Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on January 9, 2020

MONSEY, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) A Rockland County man has received one of New Yorks highest honors for helping to save lives during the synagogue stabbing in Monsey last weekend.

Josef Gluck, 32, was presented with the New York State Senate Liberty Medal by State Sen. David Carlucci on Sunday.

Gluck was also recognized for his bravery last Tuesday in Ramapo.

Police say Gluck threw a wooden table at the suspect accused of stabbing five people then followed the man outside to take down his license plate number.

If you wouldve asked me a day before if something like this is gonna happen what are you gonna do, I would say run for my life as far as I could. I would never imagine that I would be the one they call a hero to run and do what I did, Gluck said.

I feel honored by God to even give me such merit to do this.

Authorities say those actions led to the arrest of Grafton Thomas in Harlem hours later.

Thomas is facing charges of attempted murder and federal hate crimes.

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New York Synagogue Attack: Man Who Threw Table At Suspect Receives Liberty Medal For Heroic Actions - CBS New York

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Posted By admin on January 9, 2020

Something is wrong when places of worship start locking their doors.

Violent attacks against the Jewish community the most recent was by a machete-wielding man at a synagogue in Monsey, New York has prompted some synagogues in Burlington County to take what at one time would be unthinkable precautions.

Congregation Beth Tikvah in Evesham is the latest place of worship to respond on behalf of the physical and emotional safety at CBT as an email from Rabbi Nathan Weiner said in its subject line because the status quo cant continue.

Temple Sinai in Cinnaminson already has addressed safety concerns. The synagogue began locking its doors during services after the 2018 Tree of Life shooting in Pittsburgh, where 11 worshippers were fatally shot. People at the door now check in visitors, and during larger events the synagogue has armed security guards. In addition, the local police have provided active-shooter training.

Adath Emanu-El in Mount Laurel also uses armed guards and has worked with security consultants.

Thats right. Armed guards at a religious service.

This has many of us feeling outraged, scared, heartbroken and unsure how to combat the rising tide of hatred, Weiner said in his email.

We should all be outraged, scared, heartbroken ... and unsure.

The uncertainty is the hardest part, because it goes directly against what the faithful believe and preach to be open, welcoming, accepting and loving to our fellow humans, especially those who need it. Locks, metal detectors and security cameras dont exactly send that message.

So now religious leaders are in communication with law enforcement leaders for advice on how to keep their people safe.

Even the Burlington County Prosecutors Office is involved in assisting local synagogues and churches, even going so far as to offer a security briefing and training session run by the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and providing security assessments.

Armed guards. Security details. Police presence and patrols. Bolted doors. Key cards. ID cards. Safety training. Theres a cost to these and other safety measures, and its much more than the financial sting to small, suburban congregations.

As Temple Sinai Rabbi Boaz Marmon said: Its a double-edged sword. On the one hand, part of coming to synagogue is feeling at home, and comfortable, and safe. But how do you feel at home and welcomed when you have to be checked in or use a key badge?

In a country built on and dedicated to religious freedom and tolerance, this is a sorry development.

Something sure is wrong when places of worship start locking their doors. But thats where we are.

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Editorial: Thoughts on what once was unthinkable - Opinion - Burlington County Times

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Posted By admin on January 9, 2020

MONSEY - Chanie Kaplan came to Sunday night's special security session after a bit of a safety shakeup at work. Kaplan works at Monsey Medical Center, where an unmarked package caused alarm and Ramapo and Spring Valley police responded.

It ended up a simple labeling mistake, Kaplan said. But considering the current environment, "people are scared to come" to the health center. "We want a more visible security presence," she said, to not only deter attackers but also reassure the diverse people to get care at the center.

She joined about 150 others at Sunday's training, called"Safe and Secure? Empowering the Monsey Community to Better Secure Your Shuls, Schools, Camps and Organizations."

The session, in a large tent on the Bais Medrash Ohr Chaim learning center complex, was one of a surge of self-defense trainings offered in the greater Ramapo community after a spate of anti-Semitic attacks throughout the New York metropolitan area.

Instruction cards were handed out at a safety training geared toward Orthodox Jewish residents in Monsey on Jan. 5, 2020.(Photo: Nancy Cutler/The Journal News)

Increased incidents include a Dec. 11attack on a Jersey City kosher market and a Dec. 28 machete attack during a Hanukkah party in a Monsey rabbi's home. These come amid a series of confrontations in Brooklyn, and after deadly attacks at synagogues in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Poway, California.

The Monsey attack occurred just a minute's drive down Forshay Road fromSunday's event that offered community members threat response and lockdown training and development.

The suspect in the Monsey attack, Grafton Thomas, has been indicted on six counts of attempted murder and faces federal hate crime charges.

The main speaker was Doron Horowitz, senior national security adviser for Security Community Network, a Jewish nonprofit. A veteran of the Israeli Border Police, Horowitz has provided security expertise to Jewish Federations.

"Not being a victim is an act of will," Horowitz told the crowd of about 100 men and 50 women, who sat in sections separated by a thin white fabric divider. Using aTalmudic reference, he said, "Somebody comes to kill you, you kill them first."

'NO HATE. NO FEAR.': Thousands join NYC march in wake of anti-Semitic attacks

A MONSEY TIMELINE: From Howard Drive stabbing to Hanukkah machete attack

A CALL TO ARMS: In Monsey, a sudden demand for security and self-defense training

During the meeting, some mentioned suspicious behavior: There was an apparent stranger who attended a Shabbat service in a shul who didn't know how to "daven," or pray, who quickly left when confronted. A teen had asked a young man for his WhatsApp contact and then sent Holocaust imagery.

When there are suspicions, contact police, Frank Storch,director of the Chesed Fund Limited and Project Ezra of Greater Baltimore, both of which focus on safety.

Audience members remained shaken by the Hanukkah attack that had occurred just eight days before. But they were still discussing among themselves the Nov. 20 early morning attack on a quiet street in Monseyin whicha man was stabbed as he walked to synagogue.Police have said that stabbing has not been classified as a hate crime, citing a lack of a suspect or motive; Ramapo Police Chief Brad Weidel said on Jan. 2 that police are exploring connections in the two Monsey attacks.

"Most Americans forgot about what happened in Monsey already," Horowitz said. "You can't sustain all that anxiety and fear. What's the answer? Reasonable, balanced safety and security."

Frank Storch of the Chesed Fund, left, and Doron Horowitz, senior national security adviser of Secure Community Network, answer questions during a safety and security training in Monsey on Jan. 5, 2020.(Photo: Nancy Cutler/The Journal News)

While the demand for private security trainings increased, Rockland County government recently partnered with security firmBrosnan Risk Consultantsto provide armed security and technology to Jewish organizations.Ramapo police are ordering license plate readers key in the arrest of the Hanukkah machete attack suspect to be stationed around town.

The state has stepped up protection too. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has committed state police and other resources to step up security in the wake of recent anti-Semitic attacks. During Sunday's"No Hate. No Fear." Solidarity March in New York City, Cuomo announced an additional $45 million in funding to help protectreligious-based institutions, including non-public schools and cultural centers, against hate crimes.

Sunday's training focused on basic safety measures locks on doors, cameras outside, people at the doors who know who belong.

Horowitz and Storch responded to questions about gun training with caution. People should be highly trained if they are carrying weapons, Storch said, or they could add to the danger. "The likelihood of you hitting someone else is incredibly high," Horowitz said.

Leah and Aaron Goodfella came to the training from Passaic, New Jersey. They said they found the training valuable. "It's a necessity," said Aaron Goodfella, who said they live about 15 minutes from Jersey City.

Rockland County is home to the largest percentage of Jewish residents, per capita, of any county in the nation. Some 31% of Rocklanders identify themselves as Jewish, U.S. Census figures show. The hamlet of Monsey, home to a large and growing Orthodox Jewish population,encircles the Hasidic village of Kaser and abuts the Hasidic village of New Square.

Twitter: @nancyrockland

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Monsey safety seminar stresses preparation, and 'will' to prepare for anti-Semitic attacks - Lohud

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Posted By admin on January 9, 2020

Bay Area attorney Joanna Weinberg, 73, has worked on health policy for more than 25 years at UCSFs Institute for Health and Aging. For the past decade or so, Weinberg has focused her attention on advance health care directives and ethical wills. She serves on the East Bay board of the Conversation Project, a national organization that promotes discussions about end-of-life care. Weinberg grew up in Westchester, New York, and graduated from Brandeis University and Harvard Law School. She is married to fellow attorney David Levine, a professor at UC Hastings College of the Law (where she taught part time for many years). They have one daughter and live in Berkeley. Weinberg also has an older son and daughter from her first marriage.

J.: What was the genesis of your interest in health care directives?

Joanna Weinberg: Perhaps it all began with the death of my first husband [to lung cancer at age 37]. It must have struck a chord. Then, some years ago at UCSF, I conducted a very small research study on advance directives with 15 older individuals. I visited them in their homes and talked to them about their health care directives. Some said, My lawyer has it. Some said, Its in my safe-deposit box. Some said, I dont want my children to know about it.

So even for those who have advance directives, there can be a significant disconnect in making sure it will be honored. Is this typical of how Americans generally cope with end-of-life decisions?

I find that people in the United States dont talk about death, and only a very small percentage of people have health care directives. I serve on an ethics committee of a local hospital. The committee is composed mostly of physicians and nurses, and I was blown away to learn that most of them dont have directives, either.

What steps must people take if they want to create a health care directive? It includes designating a proxy such as an adult child who will ensure that their health care instructions are followed if they are unable to do so themselves.

They can download the California form online, fill it out and appoint a proxy who is going to represent them. They should give the form to their proxy, their children and their doctor. The form should go directly into their medical charts.

Youve even taken your work to your synagogue, Congregation Netivot Shalom in Berkeley. Do you see a correlation between your professional interests and your Jewish values?

No, not really. But Jewish learning wasnt something I had growing up, and I missed it. My parents belonged to a Reform synagogue in Westchester, but I didnt learn anything. Even at Brandeis, which is a predominantly Jewish university, I didnt take any Jewish classes. But in my 30s, with my first husband, we started a havurah and belonged to a synagogue, and he had a very Jewish burial. And David and I were founding members of Netivot Shalom, which started as a havurah.

In addition to your work and your synagogue, you have devoted a lot of time to local theater.

I have been interested in theater for most of my life, and for about two years I was on the board of Stagebridge, an Oakland theater run by and for older adults. My busy schedule, especially my work on advance directives, made it necessary for me to resign from the board.

You and Ruth Bader Ginsburg have something in common, Ive heard?

Both of us were students at Harvard Law School, and both of us left to advance our husbands careers. She went to Columbia Law School, from which she received her law degree. But before I left Harvard for my last year of law school at the University of Pennsylvania, I met with Harvards deans and petitioned to have my degree granted by Harvard. They went back and forth, but I prevailed. Ive met Ruth Bader Ginsburg and shared this story.

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Q&A: She really, really wants you to have an advance health care directive - The Jewish News of Northern California

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Posted By admin on January 9, 2020

It happened when we were newcomers.

When my husband and I moved to a new area, we were eager to become involved in the Jewish community. After a few months of testing out a new synagogue, we decided to join. For us, the act of joining the synagogue was us formally declaring that we are a part of the local Jewish community and our way to affirm that we are invested in its continuity and future.

We filled out the application, which asks for basic demographic information from potential congregants; names, birthdays, parents names, etc. There was also a question about whether the applicants have converted or had a divorce. I answered the questions honestly; I had indeed undergone an Orthodox conversion prior to our marriage and indicated as such on the form. Several weeks went by before we were asked to come into the synagogue office on a Sunday afternoon for a meeting with the rabbi. He asked to meet during our daughters nap time, and still retaining a fear of rabbis leftover from my conversion days, we dragged her out of the house exhausted for this meeting. I had been trained during my conversion to never say no to a rabbi, to never push back. He offered us an inconvenient time, and I wasnt confident enough yet in my interactions with rabbis to ask for another.

While we sat for over an hour with the synagogue rabbi, my husband was schmoozed. He was asked about his family, his schooling in the Orthodox day school system. When that was over, the rabbi turned to me and began an interrogation about my conversion: Why did I do it? What was the process I went through? What was my relationship like with my family? We sat there squirming with an overtired baby until he completed the interrogation with a request for the documentation I received from my conversion rabbi.

When we walked out my husband, whom I started dating during my conversion process, looked at me and declared, That was a worse grilling than your Beit Din. We dont want to go back right? He was right. We were both so uncomfortable, that we not only didnt join, we never went back.

I emailed the rabbi afterward to express my displeasure and he justified the practice, explaining that he had a duty to ensure every member was Jewish according to his standards. I argued then, and still maintain, that the practice is discriminatory; my husband was never asked to prove his Jewishness. The rabbi told me, I am quite aware how different and singled out asking for the paperwork makes converts feel and believe me I wish it could be avoided because it causes so much discomfort and pain. It is indeed discriminatory. So let me explain why I still think it has to be done. I just cant think of an alternative. I need to be completely straightforward here. One day. G-d willing, your daughter and all the other children of converts, are going to grow up and meet someone and decide to get married. At that point, any responsible rabbi who marries her will ask for your conversion documents. This will not happen with the third generation but it will with the second generation, thats just the reality. As a rabbi, I have received phone calls from other rabbis performing weddings asking me to attest to the Jewishness of the bride or groom.

I thought of this email when a good friend told me what happened when she went to enroll her third child in an Orthodox day school. In the short time between when her first two children and her third were enrolled, the school added a new question on their application form: They dont just ask if the childs parents had converted, but now, if any grandparents had as well, and if so, she would have to provide documentation.

My friend objected; in response, she was told by school administrators (in her words): The school has a responsibility to know the halachic status of its students. They do a public service by checking documents, as they have found mistakes before and parents were grateful to have discovered them sooner rather than later. The school representative, she said, defended the need for documentation of grandparents conversions based on the idea that what might have been acceptable decades ago, may no longer be.

Just a few years ago, I was told that the questions would end after a second generation, but the hoops converts have to jump through just keep getting higher.

This same month this exchange took place brought the news that a decades-old conversion had been invalidated in Israel. JPost reported, The drastic and controversial step prompted harsh criticism from Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman, who said it created a situation in which no convert could ever feel certain that their Jewish status was assured. For anyone following the status of conversions in Israel and abroad, this is hardly groundbreaking news; it occurs with terrifying frequency.

Because of the political nature of conversion in the Jewish state, conversion is a frequent topic of news in Israel, and this week Sephardic chief rabbi Yitzhak Yosef made headlines with his statement to rabbis who were preparing to travel abroad as emissaries. Yosef reportedly advised them not to get involved with conversions due to sensitivities stemming from religious law. He also attacked religious judges, some by name, some of whom he said he considered to be too lenient on matters of conversion. Yosef then alleged that conversions under the auspices of the states rabbinical courts, which come under his own supervision, should not be automatically accepted.

This is indeed the message converts receive, that a convert can never rest assured that their conversion will always remain intact, and its feeling increasingly like it is by design. The goalposts keep shifting; the standards for conversion are growing more strict, converts and their children and now sometimes even their grandchildren are subject to excessive scrutiny, and in return, converts can expect less in return from the Jewish community.

We were once never supposed to be treated differently. They said we would be accepted without preconditions post-conversion. On this, the Torah is clear; Leviticus 19 states: If a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not wrong him. But the stranger who dwells with you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God. Now, rabbis of large communities frankly admit discriminatory treatment of converts and they do so while arguing that it is for our own good.

After my row with the rabbi, I emailed a former community rabbi to ask why he never asked for my documentation after we joined his synagogue when we first married.

When asked to be mesader kiddushin (officiating a wedding) I look at documents, he told me. However, when the issue at hand is shul membership, I dont think an investigation is really needed. If someone says they were converted by an Orthodox rabbi, I have no reason to question that statement and will treat them as Jewish. Sometimes I ask who was the officiant and assume that rabbi did a proper investigation.

This is how it should be; if born-Jews are taken at their word, so too should Jews by choice. Its understandable and necessary to check on someones Jewish status at the time of their wedding. When someone decides to make aliyah [immigrate to Israel], the Jewish Agency asks every member of the family to prove their Jewishness, with conversion papers, pictures of gravestones and/or parents ketubahs (marriage licenses). Community rabbis here in the diaspora could and should do the same; if one kind of Jew is asked to prove their Jewishness, all Jews should be subject to the same kind of scrutiny. If we must be sure that everyone in a community is Jewish, then if converts are asked to provide documentation, so should born-Jews.

Were told theyre doing us a favor by checking that we are indeed Jewish to secure our place in the Jewish community, but this treatment makes it clear: In the eyes of too many rabbis, no matter what we did and no matter what we do in the future, we never will be.

Bethany Mandel is a columnist for the Forward.

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The hoops that Jewish converts have to jump through are getting impossibly high - Forward

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Posted By admin on January 9, 2020

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HaGaon HaRav Chaim Kanievsky says that Americans can carry guns to the synagogue on the Sabbath day to defend themselves.

Yeshiva World News reports that the issue was specifically focused on the presence of armed guards in synagogues, due to an increase in anti-Semitic incidents.

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Harav Chaim spoke out against the detachment of guards, but said that the faithful could carry firearms to the synagogue if the aim was to save lives.

The question was followed by asking whether it is permissible to carry firearms at the synagogue even if a threat against the faithful is only potential, rather than immediate. Harav Chaim said it was allowed.

On October 27, 2018, an attacker killed 11 innocent people at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. There was no armed security at the synagogue at the time of the attack.

On April 27, 2019, an attacker killed an innocent man and injured three others by opening fire on Chabad of Poway in San Diego, California.

On December 29, 2019, the New York Times reported that a machete-attacker injured five Hasidic Jews in the home of a rabbi. The victims tried to defend themselves by throwing furniture on the attacker.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the author / curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter devoted to everything related to the Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is a political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Contact him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.

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Posted By admin on January 9, 2020

Chaim Topol in Fiddler on the Roof 1971. (RDB/ullstein bild/Getty)

By Rokhl Kafrissen

NEW YORK Fidler afn Dakh, the Yiddish adaptation of Fiddler on the Roof, closed on Jan. 5 after a wildly successful 11-month run off-Broadway and an equally successful seven-month stint at the Museum of Jewish Heritage.

Shraga Friedmans Yiddish translation of Fiddler is a miracle (of miracles) and it was a joy to see it and Yiddish celebrated not just in my little shtetl, but in the mainstream, too.

And yet, when I recently stepped onto a stage and spoke Yiddish, I was less appreciated and more iconicized. Let me explain.

I didnt even know it happened until I read about it in a newspaper afterwards. I had done something quite out of the ordinary for my life: I took a gig as a performer at a Cocktails and Klezmer evening in Philadelphia. My job was to lead the audience through some Yiddish questions and unpack a few elements of Yiddish grammar. I was the educational content in between the booze and schmooze.

The next week, the event was reviewed in the Jewish Exponent. As Jesse Bernstein described it, I read aloud with the crowd, building the sentence fragment by fragment, filling the room with guttural chs and other vocal foundations of the language.

It reminded me of the joke in Billy Crystals autobiographical book (and then show) 700 Sundays, in which he describes his family as the kind of people who spoke mostly Yiddish, which is a combination of German and phlegm. This is a language of coughing and spitting; until I was 11, I wore a raincoat.

If one had to locate Yiddish within the popular imagination, it would be found in the primeval Jewish throat.

The success of Yiddish Fiddler shows that Yiddish, from afar, can attain a certain symbolic stature in the public eye of the theatre class. But the intimate experience of Yiddish, up close and personal, still speaks to nothing so much as an estrangement between observer and object.

Yiddish is often characterized by its guttural chs. But Hebrew, with just as many guttural sounds, rarely seems to get tagged as such. As late as 1930, Zev Jabotinsky was arguing that the ideal Hebrew pronunciation would, First of all . . . have to avoid the Yiddish ch, which is like the hoarse cough of someone with a throat disease. Ouch.

Linguistic anthropologists Judith Irvine and Susan Gal describe those linguistic features which were believed to depict or display a social groups inherent nature or essence as iconic, hence the process of iconicization.

When European anthropologists began describing the languages of southern Africa in the mid-19th century, they focused on the phonetically unfamiliar click sounds, describing them as similar to the sounds of animals, or rocks striking each other.

Clicks were a linguistic feature which indexed the peoples who used them. Drawing on the prevailing racial-scientific logic of the day, European linguists concluded that the more clicks a language contained, the more degraded or subhuman was the speaker.

I dont think Billy Crystal, or Jesse Bernstein for that matter, are expressing a personal hatred or contempt when they index Yiddish speakers by the depth of their gutturals or the volume of their phlegm. In fact, Im pretty confident theyre expressing their feelings of affection and intimacy, using the ordinary vocabulary of Jewish life.

The problem is that those feelings of personal affection and intimacy are in tension with other received ideas about the relative worth of the language.

Without even knowing it, many have absorbed a set of negative beliefs about Yiddish. If we were to unravel those negative beliefs to their origins, I believe we would find that they lie in the very foundations of Western academia, in which Europes Jews were depicted as a deformed, corrupted Other.

The first scholars to study Yiddish were German humanists, who believed that the language was a degenerate ancestor of the evolved German they spoke. The beliefs of these scholars were clothed in the new language of science and scholarship, which made their truth all the more undeniable.

But if those negative beliefs about Yiddish are so strong, what explains the extraordinary success of the Yiddish Fiddler, or Yiddler? (Aside from the fact that its a beautifully executed, fresh production.)

One theater observer wrote recently:

It seems to unlock deep memories for Jewish viewers . . . audience members told me that words were jumping out at them that they hadnt heard since they were little kids . . . A few also told me that it was encouraging to hear this language, which has been so diminished by the Holocaust and diaspora assimilation, spoken in a giant theater in New York City.

I think theres quite a bit of truth within those explanations. I would suggest that theres another, even more powerful process at work. Fiddler is one of the most beloved and well known texts in American culture.

It is so well known that by attending the show in Yiddish, even non-Yiddish speakers can have the experience of direct access to a language that would otherwise be closed off to them.

Yiddler bestows the feeling of bilingualism, without the risks of investing in formal language study. It is deeply, uniquely, accessible to everyone, not just a small circle of Yiddish lovers.

As much as I want to see more Yiddish language shows land off-Broadway, its unlikely that the smashing success of Yiddler will translate to similar levels of success for other Yiddish theater, or that there will be a sudden increase in American Jews signing up to learn Yiddish.

The resources and infrastructure just arent there for large numbers of people to begin learning the language.

Moreover, American Jews are still Americans, and monolingualism is a powerful American reality, one much stronger than the time and effort it takes to learn a second language.

Its exhausting to have to justify to everyone why you are spending your precious time learning what is supposedly a dead language.

The search for roots and longing to connect still has to compete with our internalized distrust of the very things we are seeking.

I was only half-surprised recently to see a just for fun social media posting addressed to fellow Jews, asking us to share the old country names we thought sounded the most awful or embarrassing. My heart broke at the thought of Tevye ending up on this persons list.

No quantity of off-Broadway tickets sold can undo the effect of centuries of unexamined Jew-hatred.

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Why is Yiddish loved and not loved? - IJN - Intermountain Jewish News

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Posted By admin on January 9, 2020

NEW YORK (JTA) Fidler afn Dakh, the Yiddish adaptation of Fiddler on the Roof, closed on Jan. 5 after a wildly successful 11-month run off-Broadway and an equally successful seven-month stint at the Museum of Jewish Heritage. Shraga Friedmans Yiddish translation of Fiddler is a miracle (of miracles) and it was a joy to see it and Yiddish celebrated not just in my little shtetl, but in the mainstream, too.

And yet, when I recently stepped onto a stage and spoke Yiddish, I was less appreciated and more iconicized. Let me explain.

I didnt even know it happened until I read about it in the newspaper afterwards. I had done something quite out of the ordinary for my life: I took a gig as a performer at a Cocktails and Klezmer evening in Philadelphia. My job was to lead the audience through some Yiddish questions and unpack a few elements of Yiddish grammar. I was the educational content in between the booze and schmooze.

The next week, the event was reviewed in the Jewish Exponent. As Jesse Bernstein described it, I read aloud with the crowd, building the sentence fragment by fragment, filling the room with guttural chs and other vocal foundations of the language. It reminded me of the joke in Billy Crystals autobiographical book (and then show) 700 Sundays, in which he describes his family as the kind of people who spoke mostly Yiddish, which is a combination of German and phlegm. This is a language of coughing and spitting; until I was 11, I wore a raincoat.

If one had to locate Yiddish within the popular imagination, it would be found in the primeval Jewish throat.

The success of Yiddish Fiddler shows that Yiddish, from afar, can attain a certain symbolic stature in the public eye of the theatre class. But the intimate experience of Yiddish, up close and personal, still speaks to nothing so much as lingering discomfort, and an estrangement between observer and object.

Yiddish is often characterized by its guttural chs. But Hebrew, with just as many guttural sounds, rarely seems to get tagged as such. As late as 1930, Zev Jabotinsky was arguing that the ideal Hebrew pronunciation would First of all have to avoid the Yiddish ch, which is like the hoarse cough of someone with a throat disease. Ouch.

Linguistic anthropologists Judith Irvine and Susan Gal describe those linguistic features which were believed to depict or display a social groups inherent nature or essence as iconic, hence the process of iconicization. When European anthropologists began describing the languages of southern Africa in the mid-19th century, they focused on the phonetically unfamiliar click sounds, describing them as similar to the sounds of animals, or rocks striking each other.

Clicks were a linguistic feature which indexed the peoples who used them. Drawing on the prevailing racial-scientific logic of their day, European linguists concluded that the more clicks a language contained, the more degraded or subhuman was the speaker.

I dont think Billy Crystal, or Jesse Bernstein for that matter, are expressing a personal hatred or contempt when they index Yiddish speakers by the depth of their gutturals or the volume of their phlegm. In fact, Im pretty confident theyre expressing their feelings of affection and intimacy, using the ordinary vocabulary of Jewish life, terms for which any of us might reach.

The problem is that those feelings of personal affection and intimacy are in tension with a whole bunch of received ideas about the relative worth of the language. Without even knowing it, weve all absorbed a set of intensely negative beliefs about Yiddish. The origin of those beliefs are so distant, and have become so tangled up with recent history, as to be mystified.

But, if we were to unravel those negative beliefs to their origins, I believe we would find that they lie in the very foundations of Western academia, in which Europes Jews were depicted as a deformed, corrupted Other. The first scholars to study Yiddish were German Humanists, who believed that the language was a degenerate ancestor of the evolved German they spoke. The beliefs of these scholars were clothed in the new language of science and scholarship, which made their truth all the more undeniable, even to the Yiddish-speaking Jews they diminished.

But if those negative beliefs about Yiddish are so strong, what explains the extraordinary success of the Yiddish Fiddler, or Yiddler? (Aside from the fact that its a beautifully executed, fresh production.) One theater observer wrote recently: It seems to unlock deep memories for Jewish viewers audience members told me that words were jumping out at them that they hadnt heard since they were little kids A few also told me that it was encouraging to hear this language, which has been so diminished by the Holocaust and diaspora assimilation, spoken in a giant theater in New York City.

I think theres quite a bit of truth within those explanations. I would suggest that theres another, even more powerful process at work. Fiddler is one of the most beloved and well known texts in American Jewish culture, not to mention American pop culture overall. It is so well known that by attending the show in Yiddish, even non-Yiddish speakers can have the experience of direct access to a language that would otherwise be closed off to them. Yiddler bestows the feeling of bilingualism, without the risks of investing in formal language study. It is deeply, uniquely, accessible to everyone, not just a small circle of Yiddish lovers.

As much as I want to see more Yiddish language shows land off-Broadway, its unlikely that the smashing success of Yiddler will translate to similar levels of success for other Yiddish theater, or that there will be a sudden increase in American Jews signing up to learn Yiddish. For one thing, though were living in a golden age of Yiddish education, the resources and infrastructure just arent there for large numbers of people to begin learning the language. Moreover, American Jews are still Americans, and monolingualism is a powerful American value, one much stronger than the unsexy time and effort it takes to learn a second language especially a low prestige language like Yiddish. Its exhausting to have to justify to everyone why you are spending your precious time learning what is supposedly a dead (and useless) language.

The search for roots and longing to connect still has to compete with our internalized distrust of the very things we are seeking. I was only half-surprised recently to see a just for fun social media posting addressed to fellow Jews, asking us to share the old country names we thought sounded the most awful or embarrassing. My heart broke at the thought of Tevye ending up on this persons list.

No quantity of off-Broadway tickets sold can undo the toxic effect of centuries of unexamined, internalized Jew-hatred. That will take a much more sustained effort to rid ourselves of the Otherness we carry inside, and a new understanding of the treasures that have sustained us.

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

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Audiences loved 'Fiddler on the Roof' in Yiddish, but Yiddish itself still gets no love - JTA News

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Posted By admin on January 9, 2020

By:Masood Farivar

For Democrats seeking to bolster their case for President Trumps removal from office, John Boltons testimony could be a game changer or a dud.

After rebuffing House Democrats request for testimony, the former national security adviser agreed on Monday to testify in the upcoming Senate trial of Trump, if called as a witness, giving Democrats a potential victory in their quest to get people close to the president to talk under oath about the events at the center of the impeachment.

Bolton, however, remains a wild card. Experts say it remains far from clear that any information he might provide during the trial will move public opinion or persuade Republicans to vote for Trumps removal. Democrats are in the minority in the Senate and a three-fifths vote would be needed to convict the president.

(Democrats) are going to have to take the risk of putting him in front of a camera and potentially saying nothing explosive, which would basically throw their case under the bus, said Casey Burgat, a resident senior fellow at the conservative R Street Institute, a research group. We just dont know which side that is going to be.

Hans von Spakovsky, a former federal prosecutor, said Boltons testimony could well exonerate the president.

I think this actually is a great danger to the Democrats and the case theyve been trying to make because he very well may have testimony that helps clear the president and doesnt in any way help the Democratic case, said von Spakovsky, who is now with the conservative Heritage Foundation.

Last month, the House of Representatives voted along party lines to impeach Trump on abuse of office and obstruction of justice, making him the third American president in history to face the threat of removal from office. The central allegation against Trump is that he tried to get Ukraine to investigate one of his political rivals, former Vice President Joe Biden, and Bidens son, Hunter, and then hampered congressional investigations of those actions.

With House Speaker Nancy Pelosi refusing to send the two articles of impeachment to the Senate unless Republicans agree to allow witnesses, efforts to open a trial have stalled since the Dec. 18 House vote. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday that he had the votes to launch a trial without an agreement with Democrats over witnesses. Pelosi has given no indication of backing down.

The standoff comes amid an international crisis sparked by the U.S. killing of top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani on Jan. 3 in response to Iranian belligerence toward American interests. While the Iran crisis has motivated some Republicans to redouble their attacks on Democrats for seeking to oust the president, Democrats have insisted that the two issues should be kept apart.

Bolton is among a handful of current and former administration officials whom House Democrats were unable to persuade to testify in their impeachment investigation before approving two articles of impeachment. While not knowing exactly what Bolton might say, Democrats are intrigued by a suggestion made by Boltons lawyer in November that Bolton has knowledge of many relevant meetings and conversations related to the impeachment inquiry.

Bolton is the most high profile of four witnesses Democrats want to testify during Trumps Senate trial. The other three are acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney; Mulvaneys senior adviser, Robert Blair; and senior Office of Management and Budget official Michael Duffy.

Bolton served as Trumps national security adviser from April 2018 to September 2019. His final months in the White House coincided with events that led to Trumps impeachment.

The former national security adviser initially refused to cooperate with House impeachment investigators, saying he would only testify if ordered by a court. On Monday, he reversed course, saying he would testify if subpoenaed.

Given the uncertainty over what he will say, Democrats demand for Bolton to testify represents something of a gamble, said William Yeomans, a former Justice Department official who is now a lecturer at Columbia Law School.

He is a bit of a loose cannon but I think the Democrats have decided its worth a try, Yeomans said.

While Bolton has remained silent about the impeachment, his name came up repeatedly during the House inquiry and in news reports about Trumps Ukraine pressure campaign.

Boltons former deputy, Fiona Hill, testified that Bolton abruptly ended a July 10 White House meeting with Ukrainian officials after the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, suggested that Sondland and Mulvaney had an understanding that Trump would meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy if Ukraine carried out the investigations. Bolton called the arrangement a drug deal, according to Hill. According to another former official, Bolton once referred to Trumps personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, as a hand grenade that was going to blow everyone up.

And in late August, Bolton, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Mark Esper met with Trump in the Oval Office where they unsuccessfully sought to persuade the president to release the Ukraine aid, the New York Times reported last month.

Thats the kind of direct personal evidence that is extremely important in the trial, Yeomans said. (VOA News)

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Suspense Grows Over Possible Bolton Impeachment Testimony - The Jewish Voice

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Posted By admin on January 9, 2020

Last week, former Burg reporter Emma Schkloven and I shared some of the 2020 events were most looking forward to in the coming months.

Those eight events were just a drop in the bucket of whats on its our way. This winter, expect a new jazz dinner series at the Craddock Terry Hotel; Wolfbane Productions 1920s-set take on Guys and Dolls, where the entire theater will be transformed into a speakeasy; a Cajun dance party at Lynchburg Parks and Recreations Aviary; Lynchburg Symphony Orchestra and Jefferson Choral Society presenting Broadway tunes and chart toppers, respectively, in new concerts; and more.

At 7 p.m. Thursday, InTuition Theatre Group is debuting its latest show, the Harry Potter parody Puffs, or Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic, at the Miller Center, 301 Grove St. InTuition provides money for college tuition to high school and college level actors and tech workers in the Lynchburg area by giving them hands-on experience in student-run plays. Tickets are $10, and the show also will be performed at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday. For more information, visit http://www.facebook.com/intuitiontheatregroup.

Also happening Thursday: MasterWorx Theatres production of Irving Berlins Holiday Inn, set for 7:30 p.m. in the Academy Center of the Arts Warehouse Theatre. More performances are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 2 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday. The musical, based on the Universal Pictures film, is about a couple who turns a farmhouse into a fabulous inn with dazzling performances to celebrate each holiday, from Thanksgiving to the Fourth of July. Tickets range from $15 to $20. For more information, visit https://masterworxtheater.com/events or https://academycenter.org/event/holiday-inn.

Below, weve listed 35 more events coming your way between now and the end of February. Remember that dates and times always are subject to change, so make sure to call the venue before heading out. And continue checking out our weekly calendars for even more events as the weeks go on.

Thursday, Jan. 16

Jefferson Forest High Schools Cavalier Theatre is kicking off 2020 with Treasure Island, based on Robert Louis Stevensons pirate adventure, at 7 p.m., with more performances set for 7 p.m. Jan. 17, 1 and 7 p.m. Jan. 18 and 3 p.m. Jan. 19. Tickets are $10 for adults and $7 for students and seniors. http://cavaliertheatre.com.

Saturday, Jan. 18

Fifth & Federal Stations Winter Whiskey Fest, which runs from 1 to 6 p.m., will celebrate the restaurants third anniversary. Nelson Countys Silverback Distillery and Virginia Distillery are among the participants; the event also includes educational presentations about Virginia whiskey history, the distillation process and more, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.; awards for best whiskey cocktail and best whiskey spirit; and live music by the Whiskey Shakes from 4 to 6 p.m. Admission is $18. http://www.fifthandfederal.com/store/p19/Whiskey_Winter_Fest_Tasting_Tickets_January_18th.html.

The Craddock Terry Hotel is hosting a new event, Jazz Night with Tony Craddock Jr. & Cold Front, at 6:30 p.m. In addition to the performance, the event includes a four-course meal prepared by Culinary Director Jason Arbusto with wine pairings and an optional cocktail hour. Tickets are $150 for the dinner and performance and $200 with the cocktail hour included and front-row seating. (434) 455-1510, events@shoemakersdining.com.

Tuesday, Jan. 21

The exhibition Geometric Aljama: a Cultural Transliteration which features paper-cut installations by artists from the U.S., Canada, Dubai and Afghanistan exploring geometry as a fundamental aspect of art and as a way to communicate universal ideas across cultures will open in the University of Lynchburgs Daura Gallery with a reception from 4 to 6 p.m. and remain up through April 10. http://www.lynchburg.edu/academics/academic-community-centers/daura-gallery.

Friday, Jan. 24

Magician Mike Super who press materials tout for combining illusions with the hilarity of a headline comedian will perform at 7:30 p.m. at the Academy of Music Theatre. Super was a finalist on season nine of Americas Got Talent in 2014 and previously was the winner of NBCs Phenomenon, which aired in 2007 and was judged by illusionists Criss Angel and Uri Gellar. Supers final trick during this show will be to reveal a headline prediction he made for The News & Advance. He sent the prediction to the Academy in a sealed envelope last month, and it will be stored in a vault at the Bank of the James until the show. Tickets range from $14 to $72. https://academycenter.org/event/mike-super.

The Listenings first open mic of 2020, set for 8 p.m. at Speakertree, 901 Jefferson St., will focus on the words that open the Preamble to the Constitution: We the People. Participants are invited to reflect on what those words mean to them through song, dance or other forms of artistic expression. Sign-up for the open mic starts at 7:45 p.m. Admission is a $5 donation at the door to support The Listenings mission to engage, change and save lives with the performing arts. facebook.com/WelcomeToTheListening.

Saturday, Jan. 25

Lynchburg Symphony Orchestras Broadway By Request featuring songs from Phantom of the Opera, Wicked, Rent, Jersey Boys and more will be held at 7:30 p.m. in the Academy Center of the Arts Academy of Music Theatre. Tickets range from $25 to $82. https://academycenter.org/event/lso-broadway, http://www.lynchburgsymphony.org.

Wednesday, Jan. 29

BodyVox, a Portland, Oregon-based dance troupe, and a live string quartet will perform together during Cosmosis, a provocative marriage of dance, theater, film and chamber music, set for 7:30 p.m. in Sweet Briar Colleges Murchison Lane Auditorium. The show features nine pieces set to live music written by everyone from Debussy and Ravel to contemporary composers and alt-rock legend Elliot Smith. http://www.sbc.edu/events.

Thursday, Jan. 30

The exhibit Josef Albers and the Interaction of Color based on Albers 1963 publication The Interaction of Color, which was conceived as a handbook and teaching aid for artists, instructors and students will open in Sweet Briars Pannell Gallery with a reception from 5:30 to 7 p.m. https://sbc.edu/arts/art-exhibits-and-events.

Wolfbane Productions Guys and Dolls opens at 8 p.m., with more performances on select dates through Feb. 23. The production will be set in the 1920s inspired by the theme for Wolfbanes new season, Howling Twenties with its indoor performance venue, The Wolf Den (197 Old Courthouse Road in Appomattox) transformed into a speakeasy for what the creative team promises will be an immersive experience with no traditional stages or performance areas. http://www.wolfbane.org.

Friday, Jan. 31

Alluvion Stage Companys Parade will open in Liberty Universitys Tower Theater at 7:30 p.m., with more performances on select dates through Feb. 16. Set in 1913, the musical filled with soaring music and a heart-wrenching story, offering a moral lesson about the dangers of prejudice and ignorance is about a Jewish man living in Georgia who is put on trial for murder. http://www.alluvionstage.com.

The Maier Museum of Art at Randolph Colleges latest exhibit, Scorched Earth, opens with a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. The show features artist Beatrice Modisetts large-scale paintings, formed through the accrual and erosion of layers and layers of thinned oil paint, according to press materials. Various objects are placed under and on top of the canvas and the resulting hills and valleys direct, disrupt and imprint the paints flow and surface. Modisett also will give an artist talk in the gallery at 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 1. http://www.maiermuseum.org.

The Academy Center of the Arts Academy Youth Theatre will present Disneys Frozen Jr. at 7 p.m., with more performances at 7 p.m. Feb. 1 and 2 p.m. Feb. 2. Tickets range from $10 to $17. https://academycenter.org/disneys-frozen-jr.

Sunday, Feb. 2

The Legacy Museums Black History Month Celebration will be held at 3 p.m. at the Miller Center, featuring a presentation followed by a traditional soul food Sunday Supper. Meal tickets, which cost $15 for adults and $8 for children younger than 12, must be purchased by Jan. 31. http://www.lynchburgparksandrec.com/event/black-history-month-celebration.

Monday, Feb. 4

The Bower Center for the Arts 6th Annual Edna Curry/John Bower Exhibition, which honors the centers primary benefactors, will open and run through March 14, with an awards reception scheduled for 5 to 8 p.m. Feb. 14, featuring comments from the judge at 6 p.m. http://www.bowercenter.org.

Friday, Feb. 7

Brookville Middle School students will present Shrek Jr. at 7 p.m. at Brookville High School, with more performances set for 7 p.m. Feb. 8 and 2 p.m. Feb. 9. All tickets are $5. http://www.lynchburgtickets.com/shrekjr.

Saturday, Feb. 8

Endstation Theatre Company is hosting the gala fundraiser One Night Only in the Academy Center of the Arts Warehouse Theatre. The event is black tie optional and features dinner and drinks, an auction and performances by Lynchburg native Taylor Rodriguez, who recently was named the 2019 Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Champion by Elvis Presley Enterprises; Sage Melcher, an actor, singer/songwriter and dancer living in New York; and Jonathan Mousset, a Manhattan-based actor/singer. Both Melcher and Mousset appeared in Endstations recent production of My Way. Tickets are $125 per person, and doors open at 6 p.m. (434) 226-0686, http://www.endstationtheatre.org.

Sunday, Feb. 9

Old City Cemetery will host a Valentines Concert at 3 p.m., featuring oboist William P. Parrish Jr. and pianist Claudia Jones Patterson playing gospel, classical and jazz music. Seating is limited, and admission costs $15. http://www.gravegarden.org.

Wednesday, Feb. 12

E.C. Glass Theatres season continues with The Heart of Robin Hood, a spirited new version of the great English legend that premiered at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon in November, with more performances on Feb. 13, 14 and 15. http://glasstheatre.org/season.

Thursday, Feb. 13

Saturday, Feb. 15

Roots, R&B and folk group Kyshona and the Shonettes are performing at Bedford Central Library, 321 North Bridge St., at 7:30 p.m., as part of the Friends of the Bedford Library Concert Series. The band is fronted by Kyshona Armstrong, who has been featured on NPRs World Caf Live and in 2015 was named one of the top 5 roots artists to watch by CMT Edge. Before embarking on her music career, she worked as a music therapist for incarcerated and institutionalized adults and children. Tickets are $15. (540) 586-8911, http://www.friendsofbedfordlibrary.org.

Thursday, Feb. 20

University of Lynchburg Theatre is presenting Pride and Prejudice at 7:30 p.m., with more performances at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 21 and 22 and 2 p.m. Feb. 23, in the Dillard Theatre. Press materials promise the show is not your ordinary Jane Austen and offers a delightfully postmodern view of 19th century England [that] is a merry, bold and boisterous homage to Jane Austens most beloved novel. http://www.lynchburg.edu/academics/majors-and-minors/theatre.

Friday, Feb. 21

Another Austen tale, Sense and Sensibility, will open in Liberty Universitys Box Theater, with more performances on select dates through March 1. http://www.liberty.edu/theatre.

Renaissance Theatre Companys production of M*A*S*H opens, with more performances on Feb. 22, 28 and 29 and March 1, 5, 6 and 7. http://www.renaissancetheatrelynchburg.org.

Gospel musician Jonathan McReynolds will perform in Liberty Universitys LaHaye Event Space at 7:30 p.m. Tickets range from $12 to $18 in advance, with a $5 increase at the door. http://www.liberty.edu/sa.

Amherst Glebe Arts Response, Inc. (AGAR) continues its monthly jazz series with Roots of Jazz, featuring Adam Larrabee on guitar and banjo and Ross Martin on acoustic and electric guitar, at 6:30 p.m. at Second Street Amherst, 194 Second St. Admission is $10 at the door, and advanced tickets are not available. (434) 989-3215.

Saturday, Feb. 22

Jefferson Choral Societys More Chart Toppers of the Past is set for 7:30 p.m. in the historic Academy of Music Theatre. The show is a sequel to last years performance of Billboard and Broadway chart toppers, this time featuring songs like Across the Universe, California Dreamin, Moon River, Im a Believer, It Had to Be You and more, accompanied by a rock band. Tickets are $26. https://academycenter.org/event/jcs-chart-toppers.

Lynchburg Parks and Recreation is hosting a Cajun Dance Party from 7 to 9 p.m. in The Aviary, 400 Grove St., featuring traditional dancing, food and live music from Bayou Faux Pas. Dance lessons will feature a mix of Cajun two-step, waltzes and more, according to press materials, and festive attire is encouraged. Admission is $10 for adults and free for children younger than 10; New Orleans Creole-style gumbo will be served for $5 per bowl. http://www.lynchburgparksandrec.com/event/cajun-dance-party.

Sunday, Feb. 23

Educator and author DuBois Miller will talk about his life growing up in Lynchburg during Why and How I Wrote About Tinbridge Hill, set for 3 p.m. at Old City Cemetery and co-sponsored by the Legacy Museum of African American History. Miller has written two books about his former neighborhood, Ten on Tin and Three More on Tin. http://www.gravegarden.org.

Thursday, Feb. 27

Heritage High Schools Pioneer Theatre will present Agnes of God and Never the Sinner in repertory, with shows scheduled for Feb. 27, 28 and 29 and March 1, 5, 6, 7 and 8. Tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for students and seniors. http://www.lcsedu.net/schools/hhs/about/activities/pioneer-theatre.

Sweet Briar Colleges spring musical, Fountain of You, will open at 7:30 p.m., with more performances at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 28 and 29 and 2:30 p.m. March 1. The concert musical is an irreverent and fantastical satire of the societal values of youth and beauty and gendered roles inherent in them, according to the Bethany Arts Community, where playwrights Tasha Gordon-Solman and Faye Chiao worked on the script while in residency. http://www.sbc.edu/events.

Friday, Feb. 28

The circus troupe Cirque FLIP Fabrique will present one of its shows, Blizzard a crazy, poetic and gentle journey in the dead of winter at 7:30 p.m. in the Academy of Music Theatre. Tickets range from $14 to $56. https://academycenter.org/event/flip-fabrique.

Passages: An Installation in Progress by Cheryl Harper will open at the Maier Museum of Art at Randolph College, with a reception at 5 p.m. and an artist talk by Harper at 7 p.m. The site-specific installation explores themes of heritage, identity, persecution and privilege. In addition to hangings, floor objects and hand-printed wallpaper, the installation features a family wedding dress overlaid with other clothing and accessories owned by mothers, grandmothers and great-grandmothers, according to press materials. http://maiermuseum.org.

Saturday, Feb. 29

Beatleologist Scott Freiman will present the multimedia lecture Deconstructing Abbey Road featuring tales of the Fab Fours recording sessions at Abbey Road Studios, a track-by-track journey explaining the inspiration for the songs and their evolution in the studio at 7:30 p.m. in the Academy of Music Theatre. Tickets range from $20 to $56. https://academycenter.org/event/deconstructing-abbey-road.

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2020 winter events: Harry Potter parody, 'Guys and Dolls' reimagined, Winter Whiskey Fest and more - Lynchburg News and Advance

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