health authorities confirmed the first cases of coronavirus in the West Bank last Thursday, PA President Mahmoud Abbas declared a state of emergency for 30 days.

The PA has since announced the closure of schools and universities, the cancellation of all hotel reservations and conferences, the shuttering of tourist and religious sites, the banning of public gatherings and protests, and other measures.

It also has declared that no one would be allowed to leave or enter Bethlehem, where the first cases were discovered, except in the case of emergency.

Excerpt from:

Arab MK accuses IDF of 'atrocity' for spraying Palestinians, then backtracks - The Times of Israel

Category: Ashkenazi | Comments Off on Arab MK accuses IDF of ‘atrocity’ for spraying Palestinians, then backtracks – The Times of Israel
Tags:

Posted By admin on March 14, 2020

(JTA) At this point, we know well how to wash our hands to protect ourselves from the coronavirus. But how do we soothe our souls?

When we recently asked for stories about how local Jewish communities are adapting to the public health threat, we received plenty of examples of changes that are underway, from Spock greetings instead of handshakes to chopsticks as Torah pointers.

We also got a request for spiritual guidance. So we reached out to several rabbis around the world and asked them to offer their advice. Well update this page with additional responses as they come in and if youre a Jewish spiritual leader with words of your own to add, you can email us.

Keep up with the latest on the coronavirus in the Jewish world by following our updates here.

At this moment, we want to protect ourselves and our families; this is human nature. From a Jewish perspective, from a social justice perspective, from a human perspective, we cant descend into pointed tribalism at a time when we need to come together as a collective of mind and soul. The coronavirus is a huge burden placed on humanity, but one that can be handled through shared action, compassion and a desire to see this disease contained before more lives are needlessly lost.

Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz (Read Rabbi Yanklowitzs full op-ed)

Whats a simple daily routine you care about? Every night at about midnight, we learn in the Talmud, King David woke up to study. Every morning, I wake up and make coffee. (Same same, right?) Water in the kettle. Good quality beans into the grinder. Aeropress. Half and half. For you, that simple moment might be washing your hair, texting your sister after work, or listening to The Daily. Keep that up, even if everything else feels off. Good times and bad, some things should stay the same.

Rabbi Emily Cohen (Click here to read Rabbi Cohens full piece on our sister site, Alma)

In response to a 1983 doctors strike in Israel, Rabbi Shlomo Goren, former Ashkenazi chief rabbi of Israel, emphasized that the responsibility for providing health care ultimately lies with the state. Basing himself on a Talmudic ruling that holds communal leadership liable for any deaths that result from their failure to take care of needed repairs (Moed Katan 5a), he wrote, the responsibility of the court or the communal leadership is not limited to bodily harm that they cause directly the government may not excuse itself from its responsibility toward the sick since they government is responsible for the health of the people. (Assia vol. 5)

This assertion that the communal leadership takes responsibility for the overall health of the citizens is consistent with millennia of Jewish law that insist that the community take responsibility for the health and welfare of its members whether through building necessary infrastructure to care for physical and spiritual needs, through tzedakah and through laws intended to eliminate exploitation. Its also consistent with the lived practice of Jewish communities, which have long established communal welfare and health systems; and of the state of Israel, founded as a social democracy.

Gorens ruling, however, runs counter to one prominent strain in American culture, namely the ethos of every person for themselves, without concern for our responsibility to the broader society, or for the overall impact of our choices.

The novel coronavirus has taught us that its impossible to separate ourselves from the greater world, and that our own personal health and safety depends on the health and safety of the poorest and most vulnerable members of our society. If anything positive comes of this terrifying pandemic, it should be a remaking of the social fabric of our society such that we collectively take responsibility for the health and well-eing of every member of our society. This means ensuring health care, paid sick leave, and increased food assistance; and investing in a stimulus and job creation package that helps middle- and low-income people rather than just bailing out airlines and other major corporations.

The emphasis in Jewish law and lived tradition on collective responsibility for our neighbors and our society is countercultural in a country built on rugged individualism. But the novel coronavirus has taught us the impossibility of fending for ourselves. A recommitment to communal responsibility is the only way to protect ourselves and each other.

Rabbi Jill Jacobs

The news today can be especially spiritually unsettling and alarming in nature. When our community in New York has been struck with a plague that prevents so many of us from gathering in physical contact, how ought we react?

Upholding the cautionary measures decreed by health officials and authorities must be seen then as fulfilling the highest religious commandment: pikuach nefesh, saving human life. If you have symptoms of illness, including fever, coughing, stomach bug or any other sickness, it is a mitzvah to stay in quarantine.

It was Yom Kippur 1846 the cholera epidemic was at its height when Rabbi Yisrael Salanter allegedly rose to the pulpit, washed his hands publicly and made a blessing as he ate bread on our calendars most sacred day. The Jewish community feared trespassing communal and religious norms then, but Rabbi Salanter reminded the Jewish community: In light of life-threatening illness, eating food on Yom Kippur wasnt breaking the Torah law, it was upholding it.

When confronted with life or death, Jews must always emphatically choose life. This has been the Jewish way since the beginning of time.

Furthermore, now, as in times past, will be a period where we will see the most important innovating responses.

We witnessed this just last week when SAR Academy offered online classes for hundreds of students, studying Hebrew, welcoming Shabbat and maintaining semblances of normalcy.

We witnessed this in wartime when Saddam Husseins Scud missile rockets rained on Israel, Jews celebrated Purim in bunkers.

When the AIDS epidemic ravished the gay community, Congregation Beit Simchat Torah still gathered with Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum leading into uncharted territory.

When Rebbe Nachman of Bratzlav wrote, There is no despair in the world, we ought to reflect: What is he talking about? Rebbe Nachman, a depressive, mourned the death of his own son and lived in a time of great political turmoil for the Jewish people. Was Rebbe Nachman unfamiliar with despair or delusional?

Certainly not. He was offering us a life approach and philosophy. The whole world is a narrow bridge; the main principle do not fear.

Safety is sacrosanct. Health is foremost.

And remember the mantra, the trope that has accompanied our people since Passover days: Nevertheless, Jews persisted.

Rabbi Avram Mlotek, co-founder of Base Hillel, director of spiritual life for its international program and rabbi of its Manhattan site

I write this at my kitchen table, covered in yet-to-be-sorted toiletries and food. Im planning to stay in, and you should, too. Because its not necessarily you who will suffer from going out it is probably someone else.

May we observe the next weeks in a period of isolation it will be mournful and hard. But may that period be one that allows the plague to lift. That allows a return to revelry and celebration, a time when we can be deeply and blessedly irresponsible.

Today, hold back, for all of us, so that tomorrow, we can release.

Rabbi Eric Woodward (Click here to read his full Facebook post)

When I landed in Israel and found out that because I attended the AIPAC Policy Conference Id have to be quarantined, I was surprised to learn the Hebrew word for quarantine was bidud. The word immediately triggered my obsession with the sad Megillat Eichah (Lamentations) that we read on the Ninth of Av.

For an unknown reason, whenever Im chazzan and I have to choose a tune, my brain automatically chooses the morbid dirge of Eichah. This can lead to a comical or embarrassing scene. The first words of Eichah, Lonely sits the city once great with people! She that was great among nations has become like a widow, speak to the loneliness of destroyed Jerusalem. The word lonely in Hebrew is badad, the same word used for quarantine in modern Hebrew.

Being alone in quarantine, devoid of friends, family, co-workers and community, a person is truly lonely. Talking on the phone, messaging and even video chatting is no substitute for being in the physical presence of others. There is no replacement for the hug, kiss or even the handshake. Just having others around gives a person a sense of security and comfort. Quarantine forces a painful loneliness. For the Jew who loves the mitzvot and rituals of their religion, especially the communal ones, the loneliness is compounded.

Yet the loneliness of companionship can also create an opportunity. The loneliness of others creates the solitude of the person with God. All alone, a person is able to commune with God as never before. God is eternally listening to our voices, and God awaits our prayers. The silence of bidud provides a person the opportunity to connect to God on the deepest of levels. Without the pressures of work, a schedule or family chores, a person can turn to God, pour their heart out and deepen their relationship with the Creator. The gaping hole of spirituality left by the absence of ritual can be filled with a more unique connection to God.

Our Rabbis tell us that if we are homebound we can still pray with the community by praying at the same time as the community. The internet allows us to listen to shiurim (Torah classes) with others, and many of us even listened to live streams of Megillah.

Quarantine is a challenge previously unthought of by our Sages. It is lonely and depressing. Those feelings are natural and valid. All of us in quarantine are feeling them. But taken in the right way, it can provide time and opportunity to connect with God, rethink values and recommit to the priorities that are important to us.

Rabbi Uri Pilichowski

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of JTA or its parent company, 70 Faces Media.

Continued here:

We asked rabbis for their spiritual guidance in handling the coronavirus crisis. Here's what they said. - JTA News

Category: Ashkenazi | Comments Off on We asked rabbis for their spiritual guidance in handling the coronavirus crisis. Here’s what they said. – JTA News
Tags:

Posted By admin on March 14, 2020

Dubbed the Jane Addams of New Orleans, she was the center of several progressive movements in the city.Published on Tuesday, Mar 10th, 2020

New Orleanians with Irish American heritage have shaped this city for more than a century.

Margaret Haughery famously built orphanages, fed the poor and cared for the destitute in the late-1900s; boxers like Martin Burke inspired the community by going toe-to-toe with elite sportsmen from around the country in early-20th century Irish Channels Bucket of Blood; and restaurateur, Richard Dickie Brennan elevated the citys cuisine via his renowned Commanders Palace and revived Krewe of Bacchus as a tool to draw tourists to the city for Mardi Gras.

There were many others, as well, and this article focuses on one of the most important: Eleanor Laura McMain. She placed the Irish Channels Kingsley House into the center of several New Orleans-area progressive movements, and became known as the Jane Addams of New Orleans.

McMain was born on March 2, 1860, on a farm in East Baton Rouge to a family of Scottish/Irish descent. Her father took a job as dean and secretary at Louisiana State University, and her parents provided her with a private school education uncommon for girls to receive at the time.

She briefly became a teacher in Baton Rouge, before relocating to New Orleans in the late-1890s to train in the Free Kindergarten Association, an Episcopalian effort to design innovations in pre-school education. At the turn of the century, the association combined with the Trinity Church Mission to form Kingsley House.

Kingsley House is an example of a settlement house, which began popping up in American cities in the last decades of the 19th century. They were designed to create educational, recreational and social services to members of often impoverished, inner-city communities. Shortly after forming, Kingsley House appointed McMain as the director with the mission of improving the integration of the citys poor into society.

McMain traveled to Chicago to examine and learn from two settlement houses run by renowned progressive reformer and activist, Jane Addams the Chicago Center and her famous Hull House.

She took these lessons back to New Orleans and Kingsley House grew impressively. The settlement house provided a medical clinic, a kindergarten, a library, a night school and the citys first vocational school. McMain reorganized Kingsleys board so that it represented more of the city by including Roman Catholic and Jewish members instead of being exclusively Episcopalian.

In addition to providing opportunities for education and medical care, Kingsley House also became a social center. McMain established the citys first public playground and created programming that included concerts, dances, athletic events and lessons, and select recreation specifically for children.

These services were critical to a community with thousands of immigrants trying to acclimate to their new home.

But McMains work didnt stop with Kingsley House. That was just the start of it. She called public attention to substandard urban living conditions as president of the local Tenement House Association, beginning in 1904. The next year, she led education and clean-up campaigns to eradicate yellow fever from the Irish Channel, going door to door with Kingsley House volunteers to instruct residents on preventive health measures. She lobbied the State Legislature for child labor laws, founded an anti-tuberculosis association in the city and became the first president of the Womens League of New Orleans.

In 1910, McMain worked closely with leading New Orleans suffragettes, Kate and Jean Gordon, to pass a Womens League-sponsored compulsory education bill.

She took a leave of absence from Kingsley House in 1912 to recover from malaria and used the opportunity to renew her relationship with Addams and to learn from her and Hull House. Later, Addams would sometimes visit New Orleans and Kingsley House, referring to it as Little Hull House.

McMain trained Red Cross nurses during World War I, and she collaborated with Sophie Newcomb College to establish a school for social workers at Kingsley House in 1921. This was the forerunner to the Tulane University School of Social Work, which is the fifth oldest institution of its kind in the country. That same year, she prepared the charter of the organization that would later become the United Way, and she became its president in 1927.

Her presence didnt stop in New Orleans. In fact, it spread across the country and globe. McMain served on the board of directors for the National Federation of Settlement and Neighborhood Centers, was on the executive committee of the National Institute of Social Science, and replicated her efforts at Kingsley House at a Parisian settlement house that served 70,000 people in its first decade.

After returning from Paris, McMains health declined and she died in 1934 at home in Kingsley House at 66 years old. Her legacy, however, continues to the present day.

She was awarded the Times-Picayune Loving Cup for her community service in 1918, placing her name beside other great New Orleanians honored with the award such as Isidore Newman, Sophie B. Wright, Archbishop Philip Hannan, Leah Chase and many others. Eleanor McMain Secondary School was named after her in 1930 while McMain, herself, was still alive, and it remains a lasting monument to her incredible effect on New Orleans.

But perhaps the greatest testament to her legacy resides in that the Kingsley House campus still stands at 1600 Constance Street in the Irish Channel all these years later. It still serves the neighborhood and city it was originally designed to, with a mission that focuses on educating children, strengthening families and building community.

Their website notes that McMains vision and legacy continues to shape the mission of Kingsley House to this day by providing services the community needs most.

This month, lets remember the many great Irish Americans that have made New Orleans such a special place. And, when we do, lets not forget one of the greatest: Eleanor Laura McMain.

View original post here:

NOLAs Irish American heritage: The life and legacy of Eleanor McMain - Very Local New Orleans

Category: Jewish American Heritage Month | Comments Off on NOLAs Irish American heritage: The life and legacy of Eleanor McMain – Very Local New Orleans
Tags:

Posted By admin on March 13, 2020

Its undeniable: Antisemitism is on the rise. We know the numbers; we have the data. Its been weaponized for partisan gain, its been normalized in politics, and it has gone viral.

Talk of conspiracy theories, foreign intervention, dual loyalty, and delegitimization of Israel continue to gain ground in the public conversation, moving from alt right discussion groups and backroom political meetings into the mainstream.

When a city councilman claims that the Jews are controlling the weather; when a member of Congress suggests that other Jewish members have dual loyalties; when students are ostracized on college campuses for supporting the Jewish state, we see the re-emergence of tropes that have historically been used to isolate, intimidate and scapegoat Jews across the expanse of history.

For more than 100 years, the Anti-Defamation League has been at the forefront of calling out these stereotypes whenever they appear, regardless of their source. But it has become increasingly clear that the lack of shared definitions and standards around the worlds oldest hatred has sowed confusion.

In todays always-on media environment, everyone with a smartphone and a Twitter account instantly can be exposed to antisemitism. And yet theres no clear consensus on what constitutes antisemitism, or clear understanding of why certain tropes are so offensive.

That is why we have created a new resource, Antisemitism Uncovered: A Guide to Old Myths in a New Era, that we are launching today and sharing with every member of Congress and national political candidate in the run-up to the 2020 elections.

Sadly, the past few years have been the most challenging in recent memory. Harassment is on the rise, vandalism continues to spread and from Pittsburgh to Poway to Jersey City to Monsey, to Halle, and violent antisemitic incidents have become all-too common.

One way to mitigate this hate is to effectively identify it for what it is. Antisemitism Uncovered was designed to do just that. It takes on seven of the most prominent antisemitic tropes that plague our society: power, dual loyalty, greed, deicide, the blood libel, Holocaust denialism, and anti-Zionism or delegitimization of Israel.

The guide provides numerous current and historical examples of how each one of these myths has been weaponized to demonize the Jewish people. It is the product of years of experience of our internal ADL experts. It has been peer-reviewed by some of the leading experts in the field of historical and contemporary antisemitism to ensure that its definitions are clear, concise and accurate.

From the insidious notion that Jews collectively murdered Jesus some 2,000 years ago, to the idea that billionaire businessman and philanthropist Mike Bloomberg is a puppet master for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, to the comparison made by a television pundit that supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders presidential campaign are akin to brownshirts from Hitlers Nazi party, antisemitism abides by no logical parameters, defies neat political lines and stubbornly persists from ancient times to the present day.

The results can be deadly. We saw the hateful myth of Jewish power radicalize Pittsburgh synagogue shooter Robert Bowers, who believed it was the Jews that were behind the influx of migrants along our southern border in an attempt to replace white Americans.

And just in the past few weeks, our team has documented an increase in chatter among some extremists on the far-fringes of the internet that Jews somehow are responsible for creating and spreading the novel coronavirus. It is a baseless accusation but one with historical resonance: it echoes the medieval trope that Jews poisoned the well during the 14th century Bubonic Plague in Europe.

Its all-important that we debunk these myths and educate people from all walks of life about what is and what is not antisemitism. By doing so, we hope to stem the greater normalization of antisemitism and prevent extremists and those with violence in their hearts from seeing a green light to act on such hatred.

We will circulate Antisemitism Uncovered broadly but specifically will engage the people who disproportionately shape public opinion, especially in this heated political season.

This might include the legislative staff of a member of Congress, the editorial board of a broadcast network, the standards team at a social media company, or the speechwriting staff of a presidential candidate. It also might include members of a local city council or the administrative staff at a major university where such tropes have been circulated.

It is our hope that Antisemitism Uncovered will help Americans and political leaders of all stripes to better understand what constitutes anti-Jewish hate. By calling it out but illustrating its historical precedents, I believe we can reduce the likelihood of antisemitism appearing in the first place.

In the end, this is ADLs mission. In order to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and secure justice and fair treatment to all, we need all available tools at our disposal. Antisemitism Uncovered is an important new component of our broad, overarching strategy to combat the worlds oldest hatred.

It begins with education but it will not end until we have defeated this scourge once and for all.

Jonathan A. Greenblatt is CEO of the Anti-Defamation League.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Forward.

Excerpt from:
Theres no consensus on what constitutes antisemitism. So we at the ADL created one. - Forward

Category: Anti-Defamation League | Comments Off on Theres no consensus on what constitutes antisemitism. So we at the ADL created one. – Forward
Tags:

Posted By admin on March 13, 2020

The ACLUs roots reach back to the National Civil Liberties Bureau, founded in 1917 to assist American conscientious objectors in World War I, which the organization definitely opposed. It also defended persons charged under the Espionage Act of 1917, and the more draconian Sedition Act of 1918, which neutered the First Amendment and was repealed in 1920. So the ACLUs roots are in its leftist orientation and, from its inception, in defending the Bill of Rights when it badly needed its own counsel.

Among the Liberty Bureaus founders was Roger Nash Baldwin, who served a year in prison for draft resistance himself in 1918 (and would go on to write an approving travel book in 1927, Liberty Under the Soviets). Baldwin did not think the Bureau was sufficiently vigorous or militant, so 100 years ago, on Jan. 19, 1920, he reconstituted it as the American Civil Liberties Union.

In the 1920s, the ACLU stood with the NAACP in fighting racial discrimination and, setting a pattern, it defended the Ku Klux Klans right to assemble, in 1923. One of its most frequent clients was the Communist Party USA, although that was a bumpy relationship: The CPUSA also attacked the ACLU for defending the free speech of conservatives, and of critics of the USSR, one of whom Baldwin became. In the 1940s, Baldwin purged the ACLU of Communists, a decision rescinded in 1968 in grand ACLU fashion.

But the organizations finest hour arrived 43 years ago, in the spring of 1977. Its membership had reached a high of roughly 300,000 when it intervened in a case in Skokie, Illinois, where the town, composed in significant part of Jews including Holocaust survivors, denied a march permit to the American Nazis.

The ACLU appealed for over a year before it finally prevailed in the U.S. Supreme Court. There was bitter criticism of its taking the case, from groups such the Anti-Defamation League. Memberships and donations fell. But the ACLU maintained the First Amendment applied particularly to offensive and provocative speech.

A civil libertarian once observed that there ought to be a First Amendment club. To be admitted, you had to defend the speech rights of whomever you found most hateful.

The ACLU was that club.

Today, it has more than a million members. It ranks swelled after President Trump took office and issued an executive order suspending visitation by foreign nationals from seven predominantly Muslim countries. The ACLU sued. In two days, it raised more than $24 million online. In 2017, its proceeds from grants and donations nearly tripled from 2016, to more than $274 million.

That summer, it did another very ACLU thing and defended organizers of the now infamous Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Members and chapters were displeased. In the era of the Trump Resistance, free speech no longer seemed an absolute good so much as a bourgeois legalism, as James Kirchik observes in Et Tu, ACLU? at Air Mail, the online magazine.

In 2018, the ACLU promulgated new case selection guidelines stating it will now consider such factors as the present and historical context of objectionable speech as well as the extent to which the speech may assist in advancing the goals of white supremacists or others whose views are contrary to our values.

You could say it has the best of intentions and you might find yourself in agreement with much of the membership. The people of Skokie undeniably had good intentions in seeking to keep Nazis from marching on their streets. But it was as true then as it is today that free speech needs its own counsel.

See the original post:
Our view: Now everyone wants to fight the Nazis - The Durango Herald

Category: Anti-Defamation League | Comments Off on Our view: Now everyone wants to fight the Nazis – The Durango Herald
Tags:

Posted By admin on March 13, 2020

Rep. Rashida Tlaib was photographed promoting controversial activist Linda Sarsours new book while wearing a T-shirt depicting Israel covered in Arabic letters that spell "Palestine."

Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib's t-shirt doesn't exactly scream 'two-state solution," Alex VanNess, a fellow at the Endowment for Middle East Truth, tweeted Monday, along with a photo of the Michigan Democrat proudly holding up the book while sporting the shirt with Arabic writing and the colors of the Palestinian flag.

The Washington Examiner independently confirmed that the writing translates to the word "Palestine."

Tlaib, one of the only Palestinian Americans elected to Congress, has been criticized several times for comments many consider to be anti-Semitic. The Anti-Defamation League admonished her in late January after she tweeted an inaccurate story claiming Israeli Jews murdered a Palestinian child.

"This is an example of how the blood libel works in 2020, Jonathan Greenblatt, the ADLs CEO, said about the tweet. @Rashida Tlaib retweets a vicious lie steeped in centuries-old accusations used to demonize Jews, then says nothing when it's disproven. An apology is overdue.

Tlaib addressed the mistake but never apologized.

Shortly after moving into her congressional office, she made headlines by putting a Post-it note on a map symbolizing where the area of Palestine is located.

Linda Sarsour, the author of We Are Not Here to Be Bystanders, has been accused of peddling hatred aimed at Israel as well.

"Ask them this: How can you be against white supremacy in the United States of America and the idea of living in a supremacist state based on race and class, but then you support a state like Israel that is built on supremacy, that is built on the idea that Jews are supreme to everybody else? Sarsour said during a speech last year.

Following backlash, she later clarified the remarks and apologized for the confusion.

The annual Womens March additionally cut ties with Sarsour last year due to concerns about anti-Semitism.

Both Tlaib and Sarsour have announced they are supporting Sen. Bernie Sanders for president, and the congresswoman recently appeared at a campaign event for the Vermont senator in Michigan.

Read more here:
Rashida Tlaib promotes Linda Sarsour book while wearing T-shirt that says 'Palestine' over map of Israel - Washington Examiner

Category: Anti-Defamation League | Comments Off on Rashida Tlaib promotes Linda Sarsour book while wearing T-shirt that says ‘Palestine’ over map of Israel – Washington Examiner
Tags:

Posted By admin on March 13, 2020

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.) was recently pictured sporting a t-shirt that portrays the modern state of Israel as belonging entirely to Palestine.

Tlaib, one of Congress's leadingcritics of Israel,was pictured in thet-shirt while promoting a recently published book by Linda Sarsour, another outspoken critic of the Jewish state who serves as a surrogate for the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign.

The shirt portrayspresent-dayIsrael as a Palestinian state.Shirts of this nature have been a mainstay of pro-Palestinian activists whoreject a two-state solution and argue that the world's only Jewish state should not exist.

"Stand in solidarity with Palestine by wearing this beautiful Palestinian tee-shirt," reads one online advertisement for the shirt worn by Tlaib. "An outlined map of Palestine is filled with red, white, and green Arabic letters that look stunning from a distance and spell the word Palestine up close. A patterned shemagh wraps around the neck of the Palestinian state like the brave soldiers whose boots stand on the dusty ground."

Tlaib did not respond to a request for comment.

Tlaib has been repeatedly criticized by the pro-Israel and Jewish communities for comments they say are anti-Semitic. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which combats anti-Semitic incitement, condemned Tlaib in late January for tweeting an inaccurate story claiming Israeli Jews murdered a Palestinian child. The ADL cited her for promoting a "blood libel" that was "steeped in centuries-old accusations used to demonize Jews."

Tlaib's associations with many organizations and causes that single Israel out for undue criticism have also generated deep divides between the congresswoman and the pro-Israel community. They include groups that support the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, which critics call anti-Semitic for its promotion of economic boycotts against Jewish-owned businesses.

Adam Kredo is senior writer reporting on national security and foreign policy matters for the Washington Free Beacon. An award-winning political reporter who has broken news from across the globe, Kredos work has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, the Weekly Standard, Commentary Magazine, the Drudge Report, and the Jerusalem Post, among many others. His Twitter handle is @Kredo0. His email address is kredo@freebeacon.com.

Go here to read the rest:
Tlaib Pictured in T-Shirt That Erases Israel Off the Map - Washington Free Beacon

Category: Anti-Defamation League | Comments Off on Tlaib Pictured in T-Shirt That Erases Israel Off the Map – Washington Free Beacon
Tags:

Posted By admin on March 13, 2020

A shocking incident at a Bernie Sanders rally last Thursday was a visceral reminder that anti-Semitism is on the rise in America.

A few moments into Bernie's speech at the 7,000-person Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Robert Sterkeson unfurled a five-foot-tall Nazi swastika banner and shouted anti-Semitic insults at the presidential candidate.

Sterkeson is a white supremacist and, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has "harassed a range of Jewish and Muslim organizations and events."

The banner was quickly ripped out of Sterkeson's hands by security and he was ushered out of the building.

Sanders recounted the event on Sunday in a conversation with CNN's Jake Tapper.

"To be honest with you, he was behind me. And I saw the crowd woo-ing and I turned around and I didn't quite see what it was," Sanders said. "I learned about it right after I left the stage."

The incident was especially disgusting because Sanders is Jewish and members of his family were "wiped out" in the Holocaust. If Sanders wins the Democratic primary he would be the first Jewish American major-party nominee for the office.

His opponent, Joe Biden, condemned the incident on Twitter.

ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt is concerned that the is incident emblematic of the rise in anti-Semitism in America that started with the 2016 election.

"Good people, regardless of how they vote, should call this out in no uncertain terms," Greenblatt said according to NBC. "I worry we'll see more of this."

According to the ADL, in 2018 there were 1,879 recorded Anti-Semitic incidents in the United States, with a dramatic increase in physical assaults. "Assault, harassment and vandalism against Jews remain at near-historic levels in the U.S.," the ADL writes on its website

"Assault, harassment and vandalism against Jews remain at near-historic levels in the U.S. The deadly attacks in synagogues in Pittsburgh and Poway have made American Jews feel more vulnerable than they have felt in decades," the ADL continues.

The American Jewish Committee tweeted saying that "Nazi flags are symbols of pure hate and have no place anywhere in America, much less in a rally for a Jewish presidential candidate."

Sanders is used to heckling by supporters of his opponents at rallies, but the swastika banner was unconscionable.

"OK, we have been disrupted by various groups. Some people have gotten excited and we got rid of them you know," Sanders told Tapper. "But the idea that there was a swastika. A symbol of everything this country stands against. We lost 400,000 people fighting that symbol, fighting Nazism. Six million Jews were killed. Other people were killed. The most devastating war in the history of humanity."

"Obviously, it is unspeakable," he continued. "It is disgusting. It is something, I got to tell you, I never expected in my life, as an American, to see a swastika at a major political rally," the Vermont senator said. "Horrible."

From Your Site Articles

Related Articles Around the Web

See the original post here:
Bernie Sanders reacts to the 'horrible' Nazi flag waved by a protester at his rally - GOOD

Category: Anti-Defamation League | Comments Off on Bernie Sanders reacts to the ‘horrible’ Nazi flag waved by a protester at his rally – GOOD
Tags: