Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on February 16, 2020

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz have both had a busy week. The leaders of the two largest parties have been crisscrossing the country, meeting voters, giving speeches, doing events and trying to drum up support and enthusiasm for the coming election. But the truth is, the country is in political gridlock, and the polls are not moving decisively in any direction. One week the Center-Left picks up a couple of seats, the next week they swing back to the right wing, and neither side ever obtains a majority of 61 MKs to form a coalition. And it has been this way ever since new elections were called at the end of May last year. Although Blue and White is currently the biggest party, with the polls consistently predicting that it will preserve this status after the March election, Gantzs party still does not have a path to a government of the Center-Left. Blue and White strategist Israel Bachar says that the political deadlock is a result of not having had a new government to assess since the first election in April. The polls have barely changed from those election results, since no government has taken office and been able to enact a series of measures by which the public could evaluate it.Combined with the tribalism of the pro-Bibi, anti-Bibi camps, this situation means that there is little that can change the mind of the electorate. WHAT, IF anything, can Blue and White do to extricate the country from a seemingly interminable cycle of electoral purgatory? There are potential alternatives for Gantzs party to form a government, such as a unity government with the Likud, peeling off the more moderate elements of the right-wing bloc such as the New Right component of Yamina, or the ultra-Orthodox Shas Party, which is more moderate than its Ashkenazi counterpart, United Torah Judaism. And there is also the nuclear option of forming a minority government with external support of the Joint List of Arab parties to ensure that such a government is not defeated by votes of no confidence. But all of these possibilities are extremely difficult to achieve for their own reasons. Blue and White itself has promised not to sit in a government with Netanyahu since he has been formally indicted, Shas and New Right have pledged not to sit with Blue and White, and relying on support from the Arab parties is political kryptonite. Senior Blue and White sources acknowledge the impossibility of forming a center-left government of 61 MKs, but are now aiming for a more modest achievement: beating the Likud by a larger number of mandates than in the September election, to give it greater legitimacy as the leading political party in the country, and affording it greater credibility as the only party able to form a government. If Blue and White can beat the Likud, not just by the one seat it did in the last election, but by three or four seats, it could bring greater pressure to bear on Shas and New Right to abandon the right wing, given public loathing for fourth elections. It might even bring about greater pressure on Netanyahu from within the Likud to stand down as head of the party and pave the way for a Blue and White, Likud unity government. Alternatively, Blue and White could try to claim a popular mandate based on its plurality of the Jewish vote to form a minority government supported externally by the Arab parties, just to overcome the political stalemate that the overwhelming majority of the country is sick to death with. The most realistic way for Blue and White to get more voters at this stage is on the Right, since its positions on security issues and the conflict with the Palestinians are considered right-wing, and left-wing voters are more likely to stick with Meretz-Labor. WHAT, THEN, is the partys strategy for boosting the number of votes it receives in March?The first aspect of its strategy is the population segments it is targeting. Among those are disillusioned, moderate Likud voters, the kind of people who identify with the Likuds founding as a Revisionist Zionist party, are socially and economically liberal, hawkish on security and the Palestinians, but put off by Netanyahu and his shift to the populist Right, as well as his criminal indictments. Then there are young Russian-speaking voters, the second generation of immigrants from the former Soviet Union who are also hawkish on security issues, secular in their outlook and resentful of the state religious establishment that repeatedly insults and scorns them. Moderate religious-Zionist voters, those who are also politically right-wing but socially liberal and put off by the radicalism and conservatism of the hard-line segment of the community and its political leadership, are another target for Blue and White. Two other population groups mentioned as possible sources of more votes are the Arab sector and the Ethiopian Jewish community. There are not large numbers of swing votes available in any of these groups, but if Blue and White can peel off a segment of each group from the parties they traditionally vote for, then it may have a chance to boost its total Knesset seats tally further above the Likud. And each target population may be amenable to a different message.Moderate religious Zionists may be persuaded to leave the right-wing bloc by the state-oriented attitude of Blue and Whites religious-Zionist MKs, which the party has juxtaposed to the increasing radicalism of the hard-line politicians of the religious-Zionist parties, one of whom says he wants a state based on Jewish law, and another who said he wanted to take a bulldozer to the Supreme Court.Disillusioned Likud voters may be swayed by messaging about Netanyahus alleged corruption, and Russian-speaking voters by Blue and Whites pledges on boosting the healthcare system.Blue and Whites recent heavy focus on the failings afflicting the health service is based on the idea that voters may be swayed to change their political allegiance based on problems they might have experienced in their daily lives. And it is hoped that the very fact that Blue and White has a manifesto detailing its different policy positions and objectives, and that it is talking about real issues affecting the public, will contrast with the Likuds continued failure to produce a similar party platform and discuss everyday concerns of the electorate.One final gambit that Blue and White has in store in the final days of the election campaign is to make a push for left-wing voters, appealing simply to their desire to remove Netanyahu from office. By arguing that this will be possible only if Blue and White defeats the Likud by as big a margin of Knesset seats as possible, Gantzs party may be able to gain a few more thousand votes in this way as well. Ultimately, the number of potential swing voters out there who may switch sides to Blue and White remains very small, and the party will be hard pressed to improve on its previous two results. But its ability to break the countrys political logjam in its favor does appear dependent on whether it can mop up the wavering voters from the marginal segments of the populations varied sectoral divisions.

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How Blue and White tries to break the cycle of electoral purgatory - The Jerusalem Post

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Posted By admin on February 16, 2020

Genetic matchmaking is entering the mainstream. The prospect of meeting and selecting potential romantic partners based upon purported DNA compatibilityuntil very recently the subject of science fiction from films like The Perfect 46 to independently published romances by Clarissa Lakehas increasingly garnered both scientific and commercial attention. Earlier this year, Nozze, a well-established Japanese dating service, established a DNA Matching Course and hosted a related DNA Matching Party, both first-time offerings in that nation. For 86,400 yen ($790), men are paired with prospective dates based upon 16,000 variations in HLA gene complexes.

Nozze joins a market commercializing the science of attraction that already includes Swiss pioneer GenePartner, Houston-based Pheramor and services that combine genetic and non-genetic profiles like Instant Chemistry and SingldOut. Considerable media attention has been devoted to investigating the science behind these services; unfortunately, both the ethical and sociological implications have received relatively short shrift.

The underlying science itself is hardly convincing. Since the 1970s, researchers have found that variations in the genes of the major histocompatability complex (MHC) play a role in mate selection in mice. Similar patterns have subsequently been found in fish, pheasants and bats, but not in sheep. The possibility that MHC plays a role in human mate selection first arose as a result of a well-known experiment by Swiss biologist Claus Wedekind that is colloquially known as the sweaty T-shirt study. Researchers had men wear T-shirts for extended periods of time before placing the shirts in boxes; then they had women sniff the shirts to rate the former wearers sexual attractiveness. They found an inverse correlation between MHC similarity and attraction score.

Since that time, studies in human beings have yielded mixed results. The most persuasive data come from an investigation of Hutterite couples in North America who appear to display nonrandom MHC assorted mating preferences. But this correlationgiving genetic matchmaking the benefit of the doubtestablishes at most a natural preference, and a natural preference is a far cry from connubial compatibility. To our knowledge, nobody has actually surveyed married Hutterite couples to determine whether MHC compatibility plays a role in their levels of marital bliss, or the quality of their dinner conversation, or the frequency of their escapades between the sheets. On a more global scale, no data have yet established a relationship between MHC compatibility and lower divorce rates.

One must ask precisely what we mean by compatibility. At the most fundamental level, couples with MHC-dissimilarity (and thus more so-called mating compatibility) demonstrate lower rates of spontaneous abortion. The dissimilarity may also increase genetic polymorphism, which in turn may lower the manifestation of recessive diseases. However, the impact of MHC-dissimilarity on either of these phenomena is likely to prove relatively small, and therefore should not be expected to play a significant role in the marital happiness or cohesion of many couples.

In addition, genetic polymorphism may help species survive environmental challengesyet evolutionary advantage is probably not a major variable that most couples consider when seeking romantic bliss. One cannot also ignore the unknowns: Matching couples based on MHC markers may pose some survival benefits, but nobody knows at what cost; it is theoretically possible that the offspring of such couples are also more aggressive or less creative, just to name two traits arbitrarilyand magnifying these effects artificially might prove significantly deleterious to our civilization in the long run.

Harvard geneticist George Church has championed another version of compatibility. Using whole genome sequencing, he hopes to match couples so as to reduce or eliminate many recessively inherited diseases. In Ashkenazi populations, the Committee for Prevention of Jewish Genetic Diseases (better known as Dor Yeshorim) already uses a voluntary testing and matching system to prevent disorders such as Tay-Sachs, Canavan and Niemann-Pick. Church hopes to implement a variation of this program for couples everywhere, claiming it could end some 7,000 genetic diseases and save 50 million lives a year.

The ethical implications of Churchs proposal are complex. If couples are encouraged to use his pairing system, then those who find love outside the realm of genetic matchmaking and produce offspring with genetic disorders may be unfairly stigmatized. At a more practical level, even if the elimination of recessive illnesses is a social good, it is clearly not the sort of compatibility most daters seek in a matchmaking service.

When most people speak of romantic compatibility, the odds are that they mean factors like temperament, tastes and interests. To date, no study has connected these with any genetic variable. MHC-dissimilarity is as likely to lead to partners with temperamental and aesthetic difference as to those with similarities. Ironically, even compatibility appears to have minimal impact on satisfaction in relationships. Multiple studies have shown that universal traits such as kindness, rather than similarities, are the keys to marital happiness.

Genetic matchmaking reflects two concerning trends in modern society. The first is the pandemic loneliness and search for connection that has arisen in the wake of the breakdown of traditional community structures. To use a metaphor first introduced by political scientist Robert Putnam, we are a society bowling alone. We are increasingly willing to shell out a few hundred dollars or a few thousand yen for anything that smacks of a cure.

Genetic matchmaking also manifests the misguided belief that science can solve all of our problems. Unfortunately, we cannot discover, pay or invent our way out of our isolation. Science may ultimately provide tools that help us rebuild societal cohesion, but without meaningful changes in social policy and human behavior, science alone has little to offer. In this case, the science in question is, at best, being misusedand arguably not science at all.

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The Illusion of Genetic Romance - Scientific American

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Posted By admin on February 16, 2020

President Reuven Rivlin participated this morning, Sunday, in the launch of the the #__ (DontStandBy) initiative at Beit HaNasi in Jerusalem. Director-General of the Ministry of Education Shmuel Abuav and Director-General of the Ministry of Public Security Maj Gen (ret) Moshe (Chico) Edri also participated in the event and spoke about the work of their ministries in this field, as well as young influencers on social media who are taking part in the initiative and heads of organizations and youth movements dealing with children and young people.

Noa Kirel was the host of the press conference and singer Agam Buhbut performed her song Little Girl. Other participants include Omer Hazan, Stephane, Ofek Adanek, Luai Ali, Reef Neeman, Kim Or Azulay, Kevin Rubin, Shiran Sendel, Karin and Ariel Kleinberg and Dennis. Others involved in the initiative and who posted tips and advice include Netta Barzilai, Yael Shelbia, Tom Aviv, Anna Zak, Mergi, Nevo Amrani, Moti Taka, Liel Eli, Titi Eyenew. Maayan Ashkenazi, Orel Tsabari, Gal Zehavi, Maggie Tabibi, KatriX, Max and Noa Cohen.

The initiative, in partnership with the Ministry of Educations psychological-counselling service, includes a range of activities on social media using the hashtag #__ (DontStandBy)

The story of a kid who has to bear such great pain is the story of many children, too many, said the president. Not because social exclusion and bullying are new, but because the digital age we live in has brought new ways to harm and abuse.

I am proud to see who is with us here today educators, influencers and opinion-formers, young people who have decided to pick up the gauntlet and say enough is enough. We will not stand by. We will not stand by, because even if it is not the easy thing to do, it is the right thing to do. We do not stand by. And next time we see a hurtful response near us or online, we will speak up against it, report it to the app, a parent or a teacher.

"We do not stand by, and if we see someone who is bearing the pain of abuse or exclusion, we will go up to them and say, Im with you. We will remember, always, how it felt to be on the other side, the one who was hurt, and will think about how we want others to treat us. Verbal violence kills. It kills childrens dreams and hopes every day and has already claimed the lives of children who did not find a way out of the suffering and ended their own lives. We have all come across cases of verbal aggression and violence. And when I say all of us, I mean myself as well. I also get violent responses on social media and even though I am a grown up, it is still hard. We must not allow this to become routine. We must not stand by when we come across behavior like this, even if it is not aimed directly at us. Let us promise today, together, all of us, to save lives and not to stand by!

Director-General of the Ministry of Public Security Maj Gen (ret) Moshe (Chico) Edri: The complex reality and the rapidly developing world of technology dictate the need for this initiative, which aims to get those who stand by the silent majority to take a stance, to do something and not to be silent any more when it comes to exclusion and bullying of children and young people. The National Child Online Protection Bureau, established by Minister of Internal Security Gilad Erdan MK, is a unique, innovative and ground-breaking body at the international level, and is a partnership between the Ministry of Internal Security, Israel Police, and the Ministries of Education, Social Welfare, Health and Justice. This is a civil-law enforcement body which aims to increase online personal security and to protect children and young people on social media. In a world first, police and civilians are working together in a single national bureau.

Director-General of the Ministry of Education Shmuel Abuav: To be an Israeli citizen and to be a graduate of the Israeli education system is to be a person with values and mutual concern. A person with a sense of justice, who works for the good of the whole and for society at large. A person who promotes mutual responsibility and does not stand by. As educators, we ask Israeli schoolchildren have you witnessed other students being harmed? Has one of your friends been bullied? They cannot stay silent. Report, talk, stop. Do not allow it to pass you by. It is in your hands.

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Rivlin leads initiative against bullying on social media - Arutz Sheva

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Posted By admin on February 16, 2020

Sam Tobis never intended to open a Jewish bakery.

The New York native moved to the Bay Area 12 years ago to attend UC Berkeley. Like many other Cal grads, he stayed. And even though he hadnt joined a synagogue or felt particularly tied to Jewish life, he gradually felt a longing: for the Jewish foods that seemed ubiquitous in New York, for the connection to his roots.

In 2017, with no real baking experience, Tobis purchased Grand Bakery in Oakland, a long-running kosher bakery that had closed several months earlier.

It was a combination of nostalgia and insanity, he says.

Nostalgia for New York, for Israel is behind a number of new or recently reopened Jewish bakeries in the Bay Area. They take many forms: a kosher bagel shop in Berkeley inspired by New York legend H&H Bagels; a bread bakery in San Leandro that makes unusually dark, shiny loaves of challah; a home kitchen in Santa Clara that delivers stretchy Yemeni flatbreads.

For many of these bakers, food was a second career something they just had to do.

Theres nothing like food from your home country, said Doreet Jehassi, who started the Malawah Bar last year. Its going back to your roots and enjoying the comfort foods.

Jehassi, who is Yemenite Israeli American, quit her tech job to start her delivery-only bakery out of her Santa Clara home. It takes 18 hours to make the doughs for her two signature items: jachnun and malawah. Both require stints of rolling out the dough; adding a thin film of fat; and folding, resting and repeating until many layers form, all techniques she learned from her mom.

Jehassi estimates that 85% of her clientele is Israeli or Jewish people already familiar with these Yemeni specialties. But other bakers are finding a much wider audience.

At Emily Winstons Boichik Bagels in Berkeley, long lines form daily for her chewy, malty bagels. In the last year, Iliana Berkowitz has quadrupled her wholesale accounts for San Leandros As Kneaded Bakery, a purveyor of stellar challah and bialys and also pointy baguettes and custardy porridge loaves. Ayelet Nuchi, who recently closed her 1-year-old Palo Alto bakery Babka by Ayelet but plans to reopen soon in Los Altos, was surprised to see her yeasted Jewish cakes become a hit with the Asian community.

Babka by Ayelet currently only taking online orders is the only American bakery Nuchi knows of to focus on babka. While most bakers just make chocolate or cinnamon babka, Nuchi creates unusual renditions like halvah, raspberry-cheese and Nutella.

Each loaf starts with a buttery broiche-like dough infused with orange zest and vanilla bean. Its rolled super-thin and spread with a thick layer of filling a recent experiment saw almond cream with slivered almonds and lots of orange zest before getting twisted and baked. The result is stunningly layered and more moist than the breadier versions made elsewhere.

You take the tradition and you upgrade it, she said.

Nuchi remembers that when she moved from Israel to the Bay Area 20 years ago, she was unable to find much Jewish food at all. A turning point was certainly the 2012 arrival of Wise Sons Deli, which proved there was huge unmet demand for Jewish eats in the Bay Area, a region with 350,000 Jews the fourth-highest concentration in the country. Now, Wise Sons pastrami on house-made rye, bagel sandwiches and classic sweets like babka and rugelach are available across six locations, including one in Japan not to mention Wise Sons farmers market stands and growing wholesale business.

Nuchi and Jehassi say theyve noticed more Israelis these days in the Bay Area, too, drawn to Silicon Valley after working in Tel Avivs booming tech sector. That trend coincides with the soaring popularity of Israeli food in the United States a product in part of Israeli chef Yotam Ottolenghis bestselling cookbooks like Jerusalem and Plenty that introduced many Americans to the wonders of zaatar and tahini. Last year, Zahav, an Israeli restaurant in Philadelphia, won the countrys biggest food industry honor: the James Beard Award for outstanding restaurant.

Israeli restaurants have been opening in droves, such as Sababa, which has two San Francisco locations, and Orens Hummus, which has five restaurants in the Bay Area.

Its easy to see why Israeli food has taken ahold of San Francisco. Isaac Yosef, owner of San Franciscos Israeli and kosher Frena Bakery, noted its light and vegetable-forward two traits Bay Area diners have been wanting more of. It also tends to be vegan-friendly 60% of Frenas menu is incidentally vegan.

And thanks to the domestic rise in Israeli cuisine which draws from the traditions of Jews who migrated to Israel from North Africa, Yemen, Ethiopia, Syria, Turkey and other countries non-Jewish Americans are increasingly aware of the immense diversity of Jewish food. Its not just challah and black-and-white cookies.

Israel is a melting pot of food. It doesnt matter where you are from, there you are going to eat Yemeni food and cook Moroccan food, Yosef said.

Sure, customers still wander into Frena and ask why there arent bagels and lox. But as soon as Yosef explains Frena is Sephardic Jewish that is, from the Mediterranean as opposed to the Ashkenazi Jewish culture from Eastern Europe those customers quickly understand and order one of Frenas burekas, flaky Turkish pastries stuffed with cheese, or sambusaks, pita-like pockets baked in a brick oven.

At Oaklands Grand Bakery, Tobis has been working to subtly evolve the 60-year-old legacy business. He recently added bagels as well as house-cured gravlax, though the staple items of challah, hamentashen and coconut macaroons remain prominent fixtures. Grand Bakery is solely a wholesale operation, but Tobis likes the idea of opening a cafe one day it could expose Grand Bakery to more people beyond its core customer base of Jewish moms and rabbis.

As Kneaded Bakery

585 Victoria Court, San Leandro. 510-924-7490 or http://www.askneadedbakery.com. Chewy bialys, with a center full of onions and poppy seeds, can only be found at the retail bakery, which opened in 2018. But As Kneaded also supplies many Bay Area grocery stores with gorgeous, crusty loaves of many types of bread. Fair warning: The challah is only sold Fridays and Saturdays.

Babka by Ayelet

http://www.babkabyayelet.com. The Palo Alto bakery closed in January after roughly a year, but its rich, moist babkas in different sizes and different flavors including chocolate, halva and Nutella are still available for online orders and delivery throughout the Bay Area. A new brick-and-mortar is planned for Los Altos.

Boichik Bagels

3170 College Ave., Berkeley. 510-858-5189 or http://www.boichikbagels.com. The lines havent ceased since Boichik opened in late 2019. Fans say the bagels really taste like they were made in New York a comment that rarely follows other Bay Area bagel spots. Most customers walk off with a bagged dozen or two, and there are also sandwiches loaded with lox, whitefish salad and more from this kosher shop.

Daily Driver

2535 Third St., San Francisco. 415-852-3535 or http://www.dailydriver.com. Handsome, New York-style bagels are the ideal vehicle for Daily Drivers excellent cultured butter and cream cheeses. The original location a stunning, enormous operation opened in the Dogpatch in 2019, while a kiosk in the Ferry Building followed earlier this year.

Frena Bakery

132 Sixth St., San Francisco. 628-444-3666 or http://www.frenabakery.com. Modeled after an Israeli bakery, Frena debuted in 2016 with a focus on savory breads and pastries as opposed to sweets. Try stuffed puff pastries known as bourekas or one of the lunch-appropriate pockets, filled with options such as slow-cooked chickpeas or feta and olives.

Grand Bakery

510-465-1110 or http://www.grandbakeryoakland.com. Reopened in 2017 as a strictly wholesale operation, Oaklands Grand Bakery supplies more than 40 Bay Area stores with kosher treats like hamentashen, honey cakes and macaroons as well as bagels. Its best known for pillowy challah. Look for products at Berkeley Bowl, Draegers Market, Mollie Stones and some Safeway stores.

The Malawah Bar

http://www.themalawahbar.com. A delivery-only bakery started last year out of the owners Santa Clara home, the Malawah Bar specializes in Yemenite-Israeli breads, including jachnun, a slow-cooked layered bread; kubaneh, a pull-apart yeasted bread; and lachuh, a spongy pancake. Dont miss the namesake malawah, which is flaky, stretchy and puffs up beautifully in a frying pan. Delivery is available throughout the Bay Area.

Janelle Bitker

On a personal level, running Grand Bakery gives Tobis a stronger sense of Jewish identity. Purim is coming up, and hes excited to make thousands of hamentashen, the triangle-shape pastries filled with jam that symbolize evil Hamans hat or ear, or pocket, depending on whom you ask. (Purim celebrates the Jewish people being saved from Haman.) Regardless, Judaism is manifested in its traditional foods: the round challah for Rosh Hashanah, the latkes and sufganiyot fried in oil for Hanukkah.

One of the things I love about being a Jewish bakery, Tobis said, is making these foods that are meaningful.

Janelle Bitker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: janelle.bitker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @janellebitker

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Jewish bakeries on the rise in the Bay Area - San Francisco Chronicle

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Posted By admin on February 16, 2020

Tahara focuses on pair of young Jewish women who are grieving the loss of their Hebrew school classmate following a suicide.

Carrie Lowstein (Madeline Grey DeFreece) and Hannah Rosen (Rachel Sennott) are best friends. When we first meet them in Tahara, they are Hebrew school classmate Samantha Goldsteins funeral. Following this, they attend a session run by Moreh Klein (Bernadette Quigley) allowing for them to learn the Judaic teachings on grief. Its a film that runs short of 80 minutes so theres not enough here as far as Talmudic teachings are concerned. It would certainly be interesting to see what the film could do with a longer running time.

Tahara seamlessly weaves between live-action and animated footage with a distinct difference in the aspect ratio. The latter gets wide-screen treatment while the live-action footage is depicted by way of a 1:1 square. The younger generations are constantly living life on their cell phones so this makes for a bold yet interesting choice. This choice definitely makes it more experimental in nature.

For non-Jewish readers, the film takes its title from the Jewish purification ritual of cleansing the body prior to burial. This ritual takes its root in the Book of Kohelet 5:14. Its a ritual performed by the funeral director and staff or the chevra kadisha (holy society). The more you know!

Having grown up with a Jewish education and inside Jewish synagogues, it can be very easy to nitpick even the small things. Granted, Ive also grown even more observant over the years so I hope you can see where I am coming from. Appropriately, theres a lot of Hebrew in the film and the actors have a good grasp of it. If youre not familiar with the denominations within Judaism, the use of Siddur Sim Shalom means that the film takes place within a Conservative synagogue.

For all that I have to be critical about in the film, there is a lot to enjoy about this film. Within the Jewish community of late, there has been a lot of dialogue when it comes to racism. We see this by an increase of police in Jewish neighborhoods at the expense of the People of Color living in the neighborhood. On top of this, there are Jews of Color who are constantly having their Jewish credentials questioned. Lets be honestthis isnt fair and people should do better. The fact that Carrie Lowstein is a Jew of Colorlet alone in the LGBTQ communitymay be a cinematic first. Its a breakthrough in Jewish representation because Jews of Color do exist but are so often ignored when it comes to the stories told on screen.

Lets hope more films follow Taharas lead when it comes to representing people who reside outside of the largely white-passing Ashkenazi Jewish community.

DIRECTOR: Olivia PeaceSCREENWRITER: Jess ZeidmanCAST: Madeline Grey DeFreece, Rachel Sennott, Daniel Taveras, Joe Burns, Shlomit Azoulay, Bernadette Quigley, Lynne Taylor, Jenny Lester, Keith Weiss, Martin Leubitz, Ellie Anthony, Melissa Juliet Lawson, Rachel Wender

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Slamdance 2020: Tahara - Solzy at the Movies

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Posted By admin on February 16, 2020

Zionism is Israels national ideology. Zionists believe Judaism is a nationality as well as a religion, and that Jews deserve their own state in their ancestral homeland, Israel, in the same way the French people deserve France or the Chinese people should have China. Its what brought Jews back to Israel in the first place, and also at the heart of what concerns Arabs and Palestinians about the Israeli state.

Jews often trace their nationhood back to the biblical kingdoms of David and Solomon, circa 950 BC. Modern Zionism, building on the longstanding Jewish yearning for a return to Zion, began in the 19th century right about the time that nationalism started to rise in Europe. A secular Austrian-Jewish journalist, Theodor Herzl, was the first to turn rumblings of Jewish nationalism into an international movement around 1896.

Herzl witnessed brutal European anti-Semitism firsthand, and became convinced the Jewish people could never survive outside of a country of their own. He wrote essays and organized meetings that spurred mass Jewish emigration from Europe to whats now Israel/Palestine. Before Herzl, about 20,000 Jews lived there; by the time Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany, the number was about eight times that.

Though Zionists all agree that Israel should exist, theyve long disagreed on what its government should look like. In the most general terms, the Zionist left, which dominated the countrys politics until the late 1970s, is inclined to trade Israeli-controlled land for peace with Arab nations, wants more government intervention in the economy, and prefers a secular government over a religious one. The Zionist right, which currently enjoys commanding positions in the Israeli government and popular opinion, tends to be more skeptical of land-for-peace deals, more libertarian on the economy, and more comfortable mixing religion and politics.

Arabs and Palestinians generally oppose Zionism, as the explicitly Jewish character of the Israeli state means that Jews have privileges that others dont. For instance, any Jew anywhere in the world can become an Israeli citizen, a right not extended to any other class of person. Arabs, then, often see Zionism as a species of colonialism and racism aimed at appropriating Palestinian land and systematically disenfranchising the Palestinians that remain. Arab states actually pushed through a UN General Assembly resolution labeling Zionism a form of racism and racial discrimination in 1975, though it was repealed 16 years later.

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What is Zionism? - Vox

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Posted By admin on February 16, 2020

I can confirm she misinterpreted the Zohar. We want to make all humanity into androids.

Of course, my sarcasm may be lost on some of you thats because we want all of humanity to be humorless as well.

But seriously, people like this actually exist. This woman, Jana Ben-Nun, and her husband Steve are believe it or not Messianic Jews. Their thing is usually to trick Jews into following Jesus, not through outright antisemitism like this. I guess their contempt for the Jewish people is too overbearing.

This is from Steves biography:

Attended Pensacola Christian College and completed the Hebrew Biblical course and also study at an Ulpan in Tel-Aviv, Israel in 2004. While living in Israel he narrowly escaped a suicide bomber on September 22, 2004. The miraculous events that have surrounded his life shape the message that he passionately speaks about publicly.

Talk about blowing a second chance at life.

By the way, note how she mentions Zionism but talk about Jewish sacred texts. A typical anti-Zionist-not-antisemite.

Update: Just dont tell this guy that Zionism is behind the transgender agenda.

Update: Hes doing it all wrong!

Update: Steve raised over $10,000 on GoFundMe for wife Jana in 2017 for possible cancer even though she was not officially diagnosed with it.

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Whacky Antisemitic Conspiracy Theory: Zionism Trying to Make All Humanity Androgynous - Israellycool

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Posted By admin on February 16, 2020

With the March 2 election rapidly approaching, the Blue and White party has begun to formulate a strategy, the main target of which is religious Zionism, Kan 11 News reported on Friday.

According to the report, Benny Gantz's party considers religious Zionism a natural partner and the national religious as potential voters.

Blue and White MK Yoaz Hendel has hinted that his party would be interested in a coalition with Yamina, saying recently the party would seek to form "a minority government with Zionist parties" after the March 2 election.

Last month, Hendel told Arutz Sheva that there would have been room to include Yamina leaders Naftali Bennett and Ayelet Shaked on the Blue and White slate.

I think that their true positions are not far from those of Blue and White, both on the unity in Israeli society and also on political issues, he said at the time

I think that Blue and White represents a perception of the people of Israel and the land of Israel. We agree on most things and I suggest to my friends from religious Zionism that they look at who truly represents them on issues of religion and state, who represents them on economic issues and on other issues, and I think theyll find a true home here.

Meanwhile, according to Kan 11 News, Blue and White has expressed satisfaction with the comments of Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman, who said earlier on Friday that he has "no problem" sitting in a coalition with the united Labor-Gesher-Meretz party.

Liberman also ruled out cooperating with the predominantly Arab Joint List party, saying "Yisrael Beytenu will not sit and will not cooperate, directly or indirectly, with terror supporters".

While the Likud continues to say that Blue and White will not be able to form a coalition without the Joint List, Blue and White members have constantly denied that they intend to add the Joint List to a future coalition.

MK Yair Lapid, who has the #2 spot on the Blue and White slate, said in an interview on Reshet Bet radio Friday morning, "We have said again and again that the Joint List will not be part of a Blue and White-led government. What's even more interesting is that the Joint List itself has said it would not be part of a Blue and White-led government. Netanyahu's ability to make up a lie and repeat it over and over is simply unbelievable. A lie is a lie.

(Arutz Shevas North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)

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Posted By admin on February 16, 2020

Irans Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corpss elite Aerospace force, has said that the region must unite to expel Zionists and Americans.In what have been daily statements by Irans leadership, the regime is claiming it will destroy Israel and get the US to leave Iraq and Syria.Hajizadehs comments matter because his units are involved with missiles, drones and air defense, and have been involved in attacks on US forces using ballistic missiles and the exporting of Irans technology that can target Israel.Hajizadeh was speaking to pro-Houthi media in Yemen, which means that his comments were also directed at Saudi Arabia. Iran has sent technology such as cruise missiles, drones and ballistic missiles to the Houthis to aid their fight against Riyadh.Last week, a spokesman for Irans armed forces said Israel would disappear; IRGC leader Hossein Salami said that there is a new Middle East and warned Iran would attack Israel and the US if threatened; and Abbas Mousavi at the Iranian Foreign Ministry said Iran would respond to any Israeli actions in Syria. Hajizadehs comments are part of this pattern.Today we are not only an Iranian axis of resistance, he said. Today the axis of resistance extends from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, from Ansarullah in Yemen to Hezbollah in Lebanon.He sketched out a 3,000 km. arc of Iranian influence and allies that all work in concert against the US, Israel and their allies. In short, Hajizadeh laid all of Irans cards on the table and admitted what is well known: Irans proxies and allies are not just local forces, but part of Irans search for hegemonic rule in the Middle East.No need for Tehran to pretend anymore, Hajizadeh appears to be saying. And he thinks Iran is on the verge of winning. Some 41 years after the Islamic Revolution, Irans leaders are becoming what they accuse their enemies of: arrogant.Hajizadeh was behind the ballistic missile attack on US forces at Ayn al-Assad base in Iraq that injured more than 100 Americans in early January. The attack on Ayn al-Assad and the US governments failure there represents humiliation, he said. He noted that the US first said no soldiers were injured, but that now the US has admitted that 109 suffered concussions, using the US technical term traumatic brain damage.The US hasnt sent air defense to Iraq, even though it has the Patriot system and has purchased two Israeli-designed Iron Dome batteries.The Iranian air commander says that the ballistic missiles shredded Americas reputation and destroyed the US hegemony, because we attacked the largest American base.Iran carried out the attack to avenge the killing of IRGC commander Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in January. Last week was the 40th day since Soleimanis death, an important memorial day in Iran.Hajizadeh appears set to continue Irans advances in missiles, drones, cruise missiles and air defense. The aerospace force is Irans main offensive arm, and Tehran has invested massive resources in it. Hajizadeh was momentarily humiliated after Iran accidentally shot down a Ukrainian civilian airliner on January 10 in the wake of the attack on the US. But he is back now, showing off new missiles like the Thunder 500.

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Irans Hajizadeh: We must unite to expel the Zionists and Americans - The Jerusalem Post

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Posted By admin on February 16, 2020

Daniel Meshulam, a 31-year-old tour guide from Tel Aviv, recently had to rub his eyes in disbelief when he saw a picture of Zeev Jabotinsky staring out from one of the anti-Semitic newspapers in his historical collection. What was a picture of the spiritual father of the Likud movement doing in the midst of this Nazi propaganda? When he read the article that accompanied the photograph, he realized that he was holding rare evidence from 80 years ago of how the Third Reich made use of the writings of noted Jews.

Meshulam describes himself as something of a Shoah fanatic. His maternal grandparents survived the Nazi occupation of Poland. The grandfather survived the Czstochowa ghetto. The grandmother survived Auschwitz. His theoretical interest in the Shoah is joined by a practical side. Meshulam collects Holocaust-related items like bills of currency, greeting cards and periodicals with anti-Semitic characteristics that were issued in Nazi Germany. His pride and joy is a collection of dozens of issues of Der Strmer, the infamous weekly that with propaganda and incredible demagoguery sought to spread the notion that Jews are the number one enemy of the Germans and all humankind, as the Yad Vashem website says.

In many places, it is forbidden to trade in items with Nazi characteristics, so you wont find the editions of Der Strmer on Amazon or eBay and hardly ever at public auctions either, says Meshulam. So how did all these copies of the paper find their way to the apartment he rents in Tel Aviv? I contacted collectors abroad, he says, and like other professionals in the field, does not volunteer any further information.

The issue in which the Nazis wrote about Jabotinsky came out in 1943. The papers editors quoted excerpts from Jabotinskys book The Jewish War Front that was published three years earlier. In the book, Jabotinsky called on the nations of the world to add the Jews to the fight against Nazi Germany, as in World War I, when, together with Joseph Trumpeldor, he founded the Jewish Battalions that fought with the British to conquer Palestine from the Turks.

When the Nazis across the border scream aloud or say in a whisper that this is a Jewish war, they are absolutely right, Jabotinsky wrote in the book. His aim was to call on the Allies to be sensitive to the plight of the Jews or, as he put it, to ensure that the Jewish problem is included among the wars objectives. The editors of Der Strmer pounced on this line, took it out of context and used it to prove that the Jews were set on war.

Under the headline, The Jewish War An Admission of Guilt, the article found by Meshulam says: Not only are the Jews the ones who caused war in the past, they are main party responsible for the genocides happening right now. We cite admissions of guilt by the Jews themselves for this. And therefore this is a proven fact that can no longer be denied.

Jabotinsky is described in the article as someone who among world Jewry is almost on a par with Herzl. It goes on to say: Every Jew always boasts of his crimes, but when a leader of such standing openly says that the Jews are to blame for the war and admits this that goes way beyond. And the papers editors added: In what normal people would you hear one of its great leaders admitting so openly and publicly and with such a lack of human sensitivity to responsibility for the killing of millions?

Jabotinsky never saw how the Nazis twisted his words, as he died in New York in 1940 while working to promote his idea of a Jewish army to fight the Nazis. Meshulam will donate the issue of Der Strmer to the Jabotinsky Institute.

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When the Nazis twisted Zionist leader's words for propaganda - Haaretz

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