Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on August 3, 2017

The Anti-Defamation League on Wednesday slammed new Republican legislation, embraced by US President Donald Trump, that would dramatically reduce legal immigration and shift the policies toward a system that prioritizes merit and skills over family ties.

Trump joined with Republican Sens. David Perdue of Georgia and Tom Cotton of Arkansas, who introduced the bill, earlier Wednesday to promote it. The legislation has so far gained little traction in the Senate.

This legislation demonstrates our compassion for struggling American families who deserve an immigration system that puts their needs first and puts America first, Trump said during an event in the White Houses Roosevelt Room.

Perdue and Cottons legislation would replace the current process for obtaining legal permanent residency, or green cards, creating a skills-based point system for employment visas. The bill would also eliminate the preference for US residents extended and adult family members, while maintaining priority for their spouses and minor children.

This proposed legislation is cruel, anti-family and un-American, said ADL CEO Jonathan A. Greenblatt. These are the types of policy markers that exacerbate immigrant bashing and nativist attitudes in this country. We support an immigration policy that is comprehensive, protects our security, reunites families and improves our economy while honoring our values as a nation of immigrants. Diversity is our countrys strength and immigration has made America great.

Greenblatt vowed to work against the bill.

The legislation was the latest example of the president championing an issue that animated the core voters of his 2016 campaign, following decisions to pull out of the Paris climate treaty and ban transgender people from the military.

Overall, immigration would be slashed 41 percent in the legislations first year and 50 percent in its 10th, according to projection models cited by the bills sponsors. The bill would also aim to slash the number of refugees in half and eliminate a program that provides visas to people from countries with low rates of immigration.

The rollout included a combative press briefing led by Trump policy aide Stephen Miller, who clashed with the media over the plan and accused one reporter of being cosmopolitan when he suggested it would only bring in English-speaking people from Britain and Australia.

The president has made cracking down on illegal immigration a hallmark of his administration and has tried to slash federal grants for cities that refuse to comply with federal efforts to detain and deport those living in the country illegally.

But he has also vowed to make changes to the legal immigration system, arguing that immigrants compete with Americans for much-needed jobs and drive wages down.

Most economists dispute the presidents argument, noting that immigration in recent decades doesnt appear to have meaningfully hurt wages in the long run. Increased immigration is also associated with faster growth because the country is adding workers, so restricting the number of immigrants could slow the economys potential to expand.

The bills supporters, meanwhile, say it would make the US more competitive, raise wages and create jobs.

Backers said the bill would sharply increase the proportion of green cards available to high-skilled workers and would not affect other high or low-skilled worker visa programs such as H1-B and H2-B visas. The Trump Organization has asked for dozens of H-2B visas for foreign workers at two of Trumps private clubs in Florida, including his Mar-a-Lago resort.

The White House said that only 1 in 15 immigrants comes to the US because of their skills, and the current system fails to place a priority on highly skilled immigrants.

But the Senate has largely ignored a previous version of the measure, with no other lawmaker signing on as a co-sponsor. GOP leaders have showed no inclination to vote on immigration this year, and Democrats quickly dismissed it.

The bottom line is to cut immigration by half a million people, legal immigration, doesnt make much sense, said Senate Democratic leader Charles Schumer of New York, who called it a nonstarter.

The bill would create a new points-based system for applicants seeking to become legal permanent residents, favoring those who can speak English, have high-paying job offers, can financially support themselves and offer skills that would contribute to the US economy. A little more than 1 million green cards were issued in 2015.

In a nod to his outreach to blue-collar workers during the campaign, Trump said the measure would prevent new immigrants from collecting welfare for a period of time and help US workers by reducing the number of unskilled laborers entering the US.

But the president is mischaracterizing many of the immigrants coming to the United States as low-skilled and dependent on government aid.

The Pew Research Center said in 2015 that 41 percent of immigrants who had arrived in the past five years held a college degree, much higher than the 30 percent of non-immigrants in the United States. A stunning 18 percent held an advanced degree, also much higher than the US average.

Trump has long advocated for the changes and vowed during an immigration speech in Phoenix last August to overhaul the legal immigration system to serve the best interests of America and its workers. He voiced support for the Senate bill at a rally last week in Ohio, where his call for a merit-based system that protects our workers generated loud cheers.

Some immigrant advocates have criticized the proposal, saying that slashing legal immigration would hurt industries like agriculture and harm the economy.

Our system is broken, but the response should be to modernize it, not take a sledgehammer to it, said Jeremy Robbins, executive director of New American Economy, a group backed by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

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ADL slams Trump-backed GOP plan on immigration as 'cruel, un-American' - The Times of Israel

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Posted By admin on August 2, 2017

A Palestinian flag. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org As a child, I spent my summers at Camp Solomon Schechter, a Conservative Jewish camp in Tumwater, Washington. My experiences at Camp Schechter were central to the development of my Jewish identity, and my eventual decision to immigrate to Israel.

At camp, each day began at the flagpole. Hundreds of sleepy-eyed campers and counselors from all around the Pacific Northwest strolled to the flagpoles, where we would circle up around the American, Canadian and Israeli flags.As everyone circled up, the Israeli scouts (young Israeli counselors) would lead us in a morning song. Bo-bo-bo-boker tov! they sang, meaning Good morning! in Hebrew.

Additional Hebrew songs, the American and Canadian national anthems, and thenthe Israeli national anthem Hatikvah would follow.

Camp Schechter was founded on Zionist principles, and served as a safe haven to build a Jewish community for many campers who might be the only Jews in their schools orhometowns.

August 2, 2017 4:14 pm

But to my dismay, this safe haven was shaken last week when the Palestinian flag was raised over these very same campgrounds. I can only imagine the outrage among my thousands of fellow Camp Schechter alumni.

As first reported byThe Mike Report a blog that focuses on Jewish news in the Pacific NorthwestCamp Schechter welcomed a group of Palestinian Muslims and Christians from a group called Kids4Peace to join the Jewish campers for the beginning of a new session.

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In Raising the Palestinian Flag, Jewish Camp Disrupts a Safe Space for Zionism - Algemeiner

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Posted By richards on August 2, 2017

The New York Times has laid down a red line: anti-Zionism is hate speech. This is the message of an article by one of its staff opinion editors, Bari Weiss, about the Palestinian-American activist Linda Sarsour. When Progressives Embrace Hate.

Weiss notes Sarsours national prominence among progressives as a leader of the Womens March last January. Then she says that Sarsour is a purveyor of hate. The very first count against Sarsour? Anti-Zionism.

There are comments on her Twitter feed of the anti-Zionist sort: Nothing is creepier than Zionism, shewrotein 2012.

The article goes on to rake up a lot of old tweets and associations on Sarsours part. Including kinship to Congressman Keith Ellison, whom Weiss also smears:

Keith Ellison, a man with along historyof defending and working with anti-Semites, was almost made leader of the Democratic National Committee.

That sounds a lot like what Haim Saban said about Ellison at the Brookings Institution last year: he is clearly an anti-Semite, an anti-Israel individual, though pretending to bemore of a Zionist than Herzl, Ben-Gurion and Begin combined.

Bari Weisss bold and entitled attack on Sarsour is sure to get a lot of pushback from progressives in days to come. The article is a now-textbook attack on Palestinians, for it argues that Sarsour is an anti-Semite because she does not support the subjugation of her own people, Palestinians (as Donald Johnson wrote to us yesterday).

We would like to make two points about the article.

First,Weiss (and Saban before her) both took their stand on Zionism. The American mainstream is finally having an argument about Zionism, and its about time. Zionism is the religious nationalist belief system that supports the Jewish state in Israel; many older American Jews are adherents of that belief (along with some Christians too); and the ideology needs to be confronted and scrutinized. Are Jews really unsafe in the West? Then what about the great success of Jews in America as a minority with rights in a liberal democracy? Is a Jewish state necessary for Jewish survival? What about when that state discriminates against its non-Jewish citizens and imposes Jim Crow policies and worse across the occupied territories what does that persecution do to the Jewish future? And remember that this discussion is now taking place in the United States what is the required role of the worlds leading superpower in maintaining a regime so disliked by so many of its subjects?

So we are thankful that Bari Weiss is so upset about Sarsour. These people should be debating Zionism in forums across the land.

The second point is that Bari Weiss is a powerful person inside the mainstream media, and she is a pro-Israel apparatchik, and has a long history of attacking Palestinians and their friends. She has gone after such leading intellectuals as Joseph Massad, Rashid Khalidi, Nadia Abu El Haj, Timothy Mitchell and Lila Abu-Lughod, building a handsomeresume at the pro-Israel site Campus Watch. Stand up for Palestinian rights and this editor advancing the aims of Hasbara Central will take you on and call you a purveyor of hate. Bari Weiss has a lot of energy for this fight, and she has used it to try and keep liberal Zionists and right-wing Zionists in the same camp against the so-called anti-Zionist haters in the wilderness. And its the family line: her parents have led missions to Israel.

She is hardly the only pro-Israel ideologue at the New York Times. No, there is a rich pedigree. But what does it tell you that such a smear artist has a prominent place at the countrys leading newspaper? The Times has great affinity for Zionism; it has several Zionist columnists; four of its reporters have had children serving in the Israeli army, and it has no anti-Zionist columnist, though now and then it runs a token piece with that point of view.

Yet the battle is on. There are surely folks inside the Times who have growing doubts about Zionism. We might even expect defenders of Linda Sarsour to speak up at the paper. Heres Max Fisher, coming to Sarsours defense.

Have no doubt about it; Sarsours presence at the Womens March was a historic event. Here was a pro-Boycott-Divestment-Sanctions (BDS) Palestinian woman who was NOT marginalized from a leading stage because of her views. In the past, the pro-Israel lobby has been able to sideline such figures from the progressive liberal scene: Andrew Young, Cynthia McKinney, Jimmy Carter, and Keith Ellison, to name a few. While Samantha Power and Chuck Hagel only attained high office after renouncing earlier statements critical of Israel or the lobby.

The pro-Israel camp did not succeed in marginalizing Sarsour, and they know how important that failure is; they are now struggling to reinforce a red line.

More here:
Ensconced at New York Times, pro-Israel advocate Bari Weiss smears Sarsour as a 'hater' - Mondoweiss

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Posted By richards on August 2, 2017

(Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Wednesday ruled that a New York Jewish congregation is the rightful owner of the nation's oldest synagogue, in Rhode Island, along with a set of bells worth millions.

The decision by the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston marks the latest turn in a long-running legal battle that began when members of the Touro Synagogue in Newport tried to sell a set of ritual bells, called rimonim, worth some $7.4 million.

New York's Congregation Shearith Israel attempted to block the deal, citing an 18th century agreement that named it a trustee.

A lower court last year placed ownership of the synagogue with the Rhode Island congregation that worships there, Newport's Congregation Jeshuat Israel. The appeals court reversed that decision citing previous agreements.

"We hold that the only reasonable conclusions to be drawn from them are that CSI (Congregation Shearith Israel) owns both the rimonim and the real property," the ruling said.

Gary Naftalis, a lawyer for the Rhode Island congregation, said he was disappointed by the ruling and was exploring legal options.

An attorney for the New York congregation could not be reached.

The historic building was consecrated in 1763, when the town had one of the largest Jewish populations in the American colonies, including many who had fled the Spanish Inquisition. It was vacated in 1776 when most of the city's Jewish population fled at the start of the Revolutionary War.

Members of the synagogue at that time shipped a pair of valuable silver bells used in rituals to the New York synagogue, and asked its leaders to act as trustees for the vacant temple. Worshippers returned by the 1870s and the New York group's influence waned.

Shearith sued Newport's Congregation Jeshuat Israel when it learned the Rhode Island group had reached a deal to sell the bells to Boston's Museum of Fine Arts. The Touro congregation had planned to use the funds to create a reserve to pay for maintenance of the building, after its finances were hard hit by the 2008 credit crisis.

The New York congregation also claimed ownership of the bells and charged that the Newport group was violating Jewish tradition by selling ritual objects.

Reporting by Chris Kenning; Editing by Dan Whitcomb and Cynthia Osterman

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New York congregation owns oldest US synagogue, court rules - Reuters

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Posted By admin on August 2, 2017

The Epstein School is welcoming students back this month with a new logo, which communications director Coleen Lou said represents the institutions fluidity in moving forward while remaining rooted in its heritage, symbolized by the blue Star of David in the logos center.

The vision for the logo emphasizes the need to look forward as we move into the 21st century and reflects who we are as an organization, Lou said.

The wheel forming the logo represents movement and Epsteins continual change.

The logo was developed by Epsteins marketing strategist, Tali Benjamin, and Head of School David Abusch-Magder with input from a survey provided to community members and from school parents who are marketing professionals.

One of things we started to think about is who we are as a 21st century school, how we can be the best day school respective of our identity and how we teach as a process of continuous improvement, Abusch-Magder said.

In creating the logo, Epstein leaders focused on the range of students at the school, how it strives to meet their needs and what it means to be Jewish as they continue to grow.

Judaism will always be at the center and core of our students, but that doesnt mean they are static or stuck in the past, but rather that they will use it to help guide them, Abusch-Magder said. I think we have captured that in our logo and hope that it resonates more with people at an initial glance as opposed to our previous graphic, which looked like a cross between an E and the Hebrew letter shin.

Abusch-Magder said the old logo didnt match the schools direction.

The framework for the original logo was a box, and we didnt want to be confined to that, he said. We are not an in-the-box school and tried to capture that in a more coherent and organized way.

Although Epstein remains associated with the Conservative movements Solomon Schechter schools, although the Schechter name is not part of the new logo. Abusch-Magder said the Schechter organization has transformed into an affinity group thats part of the Prizmah: Center for Jewish Day Schools, which was formed last year from the merger of the major national Jewish day school groups.

Despite maintaining their association with the organization, Abusch-Magder noted that the schools identity was always connected to the Epstein school.

Although the Schechter association remains, Abusch-Magder said it has not been a strong part of the schools identity. No one really says I attend the Solomon Schechter school, but Epstein, and from a brand prospective, if you need to go complex, go complex on something that matters, such as how we educate our students. Thats the story we would like to tell the community and do so in a meaningful way.

Abusch-Magder said that although Prizmah continues to support Epstein through professional development and conferences, Prizmahs creation marked a national shift in Jewish education and often sparked denominational conversations on the experience of operating a Jewish day school in a small market.

Since its unveiling in July, the Epstein logo has fostered enthusiasm among faculty, parents and students. I am excited where we are going as a school and as an institution, Abusch-Magder said. We are constantly considering what it means to be a Jew and citizen in the 21st century, but also what it means to educate in todays era.

He said he hopes the Epstein community will be proud of the logo for the next five, 10 or 15 years and that we continue to grow and evolve alongside the community.

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Epstein Not Just Spinning Its Wheel With Logo - Atlanta Jewish Times

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Posted By richards on August 2, 2017

Jews are not generally noted for their insistence on selling their talent for the lowest price possible writes Kevin Myers for the Irish edition of the Sunday Times.

Shocked? Outraged that a comment like this could pass through the hands of editors and sub-editors to make it into a national newspaper? Well, Im not. Theres nothing remotely controversial about this statement to me, because as a Jew, Im on the receiving end of this type of remark all the time.

Commenting on the BBCs on-going pay salary saga, the Irish journalist points out that two of the best-paid women presenters in the BBC Claudia Winkleman and Vanessa Feltz are Jewish. He then notes, Jews are not generally noted for their insistence on selling their talent for the lowest possible price, which is an offhanduse ofan age-old anti-Semitic trope connecting Jews with money.

This isnt the first time Myers has got himself into trouble. He has previously written in the Irish Independent: There was no holocaust (or Holocaust, as my computer software insists) and six million Jews were not murdered by the Third Reich. These two statements of mine are irrefutable truths.

When we think of racism,we think of thuggish attacks in the street and youd be right. As I read through the dire article, I was reminded to check my emails to see if any progress had been made into the police investigation into the anti-Semitic hate crime I experienced last month when a young manyelled Heil Hitler at me on the street.

But, there is a more insidious racism at work in the UK as reflected in Myers' writing: even in the most well lettered circles, anti-Semitism is unquestioned and tacitly accepted. I have on more than one occasion nonchalantly been reminded that it makes sense that Im a journalist because, you know, the Jews run the media. It is often accompanied by a smirk and insistence that the individual is not anti-Semitic but, on one occasion, an Ivy League alumnus justified it by listing all of the Jewish Hollywood directors and actors he could call to mind.

There are real-life consequences ofthese comments;so many Jews I have spoken to are fearful to be open about their cultural and religious heritage because of the inevitable fear of anti-Semitic bigotry and, occasionally, violence.

It seems impossible nowadays to predict who might espouse bigoted views so, to prevent falling into a dangerous situation; its often easier to avoid it all together. On many occasions, I would outright lie to avoid, in a best case scenario, casual anti-Semitic jokes being thrown around in conversationor,at worst,flagrant prejudice. Be it heartless comments about the concentration camps, hooked noses or money-hoarding, Ive heard it all and, unfortunately, Im not the only one.

The article now may have been removed but until the true extent and severity of the anti-Semitic crisis in our country is recognised, anti-Jewish sentiment is here to stay.

Continued here:

I'm not shocked by Kevin Myers' anti-Semitic comment as a Jew I hear this type of remark all too often - The Independent

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Posted By simmons on August 2, 2017

NEW YORK Ikeda Yataros body was cremated today. May his soul be forever damned. The flames claimed his corpse and his roses all that was left of the man.

So opens Torture by Rose, the first story in Orlando Ortega-Medinas debut short story collection Jerusalem Ablaze: Stories of Love and Other Obsessions.

Set in present-day Tokyo, it tells the story of Ikeda Yataro, a wealthy industrialist and patron of the arts who offers a talented university student the chance to become his sole heir. There are three conditions and should the student violate even one, they would forfeit the inheritance. The student agrees, but soon finds the price too much to bear. But dont expect a morality lesson from the Jewish author.

The stories in the book come from below my consciousness. They are to entertain and not leave any kind of message. I think the interesting thing is how people read the stories and what they take away tells a lot about the people reading them. I dont mind what people come up with as long as they were moved by the story, Ortega-Medina said, speaking with The Times of Israel from London.

In all, 13 tales lie between the covers of the book and, like Torture by Rose, they are not spun from sweetness and light. Rather, the darkly humorous stories are occasionally violent, often uncomfortable, and always populated with characters on a quest to find their place in the world. Its a quest reflective of the 49-year-old authors own search for identity.

With my more exotic background, I always felt I had an excess of identity

I grew up in a fairly homogeneous white Anglo-Saxon neighborhood. With my more exotic background, I always felt I had an excess of identity. I always found I had to be distinguishing myself. I was always having to clarify who I was, to navigate the different strands of my background, said the Los Angeles-born author who is of Judeo-Spanish descent via Cuba.

The work was inspired by four periods of travel in his life: California, Quebec, Israel and Japan. Ortega-Medina said the Israel stories are the most biographical of the whole collection and are firmly rooted in his experiences and the time he spent searching for himself there.

Both of Ortega-Medinas parents were born in Cuba, his fathers family originally from Florida, his mothers family from the Canary Islands. The couple left during the political upheavals of the 1950s. Along with their belongings they packed the hope they would someday return to Cuba.

Illustrative: An Israeli flag hangs on the wall of the Jewish Community Center in Havana, Cuba. (Serge Attal/Flash90)

Growing up with their wish hovering in the corners of his house, coupled with the fact that his parents were not affiliated with any religious denomination, further set the young Ortega-Medina looking for his place in the world.

In a way I found myself searching for identity in my own household. I wasnt accepting the idea that wed move back to Cuba. When I was 13 I had a deep interest in my religious heritage. My grandmother was visiting and when I came downstairs she presented me with a kippa and said Its really sad youre not a Bar Mitzvah, he said.

Jerusalem Ablaze by Orlando Ortega-Medina. (Courtesy)

His grandmother sent him to Israel after he graduated high school, and he also turned to Chabad and the Conservative movement for guidance and spiritual fulfillment.

An Israel State of Mind is perhaps the most biographical story in the collection. In it a recent high school graduate from Southern California arrives in Israel to spend a year working on a kibbutz. He hopes to rid himself of his desires; instead he is reunited with the man he loves.

And by the time the sherut [shared taxi] approached the imposing gates of Kfar Vered, Marc was beginning to feel more optimistic about the whole thing. Perhaps having a good time here at Kfar Vered and connecting with his Jewish heritage were not mutually exclusive propositions, writes Ortega-Medina in the story.

The character Marc is the closest to an alter ego I have. I do work out some personal things through him, he said.

He has long turned to words to work out his own search for self. In elementary school he penned several science fiction, time-travel comic books for himself and a few select friends. He wrote a novel that he set aside, and even tried his hand at a screenplay or two.

Jerusalem Ablaze author, Orlando Ortega-Medina at the West London Synagogue. (Clare Allen/Courtesy)

Jerusalem Ablaze has so far received high marks. Kirkus Reviews described his prose as elegant and potent throughout, with visceral passages bathed in lyricism. And the Irish News wrote the book is beautifully wrought, deeply unnerving Ortega-Medina holds a mirror up to our darkest thoughts and urges while showing the oneness of the human condition.

With the positive reviews rolling in Ortega-Medina imagined hosting a dinner for the writers who inspired him.

Id surround with Yukio Mishima, Salman Rushdie, Margaret Atwood, John Fowles and Anthony Burgess, and wed discuss writing over a glass, or three, of wine

Id surround with Yukio Mishima, Salman Rushdie, Margaret Atwood, John Fowles and Anthony Burgess, and wed discuss writing over a glass, or three, of wine. No, make that champagne, he said. In fact, Torture by Rose is an homage to Mishimas story Swaddling clothes. It left a lot of questions for me and I answered them in my story.

Ortega-Medina studied English Literature at UCLA and then earned a law degree from Southwestern University School of Law. While there he won The National Society of Arts and Letters award for Short Stories.

In 1999 Ortega-Medina moved to Canada with his life partner to protest discriminatory policies in the US against same-sex couples, running his San Francisco law practice from Toronto. He and his partner were among the first same-sex couples to marry at Montreals Hotel de Ville in 2005.

One of the things we really enjoyed when we moved to Canada was that as a couple we were a non-issue. It was more than acceptance; it was as if us being a couple was a non-issue, he said.

Jerusalem Ablaze author, Orlando Ortega-Medina. (Courtesy)

After four years in Canada his partner, who hails from a tropical country, broke the news: he was done the nearly six-month-long Canadian winters. Fortunately, an opportunity arose in the UK and the couple moved to London.

With US, Canadian and British citizenship, Ortega-Medina works as an immigration and consular attorney in London, and is managing director of a US corporate immigration practice there.

While the US Supreme Court legalized same sex marriage throughout the nation in 2015, Ortega-Medina said he has no plans to return there. He described his life in London with his husband as quite settled. We live a stones throw from Kensington Palace and we can literally wave to the royal family as they drive by.

For a lot of people the civil ceremony would have been enough. Standing under a chuppah was an important milestone for us

Several years ago he and his partner married in a religious ceremony at the West London Synagogue, where they belong and are quite active.

For a lot of people the civil ceremony would have been enough. Standing under a chuppah was an important milestone for us, he said.

Many of the stories in Jerusalem Ablaze explore lifes imperfections and the fragility of the world. These are themes that come from a somewhat overprotective mother, he said.

My mother was always very nervous. She worried about whether we would catch a cold and die, or be run over by a car. She worried that anything could happen to us. It made me a bit more daring, a bit more of a risk taker, he said. My leaving the US for Canada to reinvent myself and then again to the UK where we didnt know anybody was risky. And in my writing I take risks.

'Jerusalem Ablaze' author, Orlando Ortega-Medina. (Courtesy)

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Literary world fired up over debut short story collection by gay immigration lawyer - The Times of Israel

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Posted By richards on August 2, 2017

GETTY

Sir Peter Bazalgette, chairman of the UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation, said the horrifying stories of survivors remained incredibly powerful.

But he warned that Holocaust denial may well grow in the next 20 years, rather than diminish because of misleading posts on social media.

He said: A small number of MPs and peers, some of whom live locally, have understandably expressed concerns.

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The infamous German inscription reads 'Work Makes Free' at the main gate of the Auschwitz I extermination camp.

We are confident that putting the memorial next to Parliament will improve the park amenity.

Sir Peter added: If you search for Holocaust denial youd be astonished at what people bring up.

"Theres a danger that the power of the internet reinforces mutual prejudices and its up to all of us to make sure Holocaust denial doesnt grow.

Speaking at the launch of a design competition for a new Holocaust Memorial to be sited next to the Houses of Parliament Sir Peter, 64, said the project underlines the importance of learning the lessons of history.

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Holocaust denial 'being fuelled by social media and could continue ... - Express.co.uk

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Posted By admin on August 2, 2017

CommonSpace

Sammy Stein: The aim of the Shalom Festival is to build cultural bridges - let's welcome it CommonSpace The report is an explosive 160-page expose of the SPSC as an organisation riddled with individuals who openly post information about antisemitism and holocaust denial. As Alex Massie in the Sunday Times, stated: "Reading the report, which analysed the ...

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Sammy Stein: The aim of the Shalom Festival is to build cultural bridges - let's welcome it - CommonSpace

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Posted By admin on August 2, 2017

BOSTON (JTA) With more than a decades worth of experience in the film industry, mostly in documentaries, director Joshua Weinstein has released his first feature-length narrative film.

Whats surprising is that Weinstein, a secular Jew, has made a movie entirely in Yiddish.

Menashe, about Hasidic Jews in the Borough Park section of Brooklyn, is among the first full-length Yiddish language films to hit the big screen in more than 70 years.

I love going into small, closed societies and trying to understand and to represent them, and to tell all sides of their stories the good and the bad with honesty, Weinstein, 34, told JTA recently when he and the films Hasidic star, Menashe Lustig, attended a screening at the Boston International Film Festival.

Though Weinstein knew he wanted to do a film about the Hasidim, he was not sure at the outset about the topic. He began to spend time among them in Brooklyn to gain their trust and become familiar with their world.

You cant cast a film like this in the usual way you put on a yarmulke, hang out and show up every single day, he said. I was researching and meeting people. I was also trying to find actors because you can only make a film if you can cast it.

Lustig said a minor miracle occurred when he and Weinstein crossed paths.

I had been acting very locally in the Hasidic community in a nonprofessional way when Josh approached me after he saw me appear in a short Hasidic commercial, Lustig said. We talked together and he said hed like to make a film with me.

As Weinstein got to know Lustig and began to hear the details of his life, Weinstein realized he had found his story. A recent widower, Lustig had been pressured by his religious community of Skver Hasidim to yield the rearing of his 9-year-old son to others until he remarried.

Menashe tells the story of a 30-something widower and single father, and contrasts the title characters urge toward self-sufficiency with the demands of traditionalism in a small, tightly knit religious community.

The whole movie is a 95 percent true story, Lustig said. We just touched it up a little bit.

The film focuses on the decision by the communitys rabbi that Menashe yield the rearing of his son, Rieven, to the family of his late wifes brother. The decision causes Menashe much anguish, which is made considerably worse by his brother-in-laws severe and self-righteous demeanor.

The film expresses how Menashe Lustig actually felt when he went through what he did

In the eyes of the community Menashe, a grocery clerk, is a schlemiel. He bucks authority but, at the same time, does not carry himself in a way that garners respect. Menashe doesnt want to marry just anyone, however, and he wants to prove he can adequately provide a home for his son.

It is an emotionally true story, Weinstein said. The film expresses how Menashe Lustig actually felt when he went through what he did.

With the exception of a few lines in English and Spanish this is Brooklyn, after all the films dialogue occurs entirely in Yiddish.

The sheer challenge of making a new and unique film about Hasidim in Yiddish was very exciting, Weinstein said.

It was just one of many challenges facing Weinstein.

If it wasnt going to be in Yiddish, then why not just make Home Alone 7?

Production, for example, was frequently thrown off schedule some actors who originally signed up, including Lustig, were pressured by their communities not to participate. Fortunately, Weinstein said his background making documentaries, which often depends on bending to the unexpected, gave him the flexibility to see the process through.

Another challenge: Weinstein doesnt speak Yiddish. And yet, You couldnt really make this film in English, he said. If it wasnt going to be in Yiddish, then why not just make Home Alone 7? (As it happens, one of the executive producers of Menashe is Chris Columbus, the director of the wildly successful 1990 movie Home Alone.)

Much of the script was written, in English, before filming started, said Weinstein, with translators providing a Yiddish version. Lustig developed some scenes by improvising in English so Weinstein could understand then would translate them into Yiddish. After that, with the help of translators, the dialogue was again reviewed carefully.

The accuracy of the words was not taken lightly. In post-production, a team of translators worked on the subtitles many debates over word choices ensued.

It was almost like translating the Talmud in some way, Weinstein said.

Menashe, which made its official debut in January at Sundance, will be in theaters in New York and Los Angeles on July 28, with a national rollout to follow.

(Charles Munitz publishes the blog Boston Arts Diary.)

Menashe Lustig, left, and Ruben Niborski in the film "Menashe." (Federica Valabrega/A24/via JTA)

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