Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on March 9, 2017

NEW YORK (AP) The Anti-Defamation League and several Jewish community centers across the country got a new round of bomb threats Tuesday, adding to the scores they have been plagued with since January.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio was at a Jewish Community Center on Staten Island to denounce previous threats when he learned of the new ones.

"This is a moment in time, in history, where forces of hate have been unleashed," de Blasio said. "It is exceedingly unsettling."

Federal officials have been investigating more than 120 threats against Jewish organizations in three dozen states since Jan. 9 and a rash of vandalism at Jewish cemeteries. Over the course of Monday evening and Tuesday, there were eight emailed or phoned-in bomb threats in six states plus Ontario, the JCC Association of North America said.

Also Tuesday, two suburban Jewish community centers in upstate New York were shut down when someone phoned in bomb threats, authorities said. The Jewish Community Center in the Milwaukee suburb of Whitefish Bay was closed for almost two hours. A Jewish community center in Portland, Oregon, received a bomb threat, too.

In Providence, Rhode Island, an administrator at the Jewish Community Day School, attached to a synagogue, received a threat Tuesday morning alleging there was a shooter with an assault rifle on the roof of the building, police said. Police and a K-9 team swept the building; no one was found.

Chicago Jewish Day School on the city's north side was evacuated for a few hours.

In New York, Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said there were five threats made, including to the New York-based Anti-Defamation League, which also received threats to its offices in Atlanta, Boston and Washington, D.C. The ADL said threats were also made in Florida and Maryland.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said he shared President Donald Trump's hope that the threats subside.

"We denounce these latest anti-Semitic and hateful threats in the strongest terms. It is incredibly saddening that I have to continue to share these disturbing reports with you," he said. "As long as they do continue, we will continue to condemn them and look at ways in which we can stop them."

On Friday, Missouri resident Juan Thompson was arrested on a cyberstalking charge and accused of making at least eight of the threats nationwide, including one to the ADL. Authorities said Thompson was trying to harass and frame his ex-girlfriend by pinning the threats on her.

A criminal complaint said Thompson started making threats Jan. 28. He claimed on Twitter that his ex-girlfriend was behind the calls. Thompson is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday in St. Louis for a hearing to determine if he should remain detained pending trial.

Authorities are looking for other suspects in the threats.

___

Associated Press writers Chris Carola in Albany, New York and Kiley Armstrong in New York contributed to this report.

Continued here:
Anti-Defamation League, Jewish centers report more threats - Pueblo Chieftain

Category: Anti-Defamation League | Comments Off on Anti-Defamation League, Jewish centers report more threats – Pueblo Chieftain
Tags:

Posted By simmons on March 9, 2017

'We are deeply invested in fighting scourge of BDS and delegitimization. This law doesnt help,' Anti-Defamation League says.

The Anti-Defamation League slammed Israels new travel banon Wednesday and said the legislation will cause more harm than good in the battle against boycotts targeting Israel.

The new law, approved by Knesset on Monday, will deny entry into Israel to foreign nationals openly calling for boycotts against Israel and its settlements in the West Bank.

"We are deeply invested in fighting scourge of BDS and delegitimization. This law doesnt help," the organization tweeted, referring to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement. "Israels democracy, pluralism, open society serve as best defense against BDS. New law harms rather than helps."

>> Get all updates on Israel, BDS and the Jewish World:Download our free App, andSubscribe>>

The ADL's tweet and a statement published on Tuesday by the American Jewish Committee point out that the bill is opposed not only by Jewish groups clearly affiliated with the left-wing, such as J Street, but also by more centrist organizations. The AJC, like the ADL, said that while it was fully committed to battling BDS, it did not view the bill approved on Monday by the Knesset as helpful in that regard.

Other Jewish-American organizations that have spoken out against the new bill so far include the New Israel Fund, whose leadership strongly denounced the bill.

J Street, a leading leftist Jewish group, said in a statement that it was "alarmed" by the legislation and that "there are strong supporters and friends of Israel who participate in or advocate for targeted boycotts of the settlement enterprise beyond the Green Line, motivated by a desire to oppose the occupation and support the two-state solution."

The ban would apply not just to people who call for boycotts against Israel, but also to those who call for boycotts of any Israeli institution or any area under its control i.e., the settlements.

Want to enjoy 'Zen' reading - with no ads and just the article? Subscribe today

Excerpt from:
ADL Slams Israel's Travel Ban: 'New Law Harms' Fight Against BDS - Haaretz

Category: Anti-Defamation League | Comments Off on ADL Slams Israel’s Travel Ban: ‘New Law Harms’ Fight Against BDS – Haaretz
Tags:

Posted By richards on March 8, 2017

JERUSALEM For some, the notion of delving into the Talmud in English for free with the click of a mouse was something they could only dream of.

But now that dream is becoming a reality.

Earlier this month, Sefaria, a nonprofit organization devoted to Jewish text learning, announced it had uploaded 22 tractates of the renowned Steinsaltz English-language edition of the Babylonian Talmud and will post the remainder as they are translated and annotated.

The Hebrew version of the Talmud will begin going online by the end of the year at Sefaria.org.

Advertisement

The Talmud, considered the canon of Jewish law, is central to rabbinic Judaism but has mostly been the purview of rabbis and scholars, in part because it is written in Aramaic, and in part because it encompasses multiple volumes.

Ninety percent of the worlds Jews speak Hebrew and English, said Daniel Septimus, Sefarias executive director. The Talmud is in Aramaic. From an accessibility point of view, its a game changer.

Although there are other online Talmud editions, they are not in English or cost hundreds of dollars to access. Sefarias edition has a Creative Commons noncommercial license, meaning anyone can use it as part of the public domain for noncommercial purposes.

Known as the William Davidson Talmud, the new online edition offers parallel translations linked to major commentaries, biblical citations, midrash (ancient rabbinic literature) and halakhah (Jewish law and jurisprudence).

The project is funded by the William Davidson Foundation in cooperation with its publishers, Milta and Koren Publishers Jerusalem.

Septimus said the project, which required the efforts of 15 engineers and countless scholars and translators, has been a labor of love.

For the Jewish people, our texts are our collective inheritance, he said. They belong to everyone and Sefaria wants them to be available to everyone.

Michele Chabin is RNS Jerusalem correspondent.

Continue reading here:
Nonprofit offers Jewish texts in English online for free - The Oakland Press

Category: Talmud | Comments Off on Nonprofit offers Jewish texts in English online for free – The Oakland Press
Tags:

Posted By richards on March 8, 2017

Literary criticAdam Kirschis readinga page of Talmuda day, along with Jews around the world.

In last weeks column, we saw that Chapter Three of Tractate Bava Batra deals with disputes over real estate. The Talmud lays down a rule that anyone who works a plot of land continuously for three years is presumed to be its legal owner. But what happens in a case where two people claim to be the owner of the same piece of land, and neither of them can bring legal proof that he has worked it for three years? That is the situation the Gemara addresses in Bava Batra 34b, which Daf Yomi readers studied this week. In such a dispute, each party bases his claim to ownership on inheritance: This one says: It belonged to my ancestors and that one says: It belonged to my ancestors. How can the court decide between them, if neither one has documentary proof or witnesses?

The principle in such cases, the Gemara explains, was established in an analogous dispute over the ownership of a boat. In that case, the rule was that the court takes no action at all: We do not seize property in a case where ownership is uncertain, and where it was seized, we do not release it. Then how does the dispute get resolved? The Talmud answers with an ambiguous formula: Whoever is stronger prevails. In other words, the parties fight it out, and whoever manages to seize the property keeps it. This is a troubling saying, because it seems to represent an abdication of the whole responsibility of the judges. If the stronger party prevails, then might makes right, and there is no reason to have laws or judges in the first place.

The Koren Talmud explains, in its notes, that commentators have disagreed over just what whoever is stronger prevails is supposed to mean. Is it a legal principle, meaning that whoever physically wins control of a piece of property is its rightful owner? If this were the case, then the rabbis would seem to envision the parties in the dispute fighting once and for all. Whoever won the boat, or the land, in the initial fight would thereupon become its legal owner. The rival claimant could not then return latersay, with a group of strong friendsand wrest the boat back, because that would constitute stealing.

Other interpreters of the Talmud, however, have opined that whoever is stronger prevails is not a legal dictum, but simply a pragmatic observation. When judges cant honestly decide between two claims, because no evidence is available, then in practice the stronger party will take hold of the property. But this does not mean that he has legal title to it; and if the rival claimant manages to seize it back at some later date, so be it. If whoever is stronger prevails means no more than this, then the two parties have a strong inducement to settle the case to avoid a perpetual feud that would effectively deprive both of them of secure ownership.

Indeed, a little later on, in Bava Batra 35b, the Gemara asks what happens if two parties are fighting over the same piece of property, and the court rules that whoever is stronger prevails, and then a third party comes and takes it away from both claimants. Does this qualify as a theft? The answer appears to be no, since a robber of the public is not called a robber. In other words, it is impossible to steal a boat that doesnt belong to anyone. Since neither of the initial claimants could prove ownership, neither has the right to demand the return of the boat if it is taken. This seems to let the third party off the hook a little too easily, and Rav Ashi adds a qualification: Actually, he is called a robber, and the property he steals should be taken back from him by the court. But there is still an ambiguity,because the robber would ordinarily have to make atonement to the person he stole from, and in this case he cant know who deserves reparations.

If the principle of whoever is stronger prevails leaves both claimants in a legal limbo, why doesnt the court simply force the parties to settle? After all, the Gemara observes, that is the procedure followed in similar situations. In what way is this case different, the rabbis ask, from the case where two people produce two deeds of sale that are issued on one day? If two parties each have a deed bearing the same date, then the original owner must have fraudulently sold the property twice. In that case, the law holds that the parties divide the property (according to Rav), or else that the judges divide it at their discretion (according to Shmuel). Why not do the same in a case where neither party has any deed to show?

However, the Gemara rejects the analogy. In a case where both parties have a deed bearing the same date, it will not be possible for the court to clarify the matter. Because the deeds cancel one another out, no further information could ever be found to make the decision easier. (Even if a witness emerged saying that one deed was written a few hours earlier in the day, it might not make a difference, since according to some authorities the date is what governs the contract, not the time.) So the court might as well enforce a judgment based on its present knowledge.

But in a case where neither party can show a deed of sale, it is theoretically possible that at some time in the future, a document or a witness will emerge to prove one claim and refute the other. To make a judgment now, based on inadequate information, might mean committing an injustice. Better for the court to do nothing, the Talmud suggests, then to put an unjust decision on the record.

***

Adam Kirsch embarked on theDaf Yomicycle of daily Talmud study inAugust2012. To catch up on Tablets complete archive ofmore than four years ofcolumns,click here.

Adam Kirsch is the director of the MA program in Jewish Studies at Columbia University and the author, most recently, of The People and the Books: 18 Classics of Jewish Literature.

Read the rest here:
Adam Kirsch - Tablet Magazine

Category: Talmud | Comments Off on Adam Kirsch – Tablet Magazine
Tags:

Posted By richards on March 8, 2017

Like any other Friday, Moshe Elbilia attended synagogue with his wife and kids, leaving his car parked there overnight, intending to pick it up once the Sabbath ended on Saturday evening.

But last month, Elbilia and at least seven other people returned to find each of their cars with the drivers side window smashed.

Its not something you expect to see, Elbilia said. Its not something pleasant.

The Broward Sheriffs Office on Tuesday announced two arrests in connection with the Feb. 3 car burglaries at 2615 Stirling Road, near Eliyahu Hanavi Beit Midrash synagogue in Dania Beach.

Jamal Meyers, 29, of Davie and Deneisha Bruce, 23, of Dania Beach, are facing charges related to the car burglaries and credit card fraud.

Investigators say someone, later identified as Meyers, broke into the cars that had been left parked overnight by members of the synagogue.

Elbilia said that during the Sabbath, he and other members walk home from the synagogue and pick up their cars the next day.

As a religious person, you dont drive on the Sabbath, Elbilia said. We [also] dont use cellphones [during the Sabbath], so we had to wait until Saturday night to call police.

Each car had been rummaged through, but only three had items missing, according to an incident report. Some of the items stolen were driver licenses, credit cards and GPS systems.

During the investigation, detectives discovered that Meyers used one of the victims credit cards at the Chevron gas station about an hour after the car burglaries.

On that same night, Bruce gave her name and address when she ordered $100 worth of food from a Pizza Hut using one of the stolen credit cards and had it delivered to her house, according to her arrest report.

The next morning, Bruce also tried to buy more than $500 worth of items from a Walmart with another one of the stolen cards. She was caught on surveillance video inside the Walmart, her arrest report said.

During the investigation, someone related to Meyers identified him to authorities, according to his arrest report.

After the two arrests, Investigators were able to return the stolen items back to their rightful owners, the sheriffs office said.

Bruce was released Saturday on a $3,100 bond, the sheriffs office said. Meyers is being held on a $7,400 bond at the Broward Main Jail.

rpiccardo@sun-sentinel.com, 954-356-4544 or Twitter @rebecapiccardo

Original post:
Two arrested in car burglaries outside Dania beach synagogue - Sun Sentinel

Category: Synagogue | Comments Off on Two arrested in car burglaries outside Dania beach synagogue – Sun Sentinel
Tags:

Posted By richards on March 8, 2017

The telephone woke me at 5:00 a.m. It was the police - never a good omen. But this wasnt about family or property, it was my synagogue.

Graffiti, the cop told me. In black spray paint. All along the outside wall. You better get down here, Rabbi.

I put on my glasses, sat up in bed, blinked away the fog. He called me rabbi, but that wasnt yet true. It was my senior year at JTS, twenty-seven years ago, and I was serving as student rabbi to a small congregation in northern New Jersey. Ill be right there, I said. But what kind of graffiti?

He cleared his throat, paused. Nazi stuff. Swastikas. A little more than that. Youll see when you get here.

It was more than that. The sentence Death to the Jews in three-foot letters had been scrawled twice along the white stucco wall facing the street. Smaller swastikas, maybe a dozen, floated among the letters, like ghastly decorations. And above the display: four pairs of twin lightning bolts a symbol that at the time I didnt recognize.

Shutzstaffel, the president of the congregation said, looking up. Dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt, he was waiting for me in front of the building. The police had woken him up also. The symbol of the SS. My father told me. I nodded. His father had served in World War II. A young policeman walked over. Probably adults, not kids, he told us. Most teenagers dont know about the twin lightning symbol. Handwriting looks adult, and you can see yourself the perpetrator had to be at least 6 feet tall. We stared, speechless. Adults? I was thinking demons. The cop shrugged. Probably skinheads. Weve got a few in the area. Well check it out. You might want to make some calls. He walked away, leaving his card.

Thats a good idea, the president told me. Lets make the calls.

I was still in shock, not fully awake. I felt hopelessly young, out of my depth. Call who? The ADL, I thought? JDL? FBI? My mom?

Congregants, he said. Right now, before minyan.

I nodded. Four of the ten early minyan regulars were Holocaust survivors. One had the famous tattoo on his arm; it was the first thing he showed when we met. I needed to call him first. The president had another idea. And call the local churches. Let them know what happened. In our town.

That turned out to be the most interesting, inspiring, disturbing and ultimately consequential experience of the whole ordeal. I took out the yellow pages (pre-Internet days), and called every local priest and minister. The responses ranged from outrage to tears to loving sympathy to indifference and irritation (Why would you call me? one guy asked. Did you think I did it?).

One minister took charge. Ill be over there in an hour, he said. Ill bring some kids, other volunteers. And white paint. Well take care of this. This is our town.

But I wasnt ready for them to paint over the wall so quickly. I tried to stop him, but hed hung up. So I grabbed my camera and ran back to the synagogue. I wanted to document the outrage. But the press beat me to it. Photographers from the New York and New Jersey newspapers crowded the lawn in front of the wall, along with two film crews. Wed be on the front pages the next day.

Within an hour church volunteers, mostly teenage boys, arrived with buckets, brushes, ladders, soap and white paint. By this time, word had spread and dozens of my congregants from the small community arrived. We watched as the non-Jews erased the nightmare. I felt a strange ambivalence seeing the ugly black letters fade to white. Theres something too easy, I thought, about painting it over, cleaning up the mess, starting again with a whiter wall. I should have made them wait a day, I thought. Let the town see it.

But there was a deeper misgiving, one I couldnt fully articulate back then. As I think about the incident now, I have an understanding of the reservations some Jews have expressed about Muslims raising money for desecrated Jewish cemeteries. Its not just the politics of Jew vs. Muslim. Its the feeling not helpful, but natural that when your community is under attack, you close ranks the sense that, given our history, our wounds, you cant trust outsiders, that, wrongly, unfairly, but inevitably, you see the vague outlines of perpetrator in every non-Jew.

The skinheads (it turned out to be skinheads) vandalized the synagogue on Thursday night. The next evening, erev Shabbat, the synagogue was full. After services, we sang Kol Haolam Kulo - the whole world is a narrow bridge, but the key is not to be afraid. I joked with the president that we should spray-paint the synagogue every Friday look what its done for our numbers! Indeed, the following week, we were back to our small group of regulars.

And the incident faded from my memory. Until very recently I never thought of it as a particularly important moment in my career. I was busy, ambitious, and on the move. Id just gotten married and was eager to build a life, a career beyond this small New Jersey synagogue. And I was convinced that the main challenge facing American Jews wasnt painting over swastikas, it was getting more Jews to care. That Friday night, Id chanted the main thing is not to be afraid, but the fact is I wasnt afraid. At least, I dont think I was.

Now Im not so sure. Im replaying the memory, and some of the old, spooky feelings are leaking through. Suspicion. Fear. And a sense that the world really is very narrow bridge.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Forward.

The Forward's independent journalism depends on donations from readers like you.

Original post:
27 Years Ago, My Synagogue Was Vandalized By Skinheads Here's What I've Learned Since Then. - Forward

Category: Synagogue | Comments Off on 27 Years Ago, My Synagogue Was Vandalized By Skinheads Here's What I've Learned Since Then. – Forward
Tags:

Posted By richards on March 8, 2017

Yys?30LdHQl&ulv:x4 Iyuw )JVX].=6|v..?st P{a 5SG;BNBn,b!Wr4NL;,!Ih&&5>GQcN~C1dNO%`?AA(@ J!GH(_a4G:DtJf8Lr%]FzF0px@nN[E4L4nju,vEL`}n$@hVg 0I/N>M&$=fv0n2jLO=I[:ewk#T[][q'yQi8FGvHctzhQnQ-B:ix 'RwbPp^ M9P 8nRgNRG& fa]Sr1UoAGk#mn=`m#m wc%@)wR2#K18R&'qj:[J4(MD2aXMr'Sr/|H2I7&TslVZ^%rNXHI->fc2` 3Jtr ~)KTE0QW`PnH7J6 6D6Z67d.8e4^eAEO oMOT{$U+NTzBxmV&.dB8Zv`pMyH F,!6DR9i2XGt;]w W$3blqG1%fv'j n]%;2R o/+z0&D$1!nc2XbmPB|?]O`X67<)?g?jYytE2`Xuj_^ki uo s<:::?E/~BIT.1QdV2qe6qBL**5 .#e+Gg~&-VNbQ 1:9J`$$71~uAccxgsCllq;=2+{DPkwjh 0BWm nlcl <<00(Y[zb5=[M1C"D!}s*K8?@|3C|>CxP&NxT2W)5 _+pCmw1"w{=i?D,;CZ)iYX>v5PeZ(tv'c;u[4fOM0@%_7/-d*%nCN7!t#D1t)GIC,!}=':"jKW6 Bf'_Viu/taQ=Fhc"UVvOfIwFi("3l 9 @ o3bqDFPJE=:y,c,D)0tgV/&N?N.>k{+y!s,Iv_Bzkndj?/=}IuYn8?OW5&6@~N{@DjeGIs^^^>e'pE#Qg2(%'9ml(7^3};JYcdJa258Nc$JcKWl)0vR]5)&vuRS-N^k-[m,J.{>zZ>_]8,J+K9v4RBL=Vc`D*6#r jAF.p*ghmsV MIJ7Qri%E8 ^)Z[_V?;_jSrQET%t!/4uNCMK4]1a !.Lp*V+Af1lafae{x]Mz]P'4$9"5^3 2B|EO$(DWAy&X#hjyaP(:h&.c/6x~/43z| OoaJy[~d,=9ps{0eNp4:]_XYmS_!kOB,{CL'f$$n/ea+#L{dy#02Hust{ZFJRPLjG|1"r[vClsNl5v{_cXaf}[=d,R3e]M, _12AN?b]=.mufS%7NmYyJ`z[.sWvfs.#lh;KDe!%V8,~i7{;~]~a]ma5.c-[h6bsGvJwr%"BZ#G*&*6g)iWnS;ruqlVp].UtL.0g{^JOg^ 4#[-/-wtH;(I#R70,*1Sq{{?m7'hr'pUB[-uWDH,C9:8(0NPi1mS0kH!V$> GXGW} .D}` ~t+Q+Bu^p;.S,$i2e_ U[i-#C^U;|bRvk+816X@M{ |W8:RNT3NC 5CbK#mTT>L!6uU@4jRM"t>o .DI?CbYn<@(C2T 8=<=&X7nszzG?i''n-9s #'{ Q$hnFB5} oIIu5/Dc:yVa%qIlo{1J@^L@=k{`c,DrBJJ[azk[>[}hAgbpcPN#XD# C=ed*K$<&aXuL,nDRN^&+OSZ8@]eJqV/1]jaC:m]%4zjT@@h1Cf^i"+0 2K{Je:Xm;h@E2: 5b6C=82-~`~2hBAl2AL jX64c_Myh3HX<3x8!Rp<1:Ms5Jr-8!A4 .J2z`0ZiA;98*MW[ Z&v<:~ gPCatFrz+#lF9& Kng3)"*De2y2]}1&4`= 2A#zzc4%N_sK6t:qe^C=Sp|{~ J[S2pg=>&Fb/q[U )w6/pxtE`0CkO#-U1[H?lIiz|.1 (h]*>AL V*Iy.4#@!JZz{DTr6PJ=2n5>PenUme>~[x(wlOYl QBU:0)]oDPKvrt'Y= 5&%mz^jlwh;2*!!"o-LSOy(&J]C927 eum|BR Er_b@rc2*]Qu/t}^KUb"M Ht^cSn,.&Vt+ob@)&rB=^C2G/5e$tMf{Q)7e0r|UqDVG0~Mm'CU/VD".;s*. yV 3L/n7HVXO/*_u%?UNp-CP8f.*Wz7(v*q; C=w`R^RGAwoUkY]~[[`G#hdM^41JCk) }9?IfUkH!/y=>#4$M{VD.VHy&=t)7h}yaO{/eV.?f1I,1Nd&toSJ{=OO/&FJJZ,)k(/<:_eBO5);inzzFEH{ '3qsn!_k 2YU5Vt7Z#>8"yj&l4,bJ~^K2,o2VnY33m6Mijn:BhD`v`ZDatz:|hh`'oikpyh?n! j5Mm,tMzFmY:=2YO{{=i_Z"5}&37kS38N^j-u4%)x/LY(F[H5oTHDx7X*}t7_ o /e2QbBqF8"vD@.v4>H1/[a~./5K>I1vmjdHb->(c&@&e*)d^`wX7C:Nir[9>ONNGUxR$tqK/Nt46r#,x!s%97&l~+"g3};ho 79tF>SrAskV4 bYpJ Z__JS#:bAlk2+je_0yMl(J$9 +d>MK {9(tvknm2_7,sX'nD82@x{C8@@jf.FO9|y[~InmO+@h(gzQ(KT;ikm=n yHEmC!oU{ ^U{ QCzpAR d{U fIcSZTAI?[?2HiH"zqlnYTuG5-H; NV(ESYY erJ[G-#UG#;gG! L%lik |>o#2VT>}t2s 9 Vs78E)2e7;gaN*nd7hFt()1pt]"NhW)*a:TAEgW6/KC59#Y"B-8]C@?G8`c.M{'^(<_<}3Dzf(K=A' _G.Lh@| 4"M0KS2yMK`L kegbz6O/`Q^D_EZ^Knr)6Fml6FF4SJV0x1phnFcVuD0AxE J~cLEq+d K:!&%[YR">XULdIhAxmi riS'DX"B4.GN'YR}q&M$&-2x>S:NJSap_>E[-(W CBm:w8ryp1Kgz&J%RZ$_]M`!P_hzz< `psB9wng_SIMt<93 j983IJ820;dj7F d"zmu%&k2V6 Sl, )Ol+LPh2Rw= [)L|H#*w=9"L"v?x7TTpVSNfQVWleBx7S?E-l+C>fp-I? a{0'6wutwY69x3x"]|g2EizmElih1QF&c5vToqxd7_,e(jzo&YPA)&%@} phd6 g)t|eN"zUNXj'5^a"Ty{^@=9g!o2)pzgf+(u[u%tU"w*w(mw)sxsk z [u[`I:IYWR&k|tcY]2kbXV=TS+/V4n-0aMy$a:k[{Yr`l]+ -D Gwvqbie'$uzeD !m_"_@/ZD0q$w":B8sXK8UGo`YDj 5|9 +Uz?Ze}_FYHQI04=%aBjUb`x|v095T,}2Oa>}'[PlqXE]~w=(m8-Hc8 6 +(WeB4#//FS|Til{29Aql VtLwsF,d3 Gvd{L$vDP/i2eslEY0 ^<,j63|vV5_uek}J=4s_E`'r=[{T},' F)?4j)>6-Um5ci>vStH0z%M+aUL8J'e"`(b`RtbPF52r1GK]aJzX D6,}OYS%nLsCh[w=p?9qs]Cms8{X5N2:66}Eb 9u3_GX0FsrA"j:KSoXh"dRyzXcqcbFo!$tisiPZcZy2Oy'37=8[W$D>:"g*W)y^siC73] h)@y>Q1}X`o-yO)P6`aW(3zBT,U!$ ed ;,.Jr7"UmeI5De6$&a;PAq| J(R5/)Q4+=Y #eVhC'JUR{{R}t}Fj!)lW$[m"] + S[^KuGAgv52@!RBrrT5;4 a 6[ |;@Z8C|`?[.5uff65Z`4^)yHP*{mh^`q9):ZX(0a09pJLOY6cp2m /U ;3Hldr}]:(LNDtk~BUre 4S2Mw4:I],}WM9y;VR@ K xw"D'gVJTEm %w$z< 9/`y/]7Fk2s4c{{/__Gx>: 6H#L?L; uZ0-[?A;yex6Uur] H-@<4Yd7MB7HPuwh;~Sj=*0%D~$E#82^^M(TT&[6`);Z9;Z>#sKzkvAZmJ~I7o|x) & ;+a )=8tQ!C#j#Y/f)5n*eqQ& t6<$?=VUJ?@yVR[[-!$5%rN`+CO 9qO Oq-ENC=bC1'7=*Q%C,Em;{HzupXzqt=suwhHxglW4YsHW6B6Tw-IdimV;^zF/@$TmLOOO?~%,baiL$l#2$k>=6^?R!9=Q2D'rDJ_lvwYazWxkq,0W:3+1a0X0]G2~ |~t3^;cT=IisG.w9/&hm/_6gRuhZqfO5,CAS7_~E_E*a( weo__&=|D[Li?fWxXvh(25V#@ jzhzfB+@q4O?LGA~&{-IlVG]Mc&J}&8oC~b[YI(t3Db6amc3*? #P nVb CXElk0&=[:bjU-FG^eY,2!mJHbmRTt(_A%itO>tHk=pX<e&*|nn[,M*3m0e 0U)%>`)Ke5NgL@S.AnEv.:*#ZozJxsd%^=?sY$a+xS~TVR2--MVz`*[DYt ~a~q;RV ;hI@u_]w>CS.Hb$=WLb0.5ru0vgpZ8$'94@WHK^~FEvXnJwg KYw$m##i.'X[~mvsF`ZNmo5Y [Vc[sJ|_C|h.aVqyMR]=ZQ]VY#pZXY0Ecjt:/`wg9-#Um1wAN? H#N'++,Akh_kZRRhl-mL?d[7|SIA4=>V.3NXms+41Kx4~y2P BVE%%/Mf,mg}(dk:2SE2/KE)%iQ_5~zg]u^jroLha=E&sg?|P#;?a ?hJ]% o*Uz@A9b!=u'*WJzNT#]7-nBxGpUwK.[V&Oi`q2gsnBxmyR-29,AK[D9]6D%,]o8'g?(a,+2i-Xqf y[> 3"2@H^D4)V8WGjhENR&Rwb- t$z &wJ?>37(GJ*cU3UQ3f?JMFs8BLslGEZz%Ao)r(_9sP;R9T;4>u'JsU54pCDF&nC;t&Je] ;Sr3^J>HYo]+2rY36:V8Gy>wWV(<_f#KXVy gPYLc( .tu{*X[*qN[ /|Yp>M1wBa+} Jxod N;SBRe21L9A_Oqx=i`*+cezREc9p G<$+6Aklk&>3UuVT$IE~Dk}JB4M!y.[|y ,FDnz[>u#})T`l*CHDW@z<|l,'*^HUD<$ l'kRB'5IOs8<'DS|sCMG r.}{ 5dgKT/=BZ^*w(o99s5#m5#9&!~~qtn?K&.^*Q{&4KlD|Og7(86=EUE>CSzGr#>i37Y|,>K3@Qbq^d77CAe$'0? 7=^~X?]_Ud={T ;OImpsK'g >gQ=:F>BhX~>9}9x:CO~r"?tfhXvo./hX-knj-=3:Q!*{nt{;6U*Be7.*]fZgW'P4pOi n2'q?(8%0>IF 93h b~n!nZ5w(Xl9-[)PJnnLfhEk ^J@qCqm'CWf;v3n_E/|WM:<):I'qL? ^NL;1.L4] t,n|g,9Fg`|DA3S$*d5jvWh8pd"r<";s+]jq#ZFvt)D =XRcf _H.z B/n/g[yrBJW]!.:^KQ ] ~bGjQ03mE}x_h55g/"U@I5)5$@/XKlKiYkM)Sn7SooA#H==[qC-Q2Kw(k o#<%$L *TlK/|qK9[wt;"M?/yP}`n &8a4ROW^/`4F_! n2*9ofx3e?r-f?$LKLxXsa

Read more:
Man steals money from Queens synagogue charity box - New York Daily News

Category: Synagogue | Comments Off on Man steals money from Queens synagogue charity box – New York Daily News
Tags:

Posted By richards on March 8, 2017

Among the fans, parasols and knick-knacks in the gift shop of the Santa Mara la Blanca museum are bottles of kosher wine and tiles painted with menorahs and magens David.

They are testament to the fact that, despite its name not to mention its incarnations as a church, a barracks and a warehouse the museum began its life in the 12th century as Toledos main synagogue.

Today, the mudjar masterpiece is one of citys most popular tourist attractions, a building whose walls and pillars reflect the interplay of three different cultures: Christian, Jewish and Islamic.

Visitors armed with selfie sticks and headsets mill between its white horseshoe arches, peering down at the tiled floor or up at the cherubs and christograms that sit alongside the geometric patterns.

Although Santa Mara la Blanca has not been a synagogue since it was seized and turned into a church at the beginning of the 15th century, some feel the time has come for it to be returned to the Jewish community.

Isaac Querub, the president of Spains Federation of Jewish Communities, is calling on the archbishop of Toledo to demonstrate the churchs commitment to interfaith relations through the symbolic gesture of handing back the building.

More than five centuries after Ferdinand and Isabella ordered Spains Jews to convert or leave the country and 42 years after Pope Paul VI repudiated antisemitism and called for mutual understanding and respect between Roman Catholics and Jews Querub claims the Spanish church is lagging behind society when it comes to atoning for the mistakes of the past.

The winds of Rome have blown very weakly in Spain, he said. The gestures of John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Pope Francis seem to be reaching Spain very late or not at all.

He pointed to the Spanish governments recent decision to introduce a law offering citizenship to the descendants of Sephardic Jews expelled in 1492, arguing that Spain had taken giant steps towards dealing with the sins of its past.

But he said: Why wont the Catholic church in Spain do the same? When someone sincerely recognises that theyve made an error and tries to fix an injustice, they become a better person. Its the same thing: Spain is a better place and its society has made progress. No political party opposed the law. Frankly, it was just extremely positive. The same thing needs to happen with the church: there needs to be Judeo-Christian dialogue.

Its not about starting a war we want to deepen the Judeo-Christian dialogue

Querub says he wrote to the archbishop of Toledo, Braulio Rodrguez Plaza, last year to request a meeting on the issue but is still awaiting an answer.

And the archdiocese of Toledo shows few signs of contemplating any return of the building. In a three-page statement, it said the churchs ownership of the now-deconsecrated building was perfectly clear and that the government had restored Santa Mara la Blanca to the care of the archdiocese through a local parish in 1929.

It said that the archbishop had met Querub twice most recently in November last year adding: They agreed to meet again after Christmas, but neither Mr Querub nor anyone acting on his behalf has asked in writing for an official meeting, which is why the archbishop has been unable to respond to his request.

The statement also pointed out that the proceeds from the museum went on the upkeep of other buildings in the archdiocese and that the archbishop had spent almost 800,000 (685,000) on conserving the building since 2013.

It concluded with a reminder that the nearby Sinagoga del Trnsito belonged to the government, rather then the church.

The archbishop of Madrid, Cardinal Carlos Osoro Sierra, recently struck a more conciliatory note and emphasised the need for dialogue. Gestures that bring us together and help us all are good, he told El Pas. Of course I think theyre good. Santa Mara la Blanca needs to be a meeting place.

However, a spokesman for the archdiocese of Madrid told the Guardian that the cardinal had been talking in general terms and had not offered an opinion on whether the building ought to be handed back.

Spains Jewish population numbers fewer than 100,000, most of whom live in Madrid, Barcelona and Mlaga. There was, Querub said, no Jewish community in Toledo today but that was not the point; the federation was not looking to reclaim Santa Mara la Blanca as a place of worship but to use it as museum that finally acknowledges its roots and uses its original name.

Its not about starting a war we want to deepen the Judeo-Christian dialogue, he said. We want to see action and better education: we want to see the Catholic churchs teaching centres doing more to explain what happened 2,000 years ago and teaching people about the Jewish people and the link between them and the land of Israel.

Querub pointed to the centuries of blood libel, propaganda and the antisemitic slurs that continue to exist in the Spanish language.

People still use the word judiada [to describe acts of cruelty or extortion] and in Len [during Holy Week] they talk about killing some Jews when they mean having a few drinks.

He believes the return of Santa Mara la Blanca would be a landmark event that would demonstrate the churchs commitment to drawing a line under the past.

But were not the ones who should be telling the Catholic church what it needs to do, how it needs to do it or when it needs to do it. Wed just like this symbolic gesture.

Original post:
'We want action': call to return former Toledo synagogue to Jewish community - The Guardian

Category: Synagogue | Comments Off on 'We want action': call to return former Toledo synagogue to Jewish community – The Guardian
Tags:

Posted By richards on March 8, 2017

Flatbush Jewish Center. (Photo by Carly Miller)

Inspired by a growing number of New York synagogues showcasing musical performances, guitarist and composer Yoshie Fruchterlaunched Church Avenue Sessions, a monthly series of concerts at Kensingtons Flatbush Jewish Center.

The debut performance on Thursday features two fun and magnetic bands from the neighborhood: Jazzy Klezmer bandWho Is Manny Blanc and the costumed ragtime quartet Xylopholks.

Many sanctuaries were also designed with acoustics in mind, to optimize the quality of sound of the prayer leaders voice, Fruchter said. I truly believe that there is a spiritual depth to places of worship a serenity that provides a performer with an ideal space for creation.

Fruchters been an eclectic musician since he released his first solo album in 2008. His latest project, Cantorial Recordings Reimagined, features his arrangements of Jewish worship music performed by Schizophonia, a progressive rock quintet. Although hes best known in the jazz world, Fruchters records freely quote elements of punk, surf rock, klezmer music, and heavy metal.

That wide-open approach to music is shared by one of the bands Fruchter tapped for the initial performance of the Church Avenue Sessions. Matt Darriau, clarinetist for the Grammy-winning Klezmatics, created the group, which is named for the musical question in seeks to answer: Who Is Manny Blanc?

Manny Blanc was a Brooklyn musician just barely remembered for the 1961 album Jewish Jazz. One of the earliest attempts to play klezmer music in a jazz and rock context, the record has been all but forgotten good luck finding it on Spotify. On a mission to bring the music to a wider audience, Darriau recruited Fruchter and other musicians to play Blancs idiosyncratic compositions for a contemporary audience.

The Xylopholks, who fill out the bill at Thursdays show, reach even further back for musical inspiration. Performing ragtime music with dynamic ensembles built around xylophones, the group dons furry animal costumes in case the novelty factor of their shows werent already off the charts.

Jon Singer, who leads the Xylopholks, is a true virtuoso in every sense of the word, and also one of the funniest and most engaging performers that I know, said Fruchter.

Though the bands selected for the opening concert are diverse musically, Fruchter noted they have a couple of important things in common. I wanted to have music that I thought would be fun for your 10-year-old, your hipster cousin, and your grandpa, he said.

Between Who is Manny Blanc and the Xylopholks, we have a pretty eclectic palette of sounds and magnetic energy that I think will appeal to a large range of audience types.

The Kensington connection was another factor in Fruchters choice. With this series, I also really want to focus on musicians in the neighborhood, the guitarist said. One of the reasons we moved to Kensington from Prospect Heights a couple of years ago is because of the great and diverse musical community here.

Fruchter plans to showcase local performers as he curates the monthly shows in the series. Every month will be something completely different and amazing, he promised.

The debut concert in the Church Avenue Sessions is scheduled for Thursday, March 9 at 7:30pm at the Flatbush Jewish Center, located at 327 East 5th Street at Church Avenue. Tickets are $15 and are available at the door.

Advertisement

Continue reading here:
New Kensington Synagogue Music Series Debuts Thursday - BKLYNER

Category: Synagogue | Comments Off on New Kensington Synagogue Music Series Debuts Thursday – BKLYNER
Tags:

Posted By simmons on March 8, 2017

New York Times

Does Feminism Have Room for Zionists? New York Times Although I hope for a two-state solution and am critical of certain Israeli government policies, I identify as a Zionist because I support Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state. Increasingly, I worry that my support for Israel will bar me from the ... A Day Without a Woman Women's March on WashingtonWomen's March on Washington all 1,024 news articles »

The rest is here:
Does Feminism Have Room for Zionists? - New York Times

Category: Zionism | Comments Off on Does Feminism Have Room for Zionists? – New York Times
Tags: