Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on March 9, 2020

The best things to do in London this weekend from an @inthefrow beauty masterclass at Bentalls Kingston to Andy Warhol at Tate Modern

Lead image: Ellen Kents staging of Puccinis Madama Butterfly comes to Churchill Theatre Bromley

1 Midcentury Modern, Dulwich15 MarchMidcentury Modern is back at Dulwich College this Sunday 15 March with85 midcentury dealers and modern designers spread across seven rooms. Youre sure to find what youre looking for with everything on sale from an original Cherner chair to a contemporary piece from a hot young British designer. New designers appearing this time around include Richard Mason Art with beautiful, simplistic mobiles using found materials; modernist jewellery from Anja Capuzzimati and Elsiem, sculptural pieces made from recycled plastic and resin by Bronwen Gwillim, and Nick Hammond Lighting and Furniture. 10am-4pm.Advance tickets (online only)9 from 10am,2 for 10 from 1pm, free from 3pm.Dulwich College, Dulwich SE21 7LD;modernshows.com

2 The Affordable Art Fair, Battersea12-15 MarchThe Affordable Art Fair returns to Battersea this month,offering of 1000s of original art works with prices from 50 to 6,000.This year,AAF joins forces with leading affordable art consultant Nicholas Campbell in the inaugural edition of its curated section, Access, focusing on prints and what makes them so collectable.Plus, tohonour International Womens Day, Affordable Art Fair will dedicate Friday 13 March to celebrating women in the arts with creative workshops and aTalks Lounge,backed by Katy Hessel,the art historian behind the popular@thegreatwomenartistsInstagram account.Now in its 21st year, AAF is continuing its mission to democratise art for all withnew Family Day initiatives, such as theParents & Pushchairs hour and drop-in family workshops, to make the event accessible to all visitors and inspire children.Battersea Evolution, Battersea Park, Queenstown Road SW11 4NJ;affordableartfair.com

3 Vegan Life Live at Alexandra Palace14-15 MarchIts easy to think that being a vegan is all about what you cant have, but Vegan Life Live is here to show you just how much is on offer. Try pizza, kebabs, ice creams, pasta, curry, soul food its recommend you arrive with an empty stomach.For those who want some ideas to take home to their own kitchens, learn from amazing vegan chefs who will be whipping up everything from quick family dinners to delicious desserts in the cookery demos. Tickets 15 per day or 24 for both days. Doors 10am. (under 16s free when accompanied by an adult).Alexandra Palace Way N22 7AY;alexandrapalace.com

4 Sothebys Friday Night Late: Pop Art, Bond Street13 MarchSothebys is celebrating all things Pop Art at this Friday Late Night.Head for Sothebys Bond Street Galleries after hours to preview the Prints & Multiples exhibition, which kicks off on March 19. The collection includes an impressive range of printed masterworks with an emphasis on the revolutionary Pop movement. Prints & Multiples also features a special section devoted to the King of Pop Art, Andy Warhol, as well as Roy Lichtenstein, Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat.Beyond the exhibition, therell be a Pop Art Print Making Workshop co-hosted with Jealous Gallery; a panel discussion titled Pop Art: The Rivals (free but ticketed), and a sparkling wine tasting (additional cost). Highlights from Sothebys forthcoming Made in Britain, Banksy / Online and Patrick Kelly sales will also be on view.6.30pm-9.30pm. Free to attend, but youll need to register here to guarantee entry.34-35 New Bond Street W1S 2RT;eventbrite.co.uk

5 Lilith & KaraOkay atThe Bunker, Southwark10-14 MarchAhead ofTheBunkersclosure at the end of March, Week 6 ofitsTake Over Seasonwill seethe world premiere ofLilithfrom world-renowned teacher and theatre-maker, Jennie Buckman,who passed last year. This lyrical, searing play draws on Jewish mythologytoexplore stillbirth and the vilification womxn face in their fight for equality. A short piecefromSabrina Mahfouz,KaraOkay,will accompany it, combiningkaraoke classics with stories of abortion and miscarriage, questioningwhether we could one day talk about such issues as easily, if as awkwardly, as we can take part in karaoke? A programme of talks offers the opportunity to discussand reflect on the subject matter both pieces explore.Ten 10 tickets are available at each performance for under 30s, otherwise tickets are 16.53A Southwark Street SE1 1RU;bunkertheatre.com

6 Gallery Yoga + British Surrealismat Dulwich Picture Gallery15 MarchTry a yoga session with a difference at Dulwich Picture Gallery. Stretch, strengthen and energiseamong the gallerys beautiful collection of Old Master paintings, led by experienced British Wheel of Yoga teachers. After the class, youll getearly access to Dulwich Picture Gallerys latest blockbuster exhibition: British Surrealism, championing the British artists that contributed to the iconic movement with more than 70 eclectic works from 42 artists. Tickets are 25 (12 for Friends) including yoga, exhibition entry and a hot drink from the Gallery Caf.8.30am-10am.Gallery Road, Dulwich SE21 7AD;dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk

7 The Cunning Little Vixen atSt Marys Barnes14 MarchPart of Barnes Music Festival, The Cunning Little Vixen anunconventional operaby Leo Janek is nearly 100 years old, and yet its themes couldnt be more relevant today. Janaceks opera explores the delicate symbiotic relationship between humans and the environment, questioning human moral responsibility and the dangers we face when we destroy nature. This timeless story,all told through the escapades of an adventurous fox, features singing, dancing and puppetry Think Wind in the Willows meets Extinction Rebellion. Staged bybyRiverside Opera featuringrising stars in the international opera world. 7.30pm. Tickets25-40 (click here to book). Barnes Music Festival runs from 7-22 March.barnesmusicfestival.com

8 SEA LIFE London Aquariums Rock Pool Explorer Experience, South BankFrom 15 MarchBritains coastline may seem idyllic, but a new hands-on rockpool experience opening on Londons South Bank will reveal the perils creatures face in one of the UKs most extreme habitats.SEA LIFE London Aquariums new Rock Pool Explorer experience, its most immersive yet, offers kids and their parents the chance to get their hands wet and learn more about Limpets, Common Starfish, Dhalia Anemones and Hermit Crabs. Interactive displays will share the incredible stories of a constantly changing landscape and how creatures must adapt to survive.Expert Aquarists will be on hand to invite guests of all ages to touch and feel some of the weird and wonderful inhabitants of this amazing landscape.County Hall, Westminster Bridge Road SE1 7PB;visitsealife.com

9 Madama Butterfly &La Bohme at the Churchill Theatre, Bromley15 March & 20 AprilThe award-winning producer Ellen Kent returns to Bromley this spring with Puccinis Madama Butterfly on 15 March and La Bohme on 20 April. Madama Butterfly is Puccinis tragic tale that the hit West End musical Miss Saigon is based on. One of the worlds most popular operas, it tells the heart-breaking story of the beautiful young Japanese girl who falls in love with an American naval lieutenant with dramatic results.Featuring international soloists and a full chorus and orchestra, Ellen Kents stunning traditional productions of Puccinis masterpieces Madama Butterfly and La Bohme will star international sopranos Elena Dee, originally from Korea, and Alyona Kistenyova, with the two performers sharing the role of Mimi in La Bohme.With exquisite sets featuring a spectacular Japanese garden and fabulous costuming including antique wedding kimonos from Japan, Madama Butterfly will be told in the original Italian with English surtitles.High Street, Bromley BR1 1HA;churchilltheatre.co.uk

10 Andy Warhol at Tate Modern, Bankside12 March-6 September 2020A new look at the extraordinary life and work of the pop art superstar. Andy Warhol was one of the most recognisable artists of the late 20th century, yet his life and work continue to fascinate and be interpreted anew. A shy, gay man from a religious, migrant, low income household, he forged his own distinct path to emerge as the epitome of the pop art movement. This major new exhibition at Tate Modern the first at the gallery for almost 20 years offers a rare personal insight into how Warhol and his work marked a period of cultural transformation. As well as his renowned pop images of Marilyn Monroe, Coca-Cola and Campbells soup cans, the exhibition features work never seen before in the UK, including the largest ever grouping of Warhols Ladies and Gentlemen series. Drawing upon recent scholarship, it will provide a new lens through which to view this American icon, emphasising recurring themes around desire, identity and belief that emerge from his biography.22 (Concessions available).Bankside SE1 9TG;tate.org.uk

11 The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailorat the Sydenham Centre7 March-5 AprilFrom humblebeginnings in Baghdad to sailing the seven seas in search of adventure, join Sinbad on his incredible voyages inSpontaneous Productions latest production,in association with Kirkdale Bookshop. Withgiant birds, an amorous mermaid, a hungry giant, two dancing camels and amurderous sultan to contend with, can Sinbad get home in one piece? Expect a magical story, amazing original songs and dance routines, comedy, specialeffects, animation and lots of audience participation. Shows at2pm & 4pm every Sat & Sun from 7 March-5 April. Adults10, kids aged 3+5 (under 3s free but must sit on laps).Upstairs at the Sydenham Centre, 44a Sydenham Road SE26 5QX;spontaneousproductions.co.uk

12 Love, Loss & Chianti at Riverside Studios, HammersmithUntil 17 MayCold Feetand Downton Abbey star Robert Bathurst is currently treading the boards alongsideRebecca Johnson (The Trip, The Flood) in Love, Loss & Chianti at Riverside Studios in Hammersmith. Love, Loss & Chianti is a double-bill that beautifully combines acclaimed poet Christopher Reids Costa Book Prize-winning, startlingly beautiful exploration of grief (A Scattering) with his fictional comedy about a reckless attempt at rekindling an old flame (The Song ofLunch). Directed by Jason Morell and set to a backdrop of Charles Peatties witty and richly inventiveanimation, this is anevening of two parts one autobiographical, one fictional; one sad, one funny. If youve ever suffered a loss, and/or been on a rubbish date, this ones for you Tickets 30.101 Queen Caroline Street, Hammersmith W6 9BN;lovelossandchianti.com

13 Waiter! Theres a Murder in my Soup! atTroubadour Wembley ParkUntil 29 MarchTravel back to the year 1946 in this immersive theatre event, where cultural bigwigs have gathered for the grand opening of Marchioness du Jours performance.But all is not as it seems When a chilling murder is discovered, the lavish soiree quickly becomes a crime scene, and over the course of dinner thats an IRLthree-course meal in the newly opened Studio 5ive restaurant atTroubadour Wembley Park renowned detective Susan Gusset must race against time to unmask the killer, with the help of you and your fellow diners. The menu includes dishes such as heritage beetroot with lambs lettuce, hazelnuts and goats curd & braised beef cheek with heritage carrots and parsley puree.Tickets are 49.50 (click here to book).3 Fulton Road, Wembley HA9 0SP;troubadourtheatres.com

14 Tam Bam Steel Pan Workshop,Peckham Levels14 MarchPeckham Levels is hosting a month-long programme of events to celebrate Womens History Month and International Womens Day. Part of the fun is aTam Bam WorkshopwithTam Bam Steel Orchestra Academy, led by international steel-pan performer Panness James, taking place on 14 March.Tam Bam Steel Orchestra Academy is a south east London-based Community Interest Company. Founded in April 2019 by Nadine McLeary alongside fellow musicians Mikhail Caga-Anan andDelphina, who first met while performing in Europes most decorated steel band. Together they continue to perform while conducting workshops designed to explore music on the steel pan. 2pm-4pm. Free.Peckham Town Centre Carpark, 95A Rye Lane SE15 4ST;peckhamlevels.org

15 The Fenwick Beauty Showcase,at Bentalls Kingston12-22 MarchThe Fenwick Beauty Showcase, running from 12-22 March across all Fenwick stores, features a series of special events celebrating make-up, skincare and fragrance. This year, Fenwick is highlightingThe New Beauty Classics the new decades essential products andwho better to spill the secrets than Victoria Magrath, aka fashion and beauty influencer @Inthefrow? Magrath will be atBentalls Kingston on Thursday 19 March from 6pm-8pm, hostinga masterclass alongside celebrity makeup artist Rachel Singer Clark (tickets 50, redeemable on all purchases).For events at Fenwick Bond Street, including a Jo Malone London Pressed Flower Box Decorating session, click here.fenwick.co.uk

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15 Great Things to Do this Weekend in London: 14-15 March - The Resident

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Posted By admin on March 9, 2020

The global femtech movement is growing, and investors and entrepreneurs are helping this subsector of health tech expand to reach all health issues that affect women. In Israel, femtech is slowly blooming and to date includes 107 companies providing women-focused solutions, according to Start-Up Nation Central (SNC) data.

Femtech, short for female technology, is a term used to identify companies that sell and manufacture products and services focused on womens health. To be accepted under the femtech labeling, the companies do not need to be run by women although many are.

Femtech can be menstrual cycle-tracking apps or pregnancy care apps and products, it can include womens sexual wellness platforms and reproductive system healthcare; it can be about fertility solutions and at-home testing solutions, contraception-related solutions, menstrual wellness management and lactation digital health solutions, and menopause and geriatric care.

In 2019, $563 million was invested in global femtech solutions, according to Pitchbook data. The largest single investment in the sub-sector to the tune of $42 million went to London-based femtech company Elvie, the developer of a silent wearable breast pump and a pelvic floor exerciser.

Moreover, Frost & Sullivan predict that the international femtech market, including pharmaceutical drugs and cancer solutions, will hit the $50 billion mark by 2025.

For International Womens Day 2020, NoCamels is taking a closer look at the sector in Israel.

There is market potential, Renana Ashkenazi, who manages an investment team at Grove Ventures, tells NoCamels.

Israel is called the Startup Nation. We should be the ones to lead in this technology revolution dedicated to over half the worlds population. There is everything here: women technologists, women investors, women entrepreneurs. Weve done this in so many other tech fields. I think it is the time to take the lead in this femtech revolution, says Ashkenazi.

Israeli femtech is still in its early stages and hasnt yet taken off in terms of funding.

There are signs and attempts being made by more and more funds in this femtech space, Dr. Sharon Rashi-Elkeles, a biomedical professional and co-founder of Eve, the countrys first femtech hub, tells NoCamels. I had a meeting last week, today and will have another meeting this week with foundations interested in raising capital in the femtech space. There is a lot of interest, there is intent, but I havent seen the big funding yet.

According to an SNC report, some $89 million was injected into the femtech market last year. But $78 million, or 88 percent of the total sector funding total, went to Healthy.io, the developer of a smartphone-based urine albumin test (useful for pregnant women and others).

Ashkenazi says there is money to be made in the femtech sector but for it to truly grow, both the investment world and the tech developers need to be more aware and focused regarding the opportunities that the femtech sector brings.

It has to be a drive from the technology side. The more [software, products, diagnostics and services in thewomens health sphere] on the table, the more theyll be picked up and the more investment opportunities there will be, says Ashkenazi.

Local entrepreneurs are hard at work to prove that would-be investors can make money and make a positive impact on womens health.

SafeUp, a community-based mobile app that allows women to protect each other in real-time and get around more safely, and wellness platform Hela Healthare the newest startups to join the femtech scene. Both are also founded by women.

MobileODT, the AI-based cervical cancer screening test developer, has been promoting womens health tech since its launch in 2012, even before the femtech subsector of health innovation became a label.

HeraMED is developing connected pregnancy monitoring solutions for home use.

Healthy.io, probably Israels best-known startup in the femtech space, has technology solutions for the general public in other areas of the health sector as well. Ibex Medical Analytics, a pioneer in artificial intelligence-based cancer diagnostics, is another company with both a femtech solution and solutions for the public-at-large.

Investor interest in startups in the femtech space at the moment is not coming from a belief of needing to empower women or advance womens issues but rather whether the tech solution is good and has proven potential, says Rashi-Elkeles.

And shes happy LeanIn, MeToo and other womens empowerment movements are not the reason investors are eyeing femtech.

I do not believe that femtech should rise from a weakened position of womens status. We do not need to be victims to make a change. Femtech needs to rise from the position that theres a need and we can solve it, says Rashi-Elkeles.

That femtech hasnt reached critical mass is not an issue. The sub-sector of health tech is growing globally and in Israel.

Were seeing more investment opportunities. Investors do see the potential. Im not sure Clue [an American period and ovulation tracking app] would have been fundable a decade ago, says Ashkenazi.

Rashi-Elkeles would love to see the government act as an umbrella organization for the femtech sector

I want the government to acknowledge this important sector, says Rashi-Elekeles.

As for trends in fem-tech in 2020,Forbescites menopause, nutrition, pain management and, above all, fertility as the main areas for investments.

For Israel, thats good news. After all, this country has a solid reputation in the fertility arena.

There are 22 companies focusing on fertility, according to SNC.

OvuCon offers an in-home ovulation medical device; OBG Soft has developed a fertility management system andAIVFuses AI to simplify the IVF embryo selection process.

Israelsfertility ratestands at 3.09 children per woman, thehighest in the OECD(the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) and higher than in some developing countries.

Fertility tech is a booming industry. Huge data sets, very professional doctors and technologies, says Ashkenazi. The tech being developed around fertility from a tracking app to embryo selection are being developed in Israel. Were a superpower when it comes to fertility.

Viva Sarah Press is a journalist and speaker. She writes and talks about the creativity and innovation taking place in Israel and beyond.www.vivaspress.com

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In Israel, The Rise Of Femtech Piques Investors' Interest In Women's Health | Health News - NoCamels - Israeli Innovation News

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Posted By admin on March 9, 2020

Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel David Lau on Wednesday said Israelis should avoid touching and kissing mezuzahs affixed to doorframes, as religious figures took steps to avoid the spread of the novel coronavirus via Jewish rites.

At a time when we are witnesses to the spread of a serious disease, there is no doubt that one should not kiss or touch the mezuzah at all, Lau wrote in a statement. It is enough for a person to think about it during his entering and exiting.

Mezuzahs are slim casings containing Hebrew texts that are affixed to doorframes. There is a Jewish custom to touch the mezuzah when entering or leaving a room, and many also then kiss their fingers afterward.

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Lau noted there is no direct commandment to kiss the mezuzah and that in the past the custom was only to touch the mezuzah rather than also kissing ones fingers.

He did not issue any directive sregarding kissing other religious objects, a common display of honor in Jewish tradition

There have so far been 15 confirmed cases in Israel of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, and Israel has taken wide-ranging steps to stem the virus from spreading. Thousands of Israelis have been instructed to self-quarantine at home for 14 days after they returned from trips to countries hit by the virus or potentially came in contact with those who have been diagnosed. On Wednesday, Israel expanded that list to include much of Western Europe.

At a press conference announcing the rules, Health Minister Yaakov Litzman, who is ultra-Orthodox, said gatherings of more than 5,000 were to be banned and advised against shaking hands. He said the Western Wall, which has hosted mass prayers against the virus, would remain open.

Rabbi David Lau, chief Ashkenazi rabbi of Israel, lights Hanukkah candles in the Sejm, the lower house of Polands Parliament, on Dec. 5, 2018. (Eli Mandelbaum via JTA)

Laus instructions came as a major alliance of European rabbis advised congregants to avoid contact with each other or religious objects, and take extra precautions to maintain good hygiene.

Including among the recommendations from the Conference of European Rabbis was for those feeling sick to avoid visiting synagogues, even to say Kaddish, the traditional prayer for the dead that can only be recited when there is quorum of men gathered, usually in the synagogue.

Community members were also told to refrain from kissing religious items, such as Torah scrolls.

Its advisable not to kiss others, as well as communal siddurim, talleisim, mezuzos and sifrei Torah, the CEF wrote in a statement referring to prayer books, prayer shawls, mezuzahs, and Torah scrolls.

Avoid shaking hands, if not necessary, the statement advised, along with washing hands especially after touching surfaces which have come into contact with large crowds.

A rabbi arrives at a synagogue in Berlin to attend an event commemorating Kristallnacht, Nov. 9, 2018. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, file)

Put hand sanitizers in public places like entrances to shuls [synagogues], schools, halls etc. Make sure soap is available at hand washing stations.

Some of the guidelines could have a more serious impact on some of the most sensitive aspects of Jewish tradition.

The European rabbis encouraged increased religious practice as a way to combat spread of the virus.

At these times, we cannot underestimate the importance of washing hands on all occasions prescribed by halacha, the statement said referring to a method of washing hands with water poured from a cup that is used before performing certain activities, among them eating bread.

CER also sought to reassure community members.

Dont panic, it wrote. The probability of catching the virus through the air is extremely low and therefore the wearing of masks is much less important.

The conference said it consulted a specialist on infectious diseases in public health before drawing up its list.

Following its outbreak in China in December, the coronavirus has infected over 92,000 worldwide and claimed over 3,100 lives, almost all of them in China.

The virus has spread to several European countries, notably Italy and Spain.

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Coronavirus takes toll on religious life as rabbis advise against ritual kissing - The Times of Israel

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Posted By admin on March 7, 2020

It was January 30, 1939, the sixth anniversary of Adolf Hitlers accession to power. The Fhrer addressed the Reichstag and by extension the people of Germany. In only months, Hitlers armies would invade Poland. The German dictator spoke words to his parliament that were not to be forgotten by Jews and Germans alike. In Hitler and the Holocaust (2001), a book that is both concise and thorough, the historian Robert S. Wistrich includes the words of Hitlers prophecy in his infamous address. One thing I should like to say on this day which may be memorable for others as well as for us Germans: In the course of my life I have very often been a prophet, and have usually been ridiculed for it. During the time of my struggle for power, it was in the first instance the Jewish race which only received my prophecies with laughter when I said that one day I would take over the leadership of the state, and with it of the whole nation, and that I would then, among many other things, settle the Jewish problem. Their laughter was uproarious, but I think that for some time now they have been laughing on the other side of their face. Today I will once more be a prophet: If the international Jewish financiers in and outside Europe should succeed in plunging the nations once more into a world war, then the result will not be the Bolshevization of the Earth, and thus the victory of Jewry, but the annihilation of the Jewish race in Europe!According to Wistrich, This was an extraordinary outburst from the leader of a great power and can hardly be reduced to a mere metaphor or a piece of Utopian rhetoric.... The vehemence with which Hitler delivered this particular section of his speech, and the frenzied applause of the Reichstag delegates, makes it plain that it was a deadly serious threat.And for those who claim that this was not a smoking gun in Hitlers call for the extermination of the Jews, there is yet another public prophecy of Hitlers plans to annihilate the Jews. In their 2000 study of Holocaust denial, Denying History, Michael Shermer and Alex Grobman quote Hitler, yet again, prophesying at a public speech in Munich on November 8, 1942. The dictator told his audience, You will recall the session of the Reichstag during which I declared: If Jewry should imagine that it could bring about an international world war to exterminate the European races, the result will not be the extermination of the European races, but the extermination of Jewry in Europe.People always laughed about me as a prophet. Of those who laughed then, countless numbers no longer laugh today, and those who still laugh now, will perhaps no longer laugh a short time from now. This realization will spread beyond Europe throughout the entire world. International Jewry will be recognized in its full demonic peril; we National Socialists will see to that.In his groundbreaking work Ordinary Men (1992), historian Christopher Browning traces the activities of German Reserve Police Battalion 101 not members of the SS mobile killing units who murdered more than a million Jews in Russia after Hitlers invasion of the Soviet Union. THE RESERVE policemen were not die-hard National Socialists, yet they participated in the murder of Jews and the hunting of Jews to deport to death camps. What motivated these ordinary men to participate in genocide when most were not fanatics? Were they not disgusted by the unspeakable tasks that were demanded of them? As Browning writes, The fundamental problem is to explain why ordinary men shaped by a culture that had its own peculiarities but was nonetheless within the mainstream of Western, Christian and Enlightenment traditions under specific circumstances willingly carried out the most extreme genocide in human history.In another groundbreaking study that sparked much controversy, historian Daniel Jonah Goldhagen argued in Hitlers Willing Executioners (1997) that ordinary Germans were complicit in the genocide of the Jews, following the eliminationist antisemitism that was deeply rooted in German culture. Goldhagen writes: The beliefs that were already the common property of the German people upon Hitlers assumption of power, and which led the German people to assent and contribute to the eliminationist measures of the 1930s, were the beliefs that prepared not just the Germans who by circumstances, chance or choice ended up as perpetrators, but also the vast majority of the German people to understand, assent to and, when possible, do their part to further the extermination, root and branch, of the Jewish people. The inescapable truth is that, regarding Jews, German political culture had evolved to the point where an enormous number of ordinary, representative Germans became and most of the rest of their fellow Germans were fit to be Hitlers willing executioners.I would add that Hitlers prophecy in his address to the Reichstag in 1939 of the annihilation of European Jewry motivated Germans to murder Jews and, in fact, was a central harbinger of the actions of individuals, whether in the SS or among ordinary soldiers and police reservists. The centrality of Hitlers prophecy of genocide of the Jews first came to my attention in historian Alon Confinos A World Without Jews (2014). According to Confino, Soldiers used the prophecy to describe and justify mass murder in letters they wrote home from the Eastern Front. The prophecy reiterated shared emotions about the Jews, such as anger, mockery, vengeance, sarcasm and brutality that in the past had already created an emotional link between Hitler and Germans. The historian states, By understanding the meaning of the prophecy, Germans became complicit, whatever they knew about Auschwitz and whatever they thought about the extermination. Years under the pre-war Hitler regime of dehumanization of Germanys Jews and the Hitlers public call to destroy the Jews paved the way for the mass murder of Jews throughout Europe. As in any prophecy, there is no middle ground. Evil must be sought out and destroyed. While it is improbable that Hitler imagined Babi Yar and Auschwitz when he was in the trenches during the First World War, there is no doubt that by January 30, 1939, his destructive intentions were clear and imbued with charisma. Germans followed their Fhrer. In the end, as in the title of one book, the SS was the alibi of a nation.The writer is rabbi of Congregation Anshei Sholom in West Palm Beach, Florida.

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Ordinary Germans and Hitlers prophecy - The Jerusalem Post

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Posted By admin on March 7, 2020

Europe is experiencing a rise of populist far-right political parties that plan to threaten democracy and create hate policies in the 21st century. Is history going to repeat itself?

Arbeit Macht Frei, work makes you free, a taunt on a gate into hell with the false promise of hard work setting you free. 75 years after the liberation of the largest Nazi concentration camp, survivors walked back under the notorious gate only this time as free men.

On January 27th, 1945, Soviet soldiers liberated Auschwitz and the horrific crimes committed by the Nazis were shown to the world. It became clear the victims should never be forgotten, those who perished and those who live with the horrific scars every day. Nazism would never have a place in society.

But, is history beginning to repeat itself?

Across Europe, there has been a significant rise in the number of far-right populist political parties gaining momentum and becoming an increasingly serious threat. Far-right ideas, such as a fear of immigrants coming and residing in a country, are forcing their way back onto the political agenda and are becoming a serious threat. The recent movement of a vast number of refugees crossing the Mediterranean to make a better life in Europe has prompted an outpouring of hate and a surge in nationalist ideologies.

The gateway to Europe goes through former Soviet Union territories where the legacy of communism is almost nostalgic however now these countries are creating a tense and unwelcoming continent for those seeking a better life.

A path of the journey to freedom for many refugees is through Hungary. As a landlocked country it has seen a flow of nearly 900,000 refugees to the point where Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbn has increased security around his borders. Orbn approved militarisation of his borders, employing police patrols and security cameras to keep out those he views as a threat. Hungary is claiming the EU should repay them for protecting all the citizens of Europe from the flood of illegal immigrants. Hungary has become an authoritarian regime that continues to hold a faade of a stable and thriving democracy. Yet the government is becoming increasingly frightened of a so called invasion by migrants seeking a safe haven.

Eastern European countries are creeping towards authoritarianism regimes. Poland, a country that was invaded by Nazis during the Second World War has seen far-right parties elected to parliament. The fairly new Confederation Liberty and Independence Party gained 11 members of parliament at their first election. The party are wanting to implement tighter controls on foreign invasions to keep Poland Polish and reject liberal values. The Conservative Law and Justice Party (PiS) has created a strong voice to enforce Polish Nationalism and social welfare- not a policy that is usually high up on far-right parties agendas.

Nationalism is an important concept, maybe even the most crucial, for most far-right parties. The politicians of parties in countries like Hungary, Poland, Germany and other countries in Europe have consistently expressed their worries about losing their nationalism to people who were not born in their country. Their worries are not calmed by the EU, whose stance on immigration has been unsatisfactory for many of the far-right parties particularly Alternative for Germany, who made contact with the anti-immigration Pegida movement, which held weekly marches against what it called the Islamisation of the West. They used this as the main issue of their political agenda.

Alternative for Germany (AfD) became the second biggest party in Germanys Bundestag, in 2019. Their ideology is seemingly being tainted by Nazism, the AfDs idea that Islam is alien to society just as the Nazis had viewed Judaism. It is the first far-right party to enter the Bundestag since the Nazi Party in 1932. Several of their top politicians have been accused of racism. The party leader in Thuringia, Bjrn Hcke criticised the Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin saying, We Germans are the only nation in the world to have planted a monument of shame in the heart of their capital. Hate seems to be the root of the AfDs top concern of migrants apparently taking over Germany. A shameful thought yet not uncommon.

The Nazi Party believed Judaism was alien to German Society and began to alienate and persecute the Jewish population of not just Germany but Europe. Today, Alternative for Germany is targeting Muslims in the same way. This view disgracefully shadows that of the Nazi regime, and questions whether history is beginning to repeat itself. Germany is still sensitive about their war history yet the rise of the AfD identifies that Germany may not have yet learned from it.

There are many who deny the Holocaust and are insulting the survivors of the Nazi regime. Despite holocaust denial and denial of crimes committed by the Nazis illegal in Germany, individuals influenced by the AfD have travelled to remembrance sites like Sachsenhausen, Auschwitz-Birkenau to express their doubts about the Holocaust. Not only is this incredibly disrespectful to those who survived the Nazi concentration and death camps but shows, if it wasnt already clear, far-right parties are having influence and creating old ideologies for their followers that should never be brought back to life. Leading politicians in the AfD are proving that anti-Semitism is still a relevant issue in todays politics, just as it was in the 1930s and 40s.

Each commemorative site preserved from the Nazi era is essential to remembering the Holocaust and is a stark reminder that there are no boundaries to what humans can do to other humans. The sites relay a message of Never Again but we should all be fearful that soon they will be saying Not Again.

The rise of populism was helped by the election of Donald Trump. A deafening voice denouncing illegal immigrants and claiming to Make America Great Again. What is particularly worrying about Trumps rise, is the ripple effect it has on the rest of the world. A man with nasty ideologies, including the idea to persecute one race has risen to the top of the worlds most powerful state. This gives small far-right parties and states a powerful voice to rise to the top of their respective states. Trumps travel ban in 2017 on Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Venezuela and North Korea was a disgusting persecution on individuals he viewed as ruining American society, he has further added Nigeria, Eritrea, Tanzania, Sudan, Kyrgyzstan and Myanmar (Burma), in 2020, to the list. With a number of the banned states having a predominantly Muslim population we see similarities with Trump and the fear in European populism of Muslim migrants entering the continent.

Last month, the world watched as world leaders gathered at Auschwitz to commemorate one of the darkest parts of history. Its incredibly scary to acknowledge the new rise of the far-right into political positions where anti-Semitism and hate are still burning. We should begin to fear history and the relapse that could occur and understand there is no country in Europe that is a stranger to the ideologies that such parties contain and continue to prevail as societies begin to change. The far-right is an issue we should all fear and as parties continue to grow in votes and in some cases form governments we must remember what happened to millions of people at the hands of a far-right party. On a wall in Auschwitz lies the George Santayana quote Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it, a warning to us all.

Feature Image credit: Chappatte

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Why we should fear the rise of the Far-Right - Brig Newspaper

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Posted By admin on March 7, 2020

This weeks AIPAC conference in Washington wrestled with the crisis facing the Israel lobby: the growing partisanship of Israel support. AIPAC featured many Democratic politicians, and its panels offered appeals to progressives, though AIPAC is a rightwing organization (as the young Jewish group IfNotNow reminds us).

In an AIPAC forum on Progressive Zionism, Rabbi Noah Zvi Farkas said that Zionists could make common cause with leftwing groups by sharing their vulnerability and pain and trauma from Jewish history as a persecuted minority, and in that way other marginalized and historically-oppressed groups will related to them.

Farkas serves a Los Angeles-area conservative congregation and is on the board of the Zionist group Zioness along with the Clintonite leader Ann Lewis.

Here are some of the rabbis comments. First, Zionism is progressive because it answers the question, How do Jews find security after thousands of years living on the margins of society?

The question Ive always been thinking about is, How Zionism itself is a progressive value. Not necessarily the specific policies in Israel that make Israel a progressive nation. Or the specific policies that have yet to be realized in Israel that could make it a more progressive nation. But the idea that Zionism itself is a progressive value because Zionism is the idea that each and every one of us has a place to live in the world. And each and every one of us has a right to not feel other-ed by the larger society in which we live. And for the Jewish person, and in the Jewish heart, that idea is Zionism. That is the answer to the question of, What do we do after thousands of years living on the margins of society?

Farkas said that the reason young Jews are critical of Israel is that they are surrounded by progressives who deal in negativity: tearing down whats around you. He tries to offer a more constructive path of using Jewish tradition to build the democracy you want to see in the world.

When you think about why young Jewish progressives feel against or negatively about Israel, or have apathy or distance from Israel, so much of it is because they take their cues from this deconstructive progressive body politic. I think the way you engage them is by engaging their allies, by engaging the historically marginalized, the black and brown people, the LGBTQ people, and that you have to get into relationship with them, and to bring them along in the process of a positively constructive progressive movement. Thats some of the work were doing in Zioness.

Farkas never spoke about Palestinian persecution or Palestinian conditions.

He repeatedly cited the need for Zionists to build relationships with leftwingers.

Our biggest mistake in the last 15 years is we have ignored progressives, we have ignored historically marginalized people. We made the story of Zionism only about us and the Jewish people, which of course it has to be in chapter 1 of that book. But chapter 2 of that book is how the Exodus story matters to other people. Because we were not in those spaces we didnt go to Black Lives Matter meetings when they first started, we didnt sit with Occupy when it first started the only people who showed up in those spaces were people who wanted to demonize Israel. And they built relationships, and because of those relationships, they shared their own vulnerability and through that shared vulnerability they came to policy positions that other, demonize and hate people like you and people like me.

Zionists need to work with the left on leftwing issues, then make the turn and show that Jews are vulnerable too.

What progressives Zionists need to do is show up in those meetings, not to engage on our issues yet, but to engage on those issues, create the shared vulnerability, open the door, create those relationships, and then make the turn and tell them about our pain.

And when we do that they will actually listen to us, because progressives respond I respond, I think you respond to someone elses pain. And if we do that, we can create the relationships and build the progressive Zionist movement that is still missing in this country

Farkas advised a Wesleyan University student who said she was caricatured as a Trump supporter and not welcome at the animal-rights club to hang in there:

The number one thing as a progressive you can lean into is empathy and pain and trauma. you can show them, those who claim to be progressive, that all voices should be heard, and that your voice matters, and your shared vulnerability matters. And youre not asking them to support what you believe, but youre asking them to at least understand emotionally what youre going through, and then that is how you begin to build that relationship and hopefully it will change over time.

No one can tell a discriminated-against individual that theyre not experiencing hatred, Farkas went on. As a Jew if I experience something as antisemitism, then its antisemitism. The same goes for the gay person experiencing homophobia, a woman experiencing misogyny.

And its working, Farkas says. Zioness is a progressive organization that has built alliances on progressive issues and gotten some allies to shut up about their anti-Zionism.

Were getting bigger and bigger across campuses and in fact were neutralizing some opposition that we never thought we could neutralize before. That doesnt mean they are going to be Zionists themselves but weve gotten several major black preachers for example who are friends of mine who are working on homelessness issues with me in Los Angeles they dont preach against Israel any more. Theyre not Zionists, theyre not going to come but theyre not preaching BDS any more. And thats because weve developed relationships. Im working on racial discimination in the homelessness sector in the Los Angeles with them, for them as a partner. Thats what Zioness does. We show up and we create proximity being in intimate relationship with other peoples pain and that is what creates the opportunity for them to actually hear our pain and our desires.

Asked why AIPAC was a good place for progressives to invest precious resources, Farkas said that the only way to get power in the U.S. if you werent born into a wealthy zip code or inherited certain privileges is to organize. And: AIPAC is the greatest organizing machine of the Jewish people in the United States.

(The obvious critique of Farkass statements is that AIPAC is a very powerful organization indeed that operates by directing funds toward politicians who support occupation and ethnic cleansing, and its power is actually derived from many people born into wealthy zipcodes. This is the fundamental paradox of the Israel lobby, that it draws on a history of Jewish persecution and marginalization to justify the exercise of corrupt and brutal power. I wonder how many progressives even want to hear from Zionists who fail to acknowledge that Palestinians under occupation have no rights.)

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Zionists can find allies on the left by sharing Jewish pain and trauma, AIPAC is told - Mondoweiss

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Posted By admin on March 7, 2020

The Western Wall in Jerusalem. Photo: Reuters / Ammar Awad.

Over the past few weeks, I have noted a major shift in the Jewish world, a shift that relates to the Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) community in America and the startling decision by their most respected leaders to put up a slate for election to the World Zionist Organization (WZO).

Before I delve into this astonishing development, let me give you some background history.

Since the advent of the Zionist movement in the late 19th-century, the Haredi Jewish world has been at best suspicious, and at worst openly and aggressively hostile towards Zionism.

In 1900, just three years after the First Zionist Congress, a book called Ohr Layesharim was published by ultra-Orthodox activists in Warsaw. This book articulated a firm rejection of Zionism, which the authors contended was just another version of Reform Judaism. Ohr Layesharim also contained dozens of letters condemning Zionism, written by a broad spectrum of the most prominent rabbis of the era, including Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik of Brisk, and Rabbi Sholom Dovber Schneersohn of Lubavitch.

March 6, 2020 10:04 am

Antipathy towards Zionism, and particularly towards Zionist leaders, formed the backbone of the Haredi attitude during the pre-state era. And although there were different factions among Haredim, each with their own approach such as Agudat Israel, who were willing to work with Zionists without formally recognizing them as authentic representatives of Judaism, and others, such as the Munkatcher Rebbe, Rabbi Chaim Elazar Shapira, who would not contemplate showing Zionism or Zionists any kind of recognition or even acknowledgement broadly speaking, the Haredi world maintained its stance, namely, that Zionism was created by heretics, and therefore, in every iteration, it continued to be an outgrowth of heresy.

To be fair, the secular Zionist leadership were no less antagonistic. They considered Haredim to be backward obscurantist reactionaries, and worked ceaselessly to undermine the influence of traditional rabbis and leaders across the Jewish world, hoping to realign Jewish identity with secular Zionist nationalist ideals.

The first years after the creation of the State of Israel did nothing to repair this rift. Although Agudat Israel were signatories to Israels Declaration of Independence in 1948, by the early 1950s it became clear that Israels leaders, such as David Ben-Gurion, had little respect if any for the needs and concerns of the small but very determined ultra-Orthodox community, and every issue that came up quickly evolved into an existential battle, compounding the Haredi view that openly endorsing the State of Israel was a dereliction of the Jewish faith.

In 1952, Agudat Israels elected representatives resigned from Ben-Gurions government, and subsequently refused to join any coalition government with secular Zionists, preferring to advocate for the interests of their constituents as outsiders within the system, rather than as full-fledged members of the Zionist project.

But that all changed in 1977, when Menachem Begin, scion of Zeev Jabotinskys Revisionist Zionist ideology, won the Israeli elections after almost 30 years as leader of the opposition. Immediately after his stunning victory, the prime minister-designate was asked what style of leadership he intended to pursue in his new job, to which he immediately responded, a Jewish style.

True to his word, Begin wooed the Haredim, with whom he had sat in opposition for decades, and correspondingly, the Haredim, guided by their remarkable rabbinical mentor, Rabbi Eleazar Menachem Man Schach, agreed to join a Zionist-led government. The precedent was set, and since that time the Haredim in Israel have become ever more deeply embedded into Israels mainstream. But what had become the norm for Israel was not reflected in the Diaspora at least, until now.

Which leads me to the WZO. The WZO was founded in 1897 at the First Zionist Congress in Basel, for the purpose of promoting the Zionist agenda across the Jewish world. In order for it to be democratically inclusive, the WZO included an elected body called the World Zionist Congress (WZC), made up of representatives of Jewish groups spanning the spectrum of Jewish identity. Since 1897 the WZC has gone through various phases, today comprising of500 delegates who meet in Jerusalem every five years.

The WZC meeting enables elected delegates, two-thirds of whom are not Israeli citizens, to exert ideological influence on Israeli society and to further a global Jewish agenda, and, of course, toallocate financial and other resources to various organizations and projects in Israel.

The 38thWZC meeting is scheduled to meet in Jerusalem this coming October, and current ongoing online elections, which end March 11, will determine the size of the various delegations.

At some point last year, it dawned on Haredi leaders in America, as it had already some years earlier on American Religious Zionists, that the secular and progressive Jewish world in the Diaspora, and particularly the United States, had been able to overrepresent itself within the WZC, thereby determining the use of funds for projects in Israel, pushing an insidious agenda that has as its openly articulated aim the destruction of Torah-true Judaism and traditional Jewish values in Israel.

Although this group does not have a significant constituency in Israel, as a result of their disproportionate numbers on the WZC, they can, for example, influence educational programs all over the country, either to block projects they disagree with, or to promote and fund programs that are in keeping with their progressive agenda.

In the past few months the Haredi community in the United States has mobilized itself in an unprecedented way. Previous concerns about joining a primary Zionist organization such as the WZO have been discarded in favor of participation, to ensure that the structure of Jewish life in Israel, a country that is home to roughly half of all Jews in the world, and upon whom the future of Jewish life and identity depends, is not compromised.

Haredim are being actively encouraged by their most senior rabbis in Israel and the United States to vote for the first ever WZC Haredi slate Eretz Hakodesh. Fired up to fight of slates backed by J Street and other such such groups, the Haredi leadership has decided that after more than 120 years of sitting on the sidelines, the future of Judaism and Jewish life is too precious, and hiding in an ivory tower is no longer a viable option for anyone who cares about Jewish continuity and the safety and integrity of Jewish identity in the State of Israel whether you are a Haredi living in Israel or a Haredi living in the Diaspora.

The festival of Purim is often painted as a Jewish victory over genocide, with Hamans planned holocaust being miraculously thwarted by Mordechai and Esthers intervention. But this superficial reading misses the point entirely. Before her dangerous liaison with King Ahashveirosh, Esther appealed to Mordechai to gather together all the Jews of Shushan, without any differentiation, and to unite them into a cohesive group that prayed together and toiled together for Jewish survival. Only by joining up with each other, with all of them working for the same purpose, and addressing the crisis side-by-side with other Jews doing the same thing, could the threat from Haman be averted.

There are even opinions that view Mordechai as partly to blame for Hamans plans, which only came about as a result of Mordechais extremism, namely Mordechais refusal to bow down to Haman, an overly zealous act, as according to Jewish law there was no problem doing so.

To be clear, the implication that Mordechais zealotry triggered the catastrophe is a minority opinion; nonetheless, it teaches us that self-indulgent zealotry which sets one apart from others is ultimately counterproductive. In the end, we are all in this together, and as someone who was born and brought up in the Haredi world, seeing this seismic shift in the Haredi world has been a formative moment, and it is certainly a moment I feel we must all acknowledge and celebrate.

To modify a hardened view that has been embedded in a collective psyche for well over a century requires bravery and vision. And if it results in more unity of purpose among Jews who love Israel and care for its Jewish future, then just like the almost undetectable miracle of Purim, it is truly the Hand of God.

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Purim, and a Shift in the Haredi World - Algemeiner

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Posted By admin on March 7, 2020

Tunisian President Kais Saied claimed that the Tunisian Jews are citizens who have equal rights and duties with the rest of the Tunisians. There is no room to talk about a Jewish community, but citizenship is the basis.

According to the Tunisian presidency web page, Saied validated that numerous Tunisian Jews battled versus manifest destiny and also added to constructing the nation after self-reliance. Some of them presumed important obligations in the state.

Read: Tunisia puts on hold north Italy ferryboat solutions over coronavirus

Saied worried the demand to set apart in between the Jewish faith, which is a magnificent faith accepted by numerous Tunisians, and also the Zionist activity that created the variation of the Palestinians and also robbed them of their land, showing that the moment has actually come for all humankind to placed an end to this complaint.

On Wednesday, President Saied went to the Jewish Quarter on the island of Djerba where he talked with numerous reps of the Jewish area.

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'Jews of Tunisia have nothing to do with Zionism, which stole land of Palestine Middle East Monitor - The Union Journal

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Posted By admin on March 7, 2020

Might Benjamin Netanyahu not only just represent the second Israel code name for Mizrahim in poorer communities in its struggle against the first code name for the Ashkenazi elite but perhaps also be the liberator of the third Israel?

A historic irony is that the one who set the goal of snuffing out the Palestinian struggle may be remembered in the history books as a formative figure in that endeavor.

Bibi limps to election 'victory.' But he didn't winHaaretz Weekly Podcast

During his years in power, Netanyahu has sought to establish the concept that a two-state solution cannot be implemented. He has constantly incited against Israels Arab citizens and strived to undermine their right to vote and be elected to office. But what was he thinking? If the Palestinians cant even dream of expressing their national aspirations through independent statehood, and if the nation-state law bans Israeli Arabs from finding a solution to their national aspirations inside Israel, and if at the same time they are excluded from the Israeli identity, which in effect overlaps with Jewish identity, what choices are they left with besides emigrating or committing suicide?

If violent struggle is rejected as terrorism and diplomatic struggle is rejected as diplomatic terrorism, then now that they have become a political force that cant be ignored, the day is coming when they will be defined as engaging in democratic terrorism.

It appears that Netanyahus governments have acted as a historic trigger to change the course of the Palestinian national struggle, reminiscent of the key role that the Dreyfus affair played in crystalizing Theodor Herzls Zionist vision.

The baseless accusation of the Jewish officer in the French army, the treason trial, the humiliating demotion, the calls for death to the Jews all led Herzl to understand that the road to emancipation was blocked, and only the establishment of an independent Jewish state could resolve the problem of anti-Semitism that is, a transition from emancipation to auto-emancipation.

And really, what has Netanyahu done other than block the Palestinians and push them off the auto-emancipation road to the road of emancipation?

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A half an hour after Donald Trump made clear that the United States is not bound to the two-state solution, lawmaker Ahmed Tibi faced CNNs cameras and asserted: If theres going to be one state, then Ill be prime minister. By means of Netanyahus friend in the White House and his deal of the century which in effect proposes moving Israels Arab population to a state that will never materialize the Palestinian national movement was routed to a new historic path, moving its center of gravity from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to Joint List head Ayman Odeh.

The past year has been critical for Palestinian history. The three election rounds saw Israeli Arabs increase their political clout each time, from 10 Knesset seats to 13 and then to 15. Its also worthwhile noting that Netanyahus insistence on publishing Trumps peace plan before the election was almost like a subconscious effort on behalf of the Palestinian struggle: It made it clear to Israeli Arabs that the destruction of Palestinian nationalism does not give Israeli Palestinians a ticket to Israeli society, but puts them outside the borders, a humiliating clause registered in Netanyahus name.

Just like the Zionist founders, Odeh also succeeded in uniting the entire spectrum of Palestinian society under one roof. But just as Zionism wouldnt have accomplished this without the generous assistance of anti-Semitism, Odeh also couldnt have done it without the engines of racism and divisiveness that were provided by the most inflammatory prime minister in Israels history.

Who knows, perhaps in the future the Palestinians will decide to mark March 17, 2015, the Election Day that created the 20th Knesset, as a day of the Palestinian awakening: When he thought he was on his political deathbed, Netanyahu circulated that vile video in which he said that Arab voters are heading to the polls in droves. And the rest is history.

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Israel election results: Benjamin Netanyahu, liberator of the 'third Israel' - Haaretz

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Posted By admin on March 7, 2020

Safed. The city steeped in mystical tradition, where the influence of Kabbalistic sages and saintly men and women resonates in living peoples minds as clearly as notes struck from a great bell. Rabbi Isaac Luria Ashkenazi (the Ari), the revered medieval scholar who is considered one of the fathers of Kabbalah, lies in Safeds cemetery. People can be seen at his grave at all hours, meditating and praying. You can even physically experience something the Ari did every day, if you make your way to the cave where freezing spring water flows from the hillside, and dip into his mikveh. That is, if youre a man. A local hassidic community has forbidden women to dip in the Aris mikveh. Although women used the mikveh for centuries, today a woman trying to have her dip there will find a man full of righteous wrath stationed at the entrance. Things move slowly for women in Safed. This coming Purim will see Safed women read Megillat Esther in public only for the third time, although womens readings have been taking place all over Israel for years. Its unheard of anywhere for a woman to take parchment, ink and quill and write a megillah herself. But in Safed, ordinary people do extraordinary things. Four Safed women learned the intricate halachic laws, acquired the equipment and wrote a kosher Megillat Esther. They are Chaya Ben-Baruch, Allison Ofanansky, Susan Zehavi and Sheva Chaya Shaiman, all ex-pat Americans and Safed residents.The scroll has been approved as kosher by two sofrim (certified scribes). The Safed womens megillah is the second such; a womens group in St. Louis produced the first in 2013. One of the St. Louis group donated funds to buy the parchment for the Safed megillah.Ben-Baruch is the leading light of the Safed womens megillah project. She conceived it when she took her adult daughter Keren, who has Down syndrome, to a womans reading last Purim. Although Keren reads, she could never keep up with the text as typically read by men. Women read in a more leisurely way than men, Ben-Baruch says. At that reading, Keren was able to hear and understand every word for the first time. I thought, what if women wrote a megillah, together, and used it for reading?A man studying how to write the sacred text sits with a tutor, and practices writing under his supervision. When he receives approval to begin work, he usually rents a studio, obtains a space in another scribes office, or at least sets up a corner in the house where he can work undisturbed. You never hear of men collectively writing a megillah, Ben-Baruch says. None of the women involved in the Safed megillah project had the luxury of peace and privacy. All run their homes, have paid or volunteer jobs, or care full-time for a seriously ill family member. The womens megillah was written on their dining room tables, in moments snatched from family life and work. You dont know what can be accomplished when no one person gets all the credit, Ben-Baruch notes. It took nine months for the group to learn the laws and produce the megillah. It wasnt easy to find a mentor, or to acquire the writing tools. Ben-Baruch found that most sofrim wouldnt even talk to her. She eventually found a sofer in Jerusalem who was willing to sell her the tools and answer questions. I didnt have to humble myself because Im a woman, she says wryly. Her husband bought the handmade ink and quills through a sofer friend when it became impossible for Ben-Baruch to leave her sick son and travel to Jerusalem again. She paid an online tutor to teach her how to write. She learned to make a quill and to practice on paper, afterward switching to parchment. One other woman, Zehavi, also took the course. She and Ben-Baruch taught the remaining two women.Each woman received parchment and the appropriate template for the section she was to write. We practiced all the time, any time there was a quiet moment, says Ben-Baruch. First letters, then words. My kitchen table was full of scraps of paper with letters on them. We met once a week to practice together, first with pencils, then with a calligraphy pen. When we felt confident, we went on to quills and ink. The women had a template of the entire megillah, ordered from a sofer in Bnei Brak. Because its a megillah written in Safed, we chose the writing style of the Ari as our font, she explains. Each time we switched to a new media calligraphy pen to ink, paper to parchment it took weeks or months to master it. We even changed the humidity to 50% in the rooms where we wrote, according to advice from a sofer. When all pieces were completed, Ben-Baruch sewed the scroll together with gidim threads made of sinews. The women built the case for the megillah themselves, and another local woman sewed the embroidered cover.Each woman's writing is slightly different from the others, and so are their personal experiences.I gained an emotional and intellectual connection with the letters that I didnt have before, Ben-Baruch says. It made me feel closer to God, in a way I never anticipated. Its been a journey. Im not the same person I was before. I changed, like a woman whos given birth as compared to one whos never gone through labor. Zehavi runs a bed and breakfast in Safed. When she heard of the project, she joined immediately, she says.It was a fantastic opportunity to do something interesting and meaningful. I never had a strong desire to read the megillah publicly, but was happy to get involved writing. I had no idea how much Id learn, and how empowering it would be. It connected me to my roots as a Jewish woman. I felt the desire to be holier.It was hard to master, but as a woman, you know that if you keep going, youll get it right. I had to rewrite a piece when someone shook a wet umbrella near the table where I was working and some of the letters got blotted. But I enjoyed rewriting. I think that we practiced too long. We were ready to write a kosher megillah way before we did it.I love that we did it together. Despite our differences, it created a bond between us. Allison Ofanansky, editor, translator and author of 11 childrens books, derived something unique from her experience writing the megillah: healing of a wounded spirit. Ive had a long interest in Megillat Esther, she says. Years ago, when I was having a hard time, I studied it with another woman, and it helped me get through. Ofanansky refers to a time lived overcoming trauma after surviving rape.I read the megillah over and over, delved into Esthers perspective. The story is often viewed as a Cinderella story, but the reality is that Esther didnt want to be queen. She was rounded up with a lot of other girls and taken to Ahasuerus against her will. Essentially, she was raped. She had to live the story out, and as a result she became someone she hadnt been before. I found it helpful to understand that this event made Esther stronger. Womens experiences arent gone into too much in the Torah, Ofanansky continues. And only one story was authored by a woman, Esther. But theres drama and even humor in Megillat Esther. We get a full character who changes and develops throughout the story. It was empowering to learn to read the megillah and write it together, as a group dividing the work and making it happen. We have to create the face of Judaism that we want to see. Ofananskys most recent book, Esther Didnt Dream of Being Queen, touches on the Purim story as one whose ending isnt necessarily happy, but full of purpose. I had to work hard with the editors to make it meaningful and appropriate for children, she says. I had the megillah out in front of me the whole time I was writing it. The book is in press at the moment. Sheva Chaya Shaiman is an artist and glassblower with a studio in Safed. My family isnt observant. When I first reconnected to Judaism, I was fascinated by the beautiful shape of the letters. I was an art major at Princeton University. A big part of my thesis was the Hebrew letters. During the megillah project, I learned how hard it is to keep the halachic details in mind when youre actually writing. It was special, but also intimidating. I had to get over being intimidated, because I had a goal, and I was working with a group who expected my work. It demands focus, and when youre focusing so intensely, you have time to contemplate the story. It became so much more real to me. Its not like hearing it read out loud like you do on Purim. I grew as a person, as an artist, and as a part of the community. Its germinating, and will take its time, but I feel the process getting into my art. Ultimately, it was about connecting to God in a deeper, more authentic way. The megillah will be read this year by the women who wrote it. Until next Purim, it will be on display at Shaimans glassblowing studio in Safeds Old City. For more information, email soferet24@gmail.com.

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A Megillat Esther of one's own in Safed - The Jerusalem Post

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