Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By simmons on August 25, 2017

Even if you dont follow pop music, you may have heard pianist and songwriter Regina Spektor singing the catchy Orange Is the New Black theme song, Youve Got Time, covering The Beatles While My Guitar Gently Weeps in the animated feature Kubo and the Two Strings, or in numerous other films and TV shows that have featured her music.

But you might never have heard the Russian Jewish immigrant at all had the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society not helped her family settle in New York. At age 9, Spektor entered the United States as a refugee when her parents fled Soviet persecution in 1989. The family settled in the Kingsbridge neighborhood in the Bronx and was absorbed into the Jewish community there, receiving donations of clothes, furniture and other necessities. Experiencing religious freedom for the first time, Spektor remembers realizing how constrained and stilted the Judaism they had practiced in Russia had been.

Part of a musical family, Spektor was already a serious piano student when she left Russia. The family had to leave their piano behind, and Spektor was reduced to practicing on tabletops until she found a piano to play in her synagogues basement. Through an acquaintance of her fathers, Spektor met a piano teacher with whom she studied, free of charge, until age 17. By that time, she was writing her own songs.

Raised on classical music and contraband Beatles and Rolling Stones records, in America Spektor was exposed to punk, hip-hop, and, most important, female songwriters like Joni Mitchell. After graduating from the Conservatory of Music at Purchase College, she began recording her own CDs and performing in local venues in New York. She attracted the attention of the popular band The Strokes, who brought her on tour and gave her national exposure. She was signed by Sire records in 2004 and has since released five major-label albums to public and critical acclaim. In 2010, she performed at the White House for President Barack Obama for Jewish Heritage Month, and in 2012, she performed a benefit concert for HIAS.

Spektor who will kick off a special solo U.S. tour in Tucson with a concert at the Rialto Theater on Oct. 20 remains fluent in Russian and reads Hebrew. Her history informs much of her music. Although her relationship with religion is complicated, she describes herself as someone to whom faith comes naturally and who is drawn to traditions. The title of her latest album, Remember Us to Life, is English for the High Holy Days refrain Zochreinu LChaim. Spektors outlook was shaped by her early environment, a culture in which violence and oppression were commonplace and the history of World War II and the Stalin years was an ever-looming shadow.

Touring in Berlin earlier this month, Spektor spoke out on social media about the Aug 12 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., that ended with a counterprotestor being killed in a car ramming attack.

I am in Berlin where after a dark history, it is illegal to be a Nazi or say hate speech, she said in a Facebook post. As a refugee, I have promised to protect and fight for my country when I was sworn in as a citizen. I was a teenager then. As I held up my right hand, I never dreamed of the hate speeches and the normalizing of institutionalized prejudice that would be falling over the land in such a short time. The haters coming out of the shadows, and being empowered.

Spektors lyrics reflect a deep sense of how vulnerable humans can be in a complex, often hostile world. What makes Spektors songs unique is the balance between her feel for the fragility of people and her robust sense of just how fun music and life itself can be.

Tickets for Regina Spektors Oct. 20 concert at the Rialto begin at $67.50. Visit RialtoTheatre.com or call 740-1000.

John Cafiero is a freelance writer in Tucson.

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Russian Jewish immigrant Spektor infuses music with wit, vulnerability - Jewish Post

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Posted By admin on August 25, 2017

Ron Kampeas

Husam Zomlot, the PLO envoy to Washington, speaks to reporters in Washington, D.C., Aug. 17, 2017.

WASHINGTON (JTA)-The Palestinian Authority expects the Trump administration to commit to a peace deal endgame before the close of this month and prefers it would be the two-state solution.

"We need them to tell us where the hell they are going," Husam Zomlot, the Palestine Liberation Organization envoy to Washington, said Thursday at a meeting in his office with reporters. "It's about time we hear it."

Zomlot said a high-level U.S. delegation comprising Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law and his top adviser charged with Middle East peace; Jason Greenblatt, Trump's top international negotiator; and Dina Powell, a deputy national security adviser, would meet Aug. 24 in Ramallah with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian negotiating team.

The meeting will come toward the end of a tour in which the U.S. officials also will meet with Israeli and other regional leaders, including from Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

Zomlot said that for the Palestinian Authority, the preferred outcome remained a recommitment to the two-state solution. Trump retreated soon after assuming the presidency in January from a two-state outcome, which has been U.S. policy since 2002. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had committed to a two-state solution in 2009, also has been silent since then about his commitment. A majority of Netanyahu's Cabinet opposes having two states.

"A two-state solution has international equilibrium, it has regional backing and it has a global consensus," Zomlot said. "We are saying to them, we have a starting point, and letting go of this starting point is the worst thing they can do"

Zomlot said the Palestinian Authority wanted two states based on the 1967 borders, and wanted to hear from the Trump administration how best to deal with factors that would endanger a peaceful outcome, including Jewish settlements, the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip and religious tensions at Jerusalem's Temple Mount, which both Jews and Muslims claim as holy.

"The how is crucial," he said.

He said that in the wake of serious negotiations, "the Palestinian consensus government will be tasked with two things: the ending of the situation in Gaza-the unprecedented situation in Gaza-and as soon as possible the convening of Palestinian national elections."

A major obstruction to advancing peace talks has been the absence of P.A. control in the Gaza Strip, where the Hamas terrorist group is the authority. Abbas and the Palestinian Authority, along with Israel, have been squeezing Gaza by reducing basic supplies to its Hamas rulers, including electricity.

Zomlot would not say what the Palestinian Authority would do if the U.S. delegation did not lay out an endgame, but said uncertainty could lead the P.A. to return to seeking international recognition for statehood-a posture that Israel and the United States adamantly oppose-or to further Palestinian resistance against Israel. He said the resistance would be "peaceful."

Zomlot conveyed an overall positive impression of Trump and his negotiators, saying they had carefully considered Palestinian positions, and that Trump's commitment to an endgame rather than simply perpetuating the process was positive.

"The character of President Trump himself-we believe this is a person who could actually take the leap, who could exert pressure on all sides," he said.

Zomlot and the Palestinian Authority appear to be relying on pressure by Trump as a means of delivering Israel on the two-state solution. Zomlot made clear that he did not believe Netanyahu had the wherewithal to advance to final status negotiations on his own.

"Netanyahu is behaving like a politician, not a statesman," he said of the prime minister's coalition maneuvering, in which he must deal with partners who oppose concessions. "Israel deserves better leadership."

Zomlot expressed anger with Congress and the welter of proposed bills that would cut U.S. assistance to the Palestinian Authority and otherwise penalize it. Chief among the measures is the Taylor Force Act, named for an American stabbed to death in a 2016 terrorist attack, which would link funding to the Palestinian areas to the cessation of P.A. payments to the families of Palestinians killed in or jailed for attacks on Israelis.

He said the Palestinian Authority was ready to "revise and negotiate" its payment system, but would not submit to pressure.

"Don't use financial pressure with us," he said. "It does not work."

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Posted By simmons on August 25, 2017

Michal Levy and her three children, with Debbie Ashkenazi, right, of IFCJ, at Ben Gurion Airport.

As the political and economic situation in Venezuela becomes increasingly unstable, Jews are fleeing the South American nation, with many choosing to immigrate to Israel.

Conditions in Venezuela began deteriorating in 2013 following the death of the countrys former president, Hugo Chavez, and the ascension of his chosen successor Nicolas Maduro, a former bus driver.

Chavez aspired to dictatorship and was harshly anti-Israel and anti-Semitic. During the past four years of his successors rule, inflation has skyrocketed, leading to shortages in food and basic supplies such as medicine and toilet paper. Venezuelans stand in long lines sometimes for 12 hours just to obtain bare essentials.

There is no value to life right now in Venezuela, Adele Tarrab, a Venezuelan Jew who moved to Israel with her family in 2015, told JNS. Ive actually seen people get killed for bread.

Venezuela was once home to a thriving Jewish community, one of the largest in South America, with around 25,000 members in 1999. The crumbling economy caused many of the countrys Jews to flee, most to Miami, Mexico and Panama. Some 9,000 Jews are believed to still reside in Venezuela.

We love Venezuela, Tarrab said. Its a beautiful country. We still have family there, but they want to leave.

In late July, a group of 26 new Venezuelan immigrants arrived in Israel, with the Israeli government and the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ) facilitating their aliyah.

IFCJ says it is the only organization on the ground in Venezuela assisting the Jewish community with aliyah. During the past 18 months, the organization has brought 153 Venezuelan Jews to Israel, and has helped the immigrants obtain thousands of dollars in support to get on their feet.

In the past four years weve seen a deterioration in the situation of the people of Venezuela, IFCJs founder and president, Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, says. Many of the olim (immigrants) that we have brought to Israel have not been able, literally, to put bread on the table.

Most of them are coming to Israel literally with the shirts on their backs, no luggage, he says.

IFCJ aids elderly and less affluent Jews who remain in Venezuela, as the majority of wealthy members of the countrys Jewish community already left for Miami before the situation deteriorated, Eckstein says.

According to Eckstein, amid the lack of law and order in Venezuela, Jews are increasingly targeted for kidnappings by criminal gangs who hold them for ransom.

Since the Jewish community has this image of being more affluent due to stereotypes about Jews, kidnappings of Jewish community members are more common, he says.

Tarrab says that Venezuela is like a jail. You dont leave your house because its very dangerous to go out, she says.

Tarrab recalls a 2009 incident in which 15 armed attackers broke into the main synagogue in Caracas on a Friday night and urinated on the Torah scrolls. It was shocking.

The assailants scrawled anti-Semitic graffiti on the synagogues walls and prevented the community from holding Friday night services.

She also detailed an incident in which government forces confiscated the central gold market in Caracas, where many of her family members, including her father Maurice, owned jewelry stores for more than 30 years.

Chavez knew that many of the stores were owned by the Jewish community. It was shocking and very sad, Tarrab said.

Venezuelas Jewish leaders dont want to present the current economic situation as a crisis, but it really is, Eckstein says.

Despite the lifeline of moving to Israel, Tarrab said the South American immigrants face many new challenges in the Jewish state. They are often frustrated by the lack of help from the Israeli government and encounter intense bureaucracy.

The government should make the process smoother, says Tarrab.

Israels Ministry of Immigration and Absorption this month announced an increase in aid to Venezuelan immigrants.

Total state benefits now amount to $9,700 for couples; $8,200 for single-parent families; $5,100 for singles; $3,000 for children up to age four; $2,200 for children ages four-18; and $2,600 for immigrants ages 18-21.

Soon after arriving in Israel, Tarrab and her family settled in the coastal city of Netanya and opened a restaurant, Rustikana, that serves home-style Venezuelan food. The family imports fresh kosher meat from South American countries such as Argentina to provide authentic flavors.

My family and I came to Israel with con las ganas, the willingness to do whatever it takes to succeed, says Tarrab.

You cannot come to Israel with the same mentality we had in Venezuela. Every day is challenging, she said.

Every day I have to fight, I am always on the defensive. Its tiring, but I love Israel. I feel safe here, and I feel like this is my country.

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Economy crumbles, Venezuela's Jews emigrate - Intermountain Jewish News

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Posted By admin on August 25, 2017

A judge in Belarus approved the construction of apartments atop two former Jewish cemeteries. Separately, unidentified individuals smashed 24 headstones in a Jewish cemetery in Ukraine.

Eduard Dolinsky, the director of the Ukrainian Jewish Committee, in a statement wrote that the incident in Ukraine was discovered Tuesday at the Jewish cemetery of Svaliava in the countrys west. The incident was reported to police, who currently have no suspects.

Earlier this month, a mass grave was discovered during construction near the Ukrainian city ofIvano-Frankivsk. Locals initially ignored the find because they assumed the bones belonged to Jews buried in a nearby cemetery, Radio Svoboda reported, but the works were stopped because the bones were thought to be of non-Jews purged by communist authorities.

In a ruling on a motion seeking an injunction against planned construction on the former Jewish cemetery in the eastern city of Gomel, the judge of the Tsentralny District Court in Belarus on Monday stated the court lacks jurisdiction to take any action, clearing the path for the planned construction, Radio Svaboda reported Monday.

The motion was filed by Yakov Goodman, a Belarus-born American Jewish activist for the preservation of Jewish heritage sites in Belarus. Local authorities last year approved a project for the construction of two luxury apartment buildings on the grounds of a former cemetery on Sozhskaya Street. The motion also pertained to earthworks already underway in the city of Mozyr at another former Jewish cemetery, as per permits issued in 2015, according to the World Association of Belarusian Jews, which Goodman heads.

Both projects mean that bones of Jews buried in those two cemeteries will end up in city dumpsters, Goodman told JTA earlier this week.

Belarusian official have vowed to protect Jewish heritage sites in Belarus, including cemeteries.

Last year, Belarusian Foreign MinisterVladimir Makaiand Lesley Weiss, chair of the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of Americas Heritage Abroad, signed a joint declaration at the World Jewish Congress headquarters stating that: Each party will take appropriate steps to protect and preserve properties that represent the cultural heritage of all national, religious, or ethnic groups that reside or resided in its territory.

The singing only encouraged authorities to further attacks on Jewish heritage sites, Goodman said.

Before the signing of the document, Goodmans association accused Belarusian authorities under the countrys authoritarian president, Alexander Lukashenko, of destroying three synagogues one in Luban and two others in the capital Minsk and at least two Jewish cemeteries in addition to Gomel and Mozyr.

Local activists are afraid, understandably to put up a fight in local courts, said Goodman, who was briefly arrested in 2004 in Belarus for his activism. Under Lukashenko, Jewish heritage suffered irreparable losses, said Goodman, who added he may appeal the ruling Monday.

In replying to the motion on construction in Gomel, the citys urban housing and communal services department told the court that: There is no information about the location of the cemetery in this place.

But this assertion was disputed by several historians, including Evgeny Malikov, who wrote earlier this year in a report that the planned construction is strictly prohibited also by Belarusian laws. Both he and Goodman accused authorities of discriminating against Jewish buildings while showing more sensitivity to Christian ones.

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Belarus court OKs luxury flats atop former Jewish cemeteries - Cleveland Jewish News

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Posted By richards on August 25, 2017

BBC News

Trump economic aide Gary Cohn chides him on Charlottesville BBC News US President Donald Trump's top economic adviser has criticised the White House's response to a far-right rally this month in Virginia. National Economic Council director Gary Cohn told the ... In his FT interview, Mr Cohn said: "As a Jewish American ... and more »

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Posted By simmons on August 25, 2017

The Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation unveiled a historical marker at Crescenta Valley Community Regional Park in La Crescenta on Aug. 18that includes an explanation of the parks historical ties to Nazis.

The new marker takes note of the parks past, acknowledging that in the years before World War II and as Hitler and the Nazi Party rose to power in Germany, supporters of Hitler at times paraded in this park.

[Peter Dreier: A tale of two cities Charlottesville and La Crescenta]

The unveiling followed a controversy that arose last year from the installation, and subsequent removal, of a previous sign at the entrance that read, Welcome to Hindenburg Park, recognizing former German President Paul von Hindenburg, a World War I hero who appointed Hitler as chancellor in 1933. The installation of that sign angered Jewish community members who knew of Hindenburgs history.

Mona Field, an Eagle Rock resident and former member of the L.A. Community College District board of trustees, who is Jewish, was among those who advocated for the removal of the Hindenburg Park sign, which was paid for by the Tricentennial Foundation, a nonprofit German-American heritage organization, with the countys approval. The sign was removed last May, about one month after its installation.

Hans Eberhard, 85, the German-born chairman of the Tricentennial Foundation, was 17 when he immigrated to the United States in 1949. At that time, Crescenta Valley Community Regional Park was a private park owned by the German-American League. As Hindenburg Park, it was the setting for dances, picnics and other community events for Germans in the area.

Probably in the late 50s, I started to go to the Hindenburg Park, he said. When I first came [to Los Angeles], I didnt know anybody here. People get to know you and find out youre from Germany, that youre German, [and say] We have an affair, come on down.

By paying for the earlier sign, Eberhard said he was attempting to honor the parks history. But part of that history in the years before World War II, during Hitlers rise to power included rallies staged by the German American Bund, a pro-Nazi group.

Following the removal of Eberhards sign, the L.A. County Commission on Human Relations appointed an ad hoc task force to create a replacement historical marker. Eberhard and Field, who both attended the unveiling, were among the people on the task force.

Field was instrumental in developing the language for the new marker, which features text, photographs and captions. It is titled German-American History at Crescenta Valley Community Regional Park. The photographs include an image showing members of the Bund party, in 1936, posing before a flag with a giant swastika. The photo is courtesy of the special collections and archives of the Oviatt Library at Cal State Northridge, which maintains an archive titled In Our Own Backyard: Resisting Nazi Propaganda in Southern California, 1933-1945.

Eberhard, who is not Jewish, is concerned that the image of the swastika could foment anti-Semitism.

The history [as depicted by the marker] is OK. What I dont like is the picture with the big swastika. I think that attracts undesirable elements. Thats a little offensive, dont you think? he said, suggesting that there might be other ways to convey what happened in the past.

Field said she did her best in working with multiple interests in creating a marker that reflects a part of history that has implications today as the United States debates the ascension of neo-Nazis.

My thing is not to confront people, she said. My thing is to fix a problem.

Jason Moss, executive director of The Jewish Federation of the Greater San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys, also attended the new signs unveiling. He said he was pleased that after more than a year of debate, Fields and Eberhards task force overcame differences and created something tangible.

What I love about the marker is that it captures the true history of what took place at the park, he said. The ad hoc committee was able to come together and work through something that was very difficult, and in the end, I dont think history was whitewashed.

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Posted By simmons on August 25, 2017

KKK members in Charlottesville, VA. Steve Helber/AP

In absence of leadership from the White House, says the director of the Anti-Defamation League, cities need to step up.

Our nation has a long history of presidents standing up to bigotry and hate. But President Trump did the opposite in response to the largest gathering of white supremacists, neo-Nazis, and KKK members in more than a decade. The bigotry-fueled violence led to the death of an innocent woman and two state troopers, dozens injured, and a deeply rattled country.

The events in Charlottesville are just the latest time in recent memory where we have seen an escalation of a hatred and bigotry in America. Recently, there has been an increase in violence and hate incidents targeting Muslims, Jews, and other minorities. Hateful rhetoric that once lived in the darkest corners of society has crept into the mainstream. We all must push back loudly to show such vile language and actions are unacceptable in our communities.

Times like these require both moral leadership and strong action. It was profoundly disturbing when President Trump equated racist white supremacists in Charlottesville with counter-protesters who were there to stand up against hate. The entire Unite the Right rally was built on racial and conspiratorial anti-Semitism. There is no rationalizing white supremacy and no room for this vile bigotry. It is un-American and it needs to be condemned without hesitation. The president has equivocated on something unequivocal.

Moreover, the presidents inability to take action to prevent such events from happening again is unacceptable. He needs to direct the Department of Justice and the FBI to ensure all law enforcement is trained on how to deal with hate and extremists. He needs to task the Department of Education to prioritize anti-bias and anti-hate content so kids learn that in America our differences are cherished, not seized upon. He needs to engage the Department of Homeland Security to re-fund the countering violent extremism grant program, and ensure it fights all forms of extremism. But he has done none of this.

Fortunately, mayors across the country are stepping up.

For decades, Americas mayors have taken a strong position in support of civil rights and in opposition to racism and discrimination of all kinds. They have spoken out against injustice and worked to build tolerance and understanding within their communities. They have undertaken efforts to integrate immigrants and have adopted a variety of policies to ensure their LGBT residents are treated equitably. Mayors have condemned the bigotry and violence seen in Charlottesville, and have now come together to do what is needed to heal their communities -- and to ensure that the U.S. continues the progress weve made as a country in the five decades since the murder of Medgar Evers in Jackson, Mississippi, the bombing that killed four young girls in the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, and the March on Washington led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Together, the Anti-Defamation League and the U.S. Conference of Mayors have announced a Mayors Compact to Combat Hate, Extremism and Bigotry that will become a key component of a broad new Alliance Against Hate. Through the partnership, mayors will take advantage of ADLs expertise, including its renowned anti-hate education program for grade schools, and the anti-bias training it delivers to law enforcement agencies, including every new FBI agent.

More than 270 mayors have already signed the Mayors Compact to Combat Hate, Extremism and Bigotry and pledged to implement the joint plan. They will take a fresh, comprehensive approach to unwind divisive forces in their cities, stop hate crimes, and work to create new bonds in their communities. They have pledged to vigorously speak out against all acts of hate; insist that bias-motivated violence be punished to the fullest extent of the law; promote law enforcement training on hate crimes and anti-bias education in schools; encourage community activities that celebrate cultural and ethnic diversity; and advocate for aggressive enforcement of civil rights laws and strengthening of hate crimes laws. They will ensure public safety, while safeguarding freedom of speech and other fundamental rights protected by the Constitution.

Regardless of leadership in the White House, we have the power to enact meaningful and lasting change at the local level.

Mayors and their cities will be a beacon for inclusion, tolerance, and respect for all. We will continue to build stronger cultures of kindness in our communities, and ensure those responsible for extremist and bias-motivated criminal conduct are brought to justice. Together, we will find a path forward and restore our great nation.

Jonathan Greenblatt is the CEO and national director of the Anti-Defamation League.

The small Wisconsin city is enjoying a cultural revival, thanks to its gorgeous setting, a few well-placed boosters, and a knack for smart development.

When inequality goes up, so, too, does the rent burdenespecially for the lowest income residents.

Some of the monuments in this small Pennsylvania town arent telling the truth about the battle that was fought here.

The catastrophic fire that killed at least 80 in London was the inevitable byproduct of an ideology that vilified the poor.

A speedy transition to wind, water, and solar could avert catastrophic climate change. For the 139 countries that backed the Paris agreement, its within reach.

CityLab is committed to telling the story of the worlds cities: how they work, the challenges they face, and the solutions they need.

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Posted By admin on August 25, 2017

BALTIMORE - Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh is one of 200 mayors nationwide to pledge to fight bigotry and build tolerance.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors and The Anti-defamation League announced the joint plan to fight extremism and promote equality following the violent protest in Charlottesville, Virginia that left one woman dead and dozens hurt.

Under the The 10 point plan, mayors commit to vigorously speak out against all acts of hate; punish bias-motivated violence to the fullest extent of the law; encourage more anti-bias and anti-hate education in schools and police forces, using ADL experts and resources for both; encourage community activities that celebrate their population's cultural and ethnic diversity; and ensure civil rights laws are aggressively enforced and hate crimes laws are as strong as possible.

Mayor Pugh is one of 18 city leaders in the Maryland, DC, Virginia and North Carolina to commit to the plan. So far, more than 200 mayors have pledged to carry out the plan across the country.

List of Signatories in Maryland, DC, Virginia, North Carolina:

Muriel Bowser, Washington, District of Columbia Catherine E. Pugh, Baltimore, Maryland Patrick L. Wojahn, College Park, Maryland Candace B. Hollingsworth, Hyattsville, Maryland Jacob R. Day, Salisbury, Maryland Jeffrey Z. Slavin, Somerset, Maryland Esther E. Manheimer, Asheville, North Carolina Lydia Lavelle, Carrboro, North Carolina Jennifer W. Roberts, Charlotte, North Carolina William 'Bill' V. Bell, Durham, North Carolina Nancy Barakat Vaughan, Greensboro, North Carolina Miles Atkins, Mooresville, North Carolina Nancy McFarlane, Raleigh, North Carolina James Allen Joines, Winston-Salem, North Carolina Allison Silberberg, Alexandria, Virginia Mike Signer, Charlottesville, Virginia McKinley L. Price DDS, Newport News

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Posted By simmons on August 24, 2017

Birds of a feather: White supremacy and Zionism Middle East Eye But the reasoning behind the linking of the two symbols - white supremacy and Zionism - is far from torturous. The two are not strange bedfellows, but rather natural allies. Both represent a desire to establish and maintain a homogeneous society that ...

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Posted By simmons on August 24, 2017

May these words of Torah serve as a merit leiluy nishmat Menachem Mendel ben Harav Yoel David Balk, ah.

This week we learned Sanhedrin 33 and 35. These are some highlights.

Sanhedrin 33: Why cant a contemporary rabbi rule against the conclusions of a rabbi in the Talmud?

Our gemara teaches that when a rabbi or court issues a ruling and then discovers that the ruling is against a mishnah, the ruling is reversed. A sage cannot rule against a mishnah. The Gemara adds Rav and Shmuel and the Talmud to this category. A rabbi cannot rule against Rav and Shmuel or against the conclusions in the Talmudwritten by Ravina and Rav Ashi. Why is this so? Why cant a contemporary sage rule against the rulings of earlier rabbis?

Kessef Mishna (Hilchot Mamrim 2:1) suggests that when the Mishnah and Talmud were completed they were accepted by the entire Jewish community as the last and final word. The sages of the time accepted that no one would dispute the conclusions of the Mishnah and Talmud. Chazon Ish (Kovetz Inyanim Hearot Hachazon Ish ot 2) adds that the sages of those times, based on truth, accepted that the issues dealt with by the Mishnah and Talmud could not be reopened. They acknowledged how they were inferior intellectually to the rabbis of the Talmud and Mishnah. If I cannot reach the intellectual levels of my predecessors I cannot argue with them. Only someone who understands fully as much as someone else can engage in a dispute. The sages right after the Talmud and Mishnah all saw that they were not on the level of the rabbis of the Mishnah and Talmud. The laws of those rabbis therefore cannot be overturned. According to Raavad, it is not only the Talmud and Mishnah. Later sages, such as Rishonim, cannot disagree with a sage of an earlier and greater level, such as a Gaon (Rosh Siman 6). Contemporary rabbis are nowhere near the level of Geonim or Rishonim. We cannot issue a ruling against their conclusions.

Rav Elchanan Wasserman (there) disagrees with this explanation. He points out that sometimes a contemporary sage is greater than those who preceded him. It is said that Rav Chaim of Volozhin testified that his teacher, the Gra, was as great as the Rashba and possibly on the level of the Ramban. Rav Hai Gaon was the youngest of the Geonim yet he was greater than all the other Geonim. Rav Elchanan therefore argues that the Gra was entitled to argue with Rishonim. No one can argue with the Talmud and Mishnah, for the acceptance of the Jewish nation is the equivalent of a ruling of the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin represent the entire Jewish nation. Rambam writes that when the entire Jewish nation agrees to make one sage a musmach, the chain of semicha can restart. The reason for this is that the entire Jewish nation together has the status of the Sanhedrin and the ordained sages. The acceptance of the Mishnah and Talmud right away by all the Jews of the time rendered the compositions rulings of the Sanhedrin. No one can overturn conclusions of the Sanhedrin.

In Shulchan Aruch (Choshen Mishpat 25:1) we are taught that a judge cannot issue a ruling against an established halacha. If poskim of earlier generations, such as Rama or Beit Yosef, have ruled on an issue and their ruling has been widely accepted, a contemporary sage does not have the power to rule against them (Meorot Daf Hayomi).

Sanhedrin 35: Is lifting the hands necessary for the priestly blessing?

Kohanim bless us by lifting their hands and reciting three verses to the community. Shut Noda BeYehuda (Kama Orach Chaim Siman 5) was asked about a kohen whose hands shook and was unable to lift his hands. Could the priest recite the blessing with his hands down? Is lifting the hands an essential component of Birkat Kohanim?

Noda BeYehuda quotes Shut Shevut Yaakov (Chelek Bet Siman Aleph) who addresses this question. Shevut Yaakov rules that it is only in the Mikdash where there is a necessity to lift hands. Outside of the holy Temple, a priest can recite the Birkat Kohanim with a blessing and not lift his hands when it is impossible for him to lift his hands. Shut Haradbaz (Chelek Vav Siman 117) also allows a kohen who cannot lift his hands to recite the blessing.

Noda BeYehuda disagrees. He feels that just as it is a requirement to stand, it is an absolute necessity to lift the hands. If the priest cannot lift his hands he cannot recite the blessing. Minchat Kenaot (Sota 38a) seeks to prove Noda BeYehuda correct from Tosafot on our daf. Tosafot (s.v. Sheneemar) say that a priest who killed is allowed to perform the service of sacrifices. He is only disqualified from duchaning. Duchaning is done with the hands. We have a rule: the prosecutor cannot also serve as the defense advocate, . To lift hands in blessing that are soiled with spilled innocent blood is impossible. The murderer cannot bless; however, he may perform sacrificial services. It emerges from Tosafot that the essence of the priestly blessing is the raising of the hands. If Shevut Yaakov is right, why is the kohen who killed always disqualified from blessing the community? Let him bless the community without lifting his hands. From Tosafot, Minchat Kenaot argues that a priest who cannot lift his hands cannot recite the priestly blessing.

Magen Avraham (Orach Chaim 128:21) rules that lifting hands is a necessity for the priestly blessing. Shulchan Aruch Harav (OC 128:23), Birkei Yosef in Shiyurei Beracha (128:1), and Mishna Berura (128:52) all rule against the Shevut Yaakov and require lifting hands for Birkat Kohanim (Mesivta).

By Rabbi Zev Reichman

Rabbi Zev Reichman teaches Daf Yomi in his shul, East Hill Synagogue.

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Sanhedrin 33 and 35 - Jewish Link of New Jersey

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