Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on October 2, 2022

Israel's day of commemoration for the Jews murdered in the Holocaust

"March of the Living" at Auschwitz, 2014

Yom HaZikaron laShoah ve-laG'vurah (Hebrew: , lit.'Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day'), known colloquially in Israel and abroad as Yom HaShoah ( ) and in English as Holocaust Remembrance Day, or Holocaust Day, is observed as Israel's day of commemoration for the approximately six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust by Nazi Germany and its collaborators, and for the Jewish resistance in that period. In Israel, it is a national memorial day. The first official commemorations took place in 1951, and the observance of the day was anchored in a law passed by the Knesset in 1959. It is held on the 27th of Nisan (which falls in April or May), unless the 27th would be adjacent to the Jewish Sabbath, in which case the date is shifted by a day.[2]

The first Holocaust Remembrance Day in Israel took place on December 28, 1949, following a decision of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel that an annual memorial should take place on the Tenth of Tevet, a traditional day of mourning and fasting in the Hebrew calendar. The day was marked by the burial in a Jerusalem cemetery of ashes and bones of thousands of Jews brought from the Flossenbrg concentration camp and religious ceremonies held in honor of the victims. A radio program on the Holocaust was broadcast that evening. The following year, in December 1950, the Rabbinate, organizations of former European Jewish communities and the Israel Defense Forces held memorial ceremonies around the country; they mostly involved funerals, in which objects such as desecrated Torah scrolls and the bones and ashes of the dead brought from Europe were interred.[3]

In 1951, the Knesset began deliberations to choose a date for Holocaust Remembrance Day. On April 12, 1951, after also considering as possibilities the Tenth of Tevet, the 14th of Nisan, which is the day before Passover and the day on which the Warsaw Ghetto uprising (April 19, 1943) began, and September 1, the date on which the Second World War began, the Knesset passed a resolution establishing the 27 Nisan in the Hebrew calendar, a week after Passover, and eight days before Israel Independence Day as the annual Holocaust and Ghetto Uprising Remembrance Day.[3][4][5]

On May 3, 1951, the first officially organized Holocaust Remembrance Day event was held at the Chamber of the Holocaust on Mount Zion; the Israel Postal Service issued a special commemorative envelope; and a bronze statue of Mordechai Anielewicz, the leader of the Warsaw Ghetto revolt, was unveiled at Yad Mordechai, a kibbutz named for him. From the following year, the lighting of six beacons in memory of the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis became a standard feature of the official commemoration of Holocaust Memorial Day.[3]

On April 8, 1959, the Knesset officially established the day when it passed the Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day Law with the purpose of instituting an annual "commemoration of the disaster which the Nazis and their collaborators brought upon the Jewish people and the acts of heroism and revolt performed." The law was signed by the Prime Minister of Israel, David Ben-Gurion, and the President of Israel, Yitzhak Ben-Zvi. It established that the day would be observed by a two-minute silence when all work would come to a halt throughout the country, memorial gatherings and commemorative events in public and educational institutions would be held, flags would be flown at half mast, and programs relevant to the day would be presented on the radio and in places of entertainment. An amendment to the law in 1961 mandated that cafes, restaurants and clubs be closed on the day.[3][6]

The date is set in accordance with the Hebrew calendar, on 27 Nisan, so that it varies in regard to the Gregorian calendar. Observance of the day is moved back to the Thursday before, if 27 Nisan falls on a Friday (as in 2021), or forward a day, if 27 Nisan falls on a Sunday (to avoid adjacency with the Jewish Sabbath, as in 2024). The fixed Jewish calendar ensures 27 Nisan does not fall on Saturday.[2]

Yom HaShoah opens in Israel at sundown[7] in a state ceremony held in Warsaw Ghetto Square at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes Authority, in Jerusalem. During the ceremony the national flag is lowered to half mast, the President and the Prime Minister both deliver speeches, Holocaust survivors light six torches symbolizing the approximately six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust and the Chief Rabbis recite prayers.[8]

On Yom HaShoah, ceremonies and services are held at schools, military bases and by other public and community organizations.[9]

On the eve of Yom HaShoah and the day itself, places of public entertainment are closed by law. Israeli television airs Holocaust documentaries and Holocaust-related talk shows, and low-key songs are played on the radio. Flags on public buildings are flown at half mast. At 10:00, an air raid siren sounds throughout the country and Israelis are expected to observe two minutes[10] of solemn reflection. Almost everyone stops what they are doing, including motorists who stop their cars in the middle of the road, standing beside their vehicles in silence as the siren is sounded.[11]

Sirens blare at 10:00 as motorists exit their cars and stand in silence in front of the Prime Minister's House in Jerusalem and throughout Israel on Yom HaShoah.

Video: Two minutes in silence in Tel Aviv

Jewish communities and individuals throughout the world commemorate Yom HaShoah in synagogues as well as in the broader Jewish community. Many hold their commemorative ceremonies on the closest Sunday to Yom HaShoah as a more practical day for people to attend, while some mark the day on April 19, the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. Jewish schools also hold Holocaust-related educational programs on or near Yom HaShoah.[12][13]

Commemorations typically include memorial services and communal vigils and educational programs. These programs often include talks by Holocaust survivors (although this is becoming less common as time passes and there are fewer survivors who remain alive), candle-lighting ceremonies, the recitation of memorial prayers, the Mourner's Kaddish and appropriate songs and readings. Some communities read the names of Holocaust victims or show Holocaust-themed films.[13]

Since 1988 in Poland, a memorial service has been held after a three-kilometer walk by thousands of participants from Auschwitz to Birkenau in what has become known as "The March of the Living".[14][15]

In the last few decades all the prayerbooks of Conservative[16] and Reform Judaism[17] have developed similar liturgies to be used on Yom HaShoah. The siddurim of these groups add passages that are meant to be added to standard weekday service, as well as stand-alone sections. These liturgies generally include:

In response to the lack of liturgy dedicated to Yom HaShoah, Daniel Gross composed, in 2009, I Believe: A Shoah Requiem, a complete musical liturgy dedicated to the observance of Yom HaShoah. An a cappella oratorio scored for cantor, soprano solo, adult chorus and children's chorus, I Believe features several traditional prayer texts such as the Mourner's Kaddish (Kaddish Yatom) and the El Malei memorial prayer, and also includes the poetry of Paul Celan and Primo Levi. On April 7, 2013, I Believe had its world premiere[18] presentation at Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit, Michigan.

While there are Orthodox Jews who commemorate the Holocaust on Yom HaShoah, others in the Orthodox community, especially Haredim, including Hasidim, remember the victims of the Holocaust in their daily prayers and on traditional days of mourning that were already in place before the Holocaust, such as Tisha B'Av in the summer, and the Tenth of Tevet in the winter, because in the Jewish tradition the month of Nisan is considered a joyous month associated with Passover and messianic redemption. The moment of silence is by some purposely ignored because of the non-Jewish origins of this sort of memorial.[19] Some ultra-Orthodox rabbis recommend adding piyyutim (religious poems) about the Holocaust to the liturgy of Tisha BAv; some adherents follow this advice.[20][21]

In 1981, members of the Federation of Jewish Men's Clubs FJMC, a branch of the mainstream Conservative/Masorti movement, created a special memorial project specifically for Yom HaShoah. A dedicated yahrzeit candle was conceived, with yellow wax and a barbed-wire Star of David logo reminiscent of the armbands Jews were forced to wear during the Holocaust. This object has come to be known as the Yellow Candle (TM). Approximately 200,000 candles are distributed around the world each year, along with relevant prayers and meditations.[citation needed]

In 1984, Conservative Rabbi David Golinkin wrote an article in Conservative Judaism journal suggesting a program of observance for the holiday, including fasting. In his article he noted that while private fasts are indeed prohibited during the month of Nisan (a major Orthodox objection to the placement of the day), communal fasts for tragedies befalling Jewish communities had indeed been declared throughout the pre-Modern period.[citation needed]

Another prominent Conservative Jewish figure shared the Orthodox sentiment about not adopting Yom HaShoah. Ismar Schorsch, former Chancellor of Conservative Judaism's Jewish Theological Seminary of America held that Holocaust commemoration should take place on Tisha b'Av.[22]

The Masorti (Conservative) movement in Israel has created Megillat HaShoah, a scroll and liturgical reading for Yom HaShoah. This publication was a joint project of Jewish leaders in Israel, the United States and Canada.[citation needed]

In 2011, the FJMC introduced a related Yellow Candle concept for use on Kristallnacht (The Night of Shattered Glass), November 910, commemorating the first organised Nazi pogrom of Jews in 1938, and other important Shoah commemoration dates. Called the Ner Katan, FJMC's new version consists of six Yellow Candles provided for communal observances and ceremonies.[citation needed]

More recently Conservative rabbis and lay leaders in the US, Israel and Canada collaborated to write Megillat Hashoah (The Holocaust Scroll). It contains personal recollections of Holocaust survivors. A responsum was written by Rabbi David Golinkin expressing the view that not only is it legitimate for the modern Jewish community to write a new scroll of mourning, it was also incumbent to do so.[23]

Reform Jewish congregations have tended to commemorate the memory of the Holocaust either on International Holocaust Remembrance Day or on Yom HaShoah. These commemorations of the Holocaust have used a ceremony that is loosely modeled after a Passover Seder. The focus of the seder has changed with time. The earlier Holocaust seders commemorated the losses of the Holocaust through a reenactment events from the Holocaust[24] and through the lighting of sixyahrzeit candles to reflect the approximately 6million Jews murdered.[25] More modern Haggadot for Yom HaShoah, such as Gathering from the Whirlwind,[26][27] have concentrated on renewal,[28] remembrance, and the continuity of Jewish life.

In 1988 the American Reform movement published Six Days of Destruction (Elie Wiesel and Rabbi Albert Friedlander). Narratives from Holocaust survivors are juxtaposed with the six days of creation found in Genesis.[29]

Upcoming dates of observance:[30]

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Yom HaShoah - Wikipedia

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Posted By admin on October 2, 2022

By Catherine E. Shoichet and Nicki Brown, CNN

(CNN) -- Judah Samet survived two unthinkable tragedies: imprisonment in a Nazi concentration camp and the 2018 massacre at Pittsburgh's Tree of Life synagogue. But still he held onto his faith in humanity -- and made a point of sharing what he'd witnessed.

Samet died on Tuesday of complications from stomach cancer, according to his family. He was 84.

"I have the right to believe that the world is a rotten place, but I don't," he said in a 2019 interview with the USC Shoah Foundation, which shared a video of his remarks and praised Samet's "tireless efforts to document the past and secure a better future."

"He went through his life with an unrelenting optimism and just saw the good in everybody and every situation," said his daughter, Elizabeth H. Samet.

Surviving both the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where more than 50,000 people died, and the Tree of Life shooting, where 11 people were gunned down in the deadliest attack on Jews in American history, was a responsibility Samet took seriously.

"I was supposed to be dead at 6 and a half . ... So why did I survive everything? I believe I survived to tell the story to as many people (as possible)," Samet told the Shoah Foundation.

For much of his life, Samet avoided speaking about what had happened to him and his family during the Holocaust.

Because of the concentration camp uniforms he and others were made to wear, he'd forbid his daughter from wearing stripes. And growing up, when she'd ask for more details, he changed the subject.

"He'd say, 'Why should we talk about such unpleasant things?'" Elizabeth H. Samet recalled.

But community leaders urged him to speak with the Shoah Foundation in the 1990s as the organization began collecting survivors' stories. The experience transformed him.

"Once he told it, it was like it unlocked some part of his conscious," his daughter said. And from that point forward, he kept speaking out.

Lauren Bairnsfather, director of the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh, said she watched Samet win over rooms full of students and adults alike with his story.

"He really had a way of connecting with people. ... They just loved him. They loved his strength, his strength of character," she said.

Abraham Judah Samet was born in Hungary on February 5, 1938.

When he was 6, Nazis forced Samet and his family from their home.

They were initially put on a train headed to the Auschwitz concentration camp, he told CNN in 2018. But instead they were rerouted to Bergen-Belsen in Northern Germany.

On the train, Samet said he watched a Nazi soldier put a gun to his mother's head.

She'd spoken without being spoken to, Samet recalled, and she could have been executed that day. But her knowledge of the German language saved her.

A commandant intervened, Samet said, because his mother spoke both Hungarian and German and could be used as an interpreter: "He said, 'You idiot, you kill her you will have nobody to talk to them.'"

He credited his mother with helping the family endure 10 months at Bergen-Belsen.

"My mother saved us all," Samet told CNN. "She divided the rock-hard bread, she broke it down into little pieces and she fed us six times a day."

In April 1945, the family was placed on a train out of the camp. They feared they were heading to their execution.

"The train stopped in the middle of a forest. And everybody panicked. They felt this was going to be the place where they're going to come and kill us all," Samet recalled in a 2019 interview for a documentary film project. "And sure enough we heard the rumble of a tank, and then the turret opens, and a soldier popped out, and my father yelled, 'Americans!'"

American soldiers liberated the train's more than 2,000 passengers.

After surviving the Holocaust, Samet was present for the founding of Israel in 1948 and served as a paratrooper and radio man in the Israeli Defense Forces.

He went on to manage a kibbutz, according to a family obituary, "where he developed a profound distaste for socialism and emigrated to the U.S."

In the US, he met and married his wife, the late Barbara Lee Schiffman, after two dates. They were married for 50 years.

Living in Pittsburgh, Samet became a jeweler and a father. He attended the Tree of Life Synagogue for decades, usually arriving early to services.

But Samet arrived four minutes late on the morning a gunman ambushed the congregation on October 27, 2018.

When he got there, Samet could hear bullets flying, he told CNN in an interview after the shooting. He moved into the passenger seat of his car to get a better view of what was going on. And from the parking lot, he saw the gunman shooting.

The family obituary for Samet notes that somehow he escaped unharmed, "unlike 11 of his dear friends."

"It just never ends. It's never completely safe for Jews. It's in the DNA. Not just America's DNA but the world's," Samet told CNN in 2018.

After the shooting, a devastated fellow congregant came to him for help coping with what had happened.

"They said, 'Judah, I don't know what to do.' He said, 'You get dressed and you go out and you move forward.' And he really did do that," Elizabeth H. Samet said.

But even as he moved forward, Samet never forgot what he saw that day. In March, he told The New York Post he hoped to testify at the alleged gunman's trial, adding that he was worried that if the trial continued to be delayed, he might not have the chance.

"If I don't testify, and nobody else testifies, he may walk," Samet told the Post. "Justice delayed is justice denied. The man did a crime and he should pay."

Last week a federal judge set April 24, 2023, as the start of jury selection in the trial.

Bairnsfather, of the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh, told CNN that she'd also heard Samet say how much he wanted to testify in the case.

"I really equate this with how he felt about telling his Holocaust story. He really believed it was important to bear witness," Bairnsfather said. "He really believed in his duty."

Samet made headlines again when he attended President Trump's 2019 State of the Union address one of 13 guests that the White House described at the time as representing "the very best of America."

As part of his remarks, Trump introduced Samet and noted it was his 81st birthday.

Republicans and Democrats alike erupted into a rendition of "Happy Birthday" something Trump quipped they'd never do for him.

The touching moment on a night known for partisan pageantry moved Samet's family, even though many of them didn't agree with the devoted Trump supporter's politics.

"He is the only person in history to have the entire United States Congress sing Happy Birthday publicly and in Unison," nephew Larry Barasch said in a Facebook post. "Judah always had a way of bringing all sides together."

Through all he endured, Samet found strength and took pride in his family.

He told the Shoah Foundation in 2019 that his family members were the reason he didn't think the world was a rotten place, despite everything he'd experienced.

"After my daughter was born, it completely shaped my life. My wife used to say that I was a workaholic. But once my daughter was born, I couldn't wait for 5 o'clock so I could get home. ... It changed a lot of my beliefs," he said.

Resisting hate was one of the core beliefs he espoused in numerous interviews. Asked by CNN's Anderson Cooper in 2018 whether he hated the gunman who'd attacked his temple, Samet responded, "I don't know him."

"Whatever you do, don't hate," Samet told the Shoah Foundation, "because it's going to consume you, too, eventually. .... Just cling to your family. Hug your children. Make sure that they know that they're loved."

The middle name he gave his daughter: Hope.

The-CNN-Wire & 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

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A survivor of the Holocaust and the Tree of Life massacre has died. He never lost hope in humanity - WDJT

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Posted By admin on October 2, 2022

Testimony has always posed challenges for educators: for example, whether to treat it as historical source or personal memory; how testimony transform over time; the trauma-literacy of recipients and the well-being of testimony-givers. Nevertheless, digital technologies introduce further complications, especially concerning access, provenance, ownership, and agency.

As part of the Digital Holocaust Memory: Hyperconnective Archives and Museums of the Future research project, a team led by the University of Sussex and University of Bern have run a series of co-creation workshops focused on six core themes. The aim of these workshops has been to adopt a fast approach to research recognising that we need to be more reactive to changing digital environments. The workshops have been based on a model of global, trans-sector and transdisciplinary participation. The question driving the research has been: what happens when we bring together a wide range of experts and stakeholders (quickly) what can we produce?

In this lecture, Dr Walden will present the initial outcome of the two workshops on the theme digitally recording, recirculating and remixing testimony which brought together scholars, archivists, Holocaust educators, artists and filmmakers from the UK, USA, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Israel, including colleagues who have been involved in the USC Shoah Foundations Dimensions in Testimony project. The presentation will introduce the broader project and its methodology, before focusing on the recommendations designed to support the global Holocaust education, museum, and archive sectors for the future. In the spirit of participation that has informed this project from its beginnings, discussion, debate, ideas, actions, and suggestions for memory activism are deeply encouraged from attendees during the session.

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Dr. Victoria Grace Walden is a Senior Lecturer and Director of Learning Enhancement in the School of Media, Arts and Humanities and Sussex Weidenfeld Institute for Jewish Studies at the University of Sussex, UK. She has published widely on the topics of digital and mediated Holocaust memory, the digital and memorial museums, and media education and digital technologies. She is author of the monograph Cinematic Intermedialities and Contemporary Holocaust Memory (Palgrave Macmillan 2019), editor of Digital Holocaust Memory, Education and Research (Palgrave Macmillan 2021), a recent special edition of Holocaust Studies: A Journal of Culture and History on digital Holocaust memory and education before and after Covid (2021) and the forthcoming open access e-book The Memorial Museum in the Digital Age (2022). She has worked as digital coordinator for the IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance), and has been an academic advisor to the UN/UNESCO, Claims Conference, and the Imperial War Museums. She is also editor-in-chief of the award-winning research platform http://www.digitalholocaustmemory.com and Primary Investigator on the project Digital Holocaust Memory: Hyperconnective Archives and Museums of the Future funded by the British Academy, Leverhulme Trust and the University of Sussex.

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Posted By admin on October 2, 2022

MONDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2022, 10:30 AM PT / 1:30 PM ET

Dr. Kori Street will lead a dialogue between film producers and scholars related to two short films, both of which will be shown during the presentation. The films are: CARRY ON, to give voice to those silenced, Shoah artists, enabling them to be heard today; SHOES, a short film on the Holocaust, or in fact, any Genocide, and any dramatic acts of Hate.

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Dr. Kori Street, Interim Finci-Viterbi Executive Director, has spent a decade leading the Institutes academic, education and administration initiatives which reach scholars, educators and students in 80 countries. Dr. Street also spearheaded the Stronger Than Hate Initiativebringing the Institutes programming and ethos to the greater USC campus community. Dr. Street currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Association of Holocaust Organizations and as a member of the Education Working Group of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.

Konstantin Fam aka Costa Fam is a Russian independent director, producer, screenwriter. The film "Shoes" is the first novel of the trilogy "Witnesses." "Witnesses" is the first feature film in former Soviet Union produced in memory of the victims of the Holocaust. "Shoes" traces the personal history of a Jewish girl from the point of view of a pair of red shoes. Starting from the shop window where the shoes were purchased and ending at a mountain of discarded shoes of the victims, the viewer witnesses the effects of the tragedy of fascism. The film is the winner of many awards and film festivals. The film was awarded the Gran Prix Silver Reel at the 8th International Video Festival Empire (Italy). This festival is held under the patronage of UNESCO and listed as one of the 13 most important festivals in the world that support the cultural heritage and education. The festival presents 721 works from 52 countries. "Shoes" was the only nominee from Russia for the Academy Awards in the short film category in 2013.

As a multi-award-winning documentary filmmaker, Clint started as a production assistant and Music Supervisor in Hollywood, and at 18, worked on psychic phenomena documentaries. Now, with over 30 years working in television and as a documentary filmmaker, video producer and editor, Clint enjoys telling stories that involve music, art, and history. He spent ten years editing local TV News and nine years editing magazine format shows. Some of his most recent work includes a short documentary about a Dutch Resistance fighter in WWII, the life story of singer-songwriter, Steve White, and a short documentary about Hawaiians from Maui healing the town of Parkland, Florida. He has also worked for Soka University on concert documentaries, with many Jazz legends, in an effort to preserve Jazz music. His work has been seen locally and internationally. IMDB Film Credits http://www.timelin3studios.com

As an award-winning industry veteran, with over 40 years of film production experience, Alan specializes in Giant-Screen documentaries. His work can be seen in more than 300 film productions exhibited on IMAX screens, destination cinemas, theme parks, and in special venues around the world. With a long list of successful IMAX feature film credits, Alan has set the bar for achieving and maintaining the Gold-Standard caliber of filmmaking that is essential for the giant-screen experience. Alan is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Art & Sciences Tech-History Sub-Committee, a charter member of the Giant Screen Cinema Association (GSCA), and Charter Member of the Visual Effects Society, (VES). IMDB Film Credits http://www.visceralimageprods.com

WE ARE THE TREE OF LIFE is Jacqueline Gmach. Jacqueline has dedicated her life to the furtherance of Jewish culture. Born in Tunisia, Jacqueline is one of the Project Directors for USC Shoah Foundation, and she previously curated several Jewish events in San Diego, including the renowned San Diego Jewish Book Fair. Jacqueline has authored From Bomboloni to Bagel: A Story of Two Worlds and the upcoming novel, The Antiphonary of Love: The Call of The Scroll.

The concept of WE ARE THE TREE OF LIFE emerged from her response to the massacre at the Pittsburgh Tree of Life Synagogue on October 27, 2018. She was horrified as she read about Rose Malinger, the oldest, 97-yr. old victim of this tragedy. She then realized; WE are ALL Rose Malinger! Jacqueline saw a strong connection between the synagogue massacre and the Holocaust, realizing that those tragedies contain both the stain of virulent antisemitism along with tremendous moral courage and perseverance of the victims. In the concentration camps and ghettos, many victims survived by producing remarkable works of art, music, literature, and dance, whose stories needed her help to share with the world. Jacquelines vision for the organization, WE ARE THE TREE OF LIFE, is to support this mission and demonstrate the important lessons of moral courage and perseverance, and to emphasize the role in which cultural expression nurtures respect, acceptance, and peace.

WE ARE THE TREE OF LIFE is dedicated to education on the Holocaust through music and the performing arts. The goal is to both instruct students, and inspire teachers harnessing the educational properties of in-house-created films, with the message of peace, unity and love that includes life stories and lessons from people who never gave up hope, under the most trying of circumstances. The organization is committed to showcasing the astonishing creativity of Shoah composers, artists and writers, despite the brutality and inhumane conditions under which they produced their work.

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Visualizing the Past, a Lesson of Today | USC Shoah Foundation - USC Shoah Foundation |

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Posted By admin on October 1, 2022

I feel like a bit of a detective, except that I wasnt really looking for what I discovered. Mostly by accident, Ive come across three different messages President Russell M. Nelson has given in the past six months in which he referenced the Hebrew word hesed. The more Ive studied the word, the more it makes perfect sense to me that President Nelson might want us to know about it. And on a personal level, while Im no Hebrew scholar, Ive found myself getting almost nerd-level excited about hesed. Because its just, well a really cool word communicating a really comforting truth. First, lets take a look at how President Nelson has used it recently.

The first reference to hesed I noticed was in a footnote in President Nelsons April 2022 general conference talk The Power of Spiritual Momentum. In the talk he says, The Savior loves us always but especially when we repent. He promised that though the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed my kindness shall not depart from thee. 11

And that little 11 will lead you to this footnote: Isaiah 54:10, emphasis added; see also 3 Nephi 22:10. Kindness is translated from the Hebrew term hesed, a powerful word with deep meaning that encompasses kindness, mercy, covenant love, and more.

The next month, President Nelson gave an address to young adults of the Church called Choices for Eternity. In that message he says, God has a special love for each person who makes a covenant with Him in the waters of baptism.22 And that divine love deepens as additional covenants are made and faithfully kept.

And that little 22 will lead you to this footnote: In the Hebrew language of the Old Testament, the word for Gods covenant love is hesed.

While discovering those almost back-to-back footnotes certainly piqued my interest, I realized later they were just the tip of the iceberg. The October 2022 Liahona included a message President Nelson had originally given in a general conference leadership meeting in March 2022. The article is called The Everlasting Covenant, and President Nelsons uses the word hesed a whopping 13 times. Allow me to share some of what Ive learned and see if the beauty of the truth taught by hesed has you ready to join in me in putting on some glasses and signing up for a Hebrew class.

Right after the introduction, the first heading in President Nelsons message in the Liahona is A Special Love and Mercy. The section begins like this:

Once we make a covenant with God, we leave neutral ground forever. God will not abandon His relationship with those who have forged such a bond with Him. In fact, all those who have made a covenant with God have access to a special kind of love and mercy. In the Hebrew language, that covenantal love is called hesed ().

Hesed has no adequate English equivalent. Translators of the King James Version of the Bible must have struggled with how to render hesed in English. They often chose lovingkindness. This captures much but not all the meaning of hesed. Other translations were also rendered, such as mercy and goodness. Hesed is a unique term describing a covenant relationship in which both parties are bound to be loyal and faithful to each other.

A celestial marriage is such a covenant relationship. A husband and wife make a covenant with God and with each other to be loyal and faithful to each other.

Hesed is a special kind of love and mercy that God feels for and extends to those who have made a covenant with Him. And we reciprocate with hesed for Him.

Once you and I have made a covenant with God, our relationship with Him becomes much closer than before our covenant. Now we are bound together. Because of our covenant with God, He will never tire in His efforts to help us, and we will never exhaust His merciful patience with us. Each of us has a special place in Gods heart. He has high hopes for us.

What stands out to me from that is that hesed is a way to describe how our relationship with God is forever changed once we have made covenants with Him. Through covenants, our relationship formally becomes more close-knit. We choose to welcome more of God and His love and His influence into our lives. President Nelson later says, The covenant path is all about our relationship with Godour hesed relationship with Him. When we enter a covenant with God, we have made a covenant with Him who will always keep His word. He will do everything He can, without infringing on our agency, to help us keep ours.

If youve listened to President Nelson over the past few years, then you know that a focus of his teachings has been gathering Israel. And hesed is a central aspect of gathering Israel. As I understand it, it is because of the covenant love that God has for His people, which goes back to the Abrahamic covenant, that He gathers. President Nelson taught, In such a timeless hesed relationship, it is only natural that God wants to gather Israel. He is our Heavenly Father! He wants each of His childrenon both sides of the veilto hear the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

You may also like: 5 stunning footnotes from Pres. Nelsons devotional for young adults everyone should read

He later says that anything you or I do as members of the Church to help gather Israel is an expression of Gods hesed. But it doesnt only apply to new converts or temple work. Hesed also means that God will never tire in His efforts to help us, and we will never exhaust His merciful patience with us. Each of us has a special place in Gods heart.

Isnt that comforting? Because when we make covenants we are bound to God by these loving ties, He welcomes our repentance and efforts to improve. God loves all of His children, and through covenants we use our agency to embrace more of the love and protection He wants to give us.

So lets recap. The four most important things that Ive learned from President Nelson about hesed are:

So there you have a quick introduction to hesed. If you want to join me in further study, President Nelson included a footnote in his message to a book by Kerry Muhlestein called God Will Prevail: Ancient Covenants, Modern Blessings, and the Gathering of Israel. President Nelson said that in this book we could find a comprehensive discussion regarding hesed and the everlasting covenant. Ive begun studying the book and found myself wanting to copy and paste large sections of it into the notes app on my phone to reference later. Here are a few of my favorite points so far:

After all my study, I am even more excited for the upcoming October 2022 general conference to see if President Nelson will yet again talk about hesed. But whether or not his talks specifically use the word hesed isnt so much the point. More important will be what we do after listening to him speak. Our change in heart and action will be what enables each of us to walk more firmly on the covenant paththe path of hesed.

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Have you paid attention to the Hebrew word President Nelson keeps teaching about? - LDS Living

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Posted By admin on October 1, 2022

(The Conversation) Today, the Bible is often invoked during public debates about immigration. From former Attorney General Jeff Sessions to a group of 2,000 rabbis, people have referred to the Bible to explain their differing positions on immigration and refugees. Several specialists in biblical studies have spoken and written about what the text says on the topic.

One thing is clear: Migration matters in the Bible. Stories about it are common from the Book of Genesis, where the patriarch Abraham obeys Gods command to leave his homeland in Mesopotamia, to the Moabite woman Ruth, who migrates to Bethlehem out of love for her Judean mother-in-law, Naomi, to the Jews forced migration to Babylonia.

But these many voices do not necessarily boil down to a single theology or ethical framework. As a scholar of the Hebrew Bible, I study how themes of migration mattered in the making of scripture, as well as in how the text has been circulated, debated and interpreted by readers across the globe.

Discussions about migration are always complicated, because migrants real-life experiences do not easily translate into simple bureaucratic categories.

Modern societies defined by the ideas of citizenship and borders tend to classify modern migrants into legal binaries, each with its own rights and restrictions: resident vs. nonresident, documented vs. undocumented, immigrant vs. nonimmigrant. Ancient Israel, too, relied on legal categories to try to make sense of migration.

The Hebrew Bibles legal passages discuss people who have come to Israel from other places and how they should be treated. The Book of Deuteronomy, for example, prescribes a law that protects poor and destitute workers from being exploited, no matter if they are fellow Israelites or not.

There are two Hebrew terms that recognize different kinds of strangers in the community, with differing status and privileges.

The first, ger, can be translated as resident alien. In other words, it is a legal category for people who are not citizens, in the language used today, but who have permission to reside there. In the Hebrew Bible, the term does not distinguish between voluntary immigrants and forced refugees.

People in the ger category are embraced as part of the Israelite community. For example, law in the Book of Numbers dictates that the ger are eligible to participate in a sacrificial ritual to the God of Israel, just like the locals.

The Book of Numbers further protects the ger by stipulating that there will be one law for both the Israelites and the immigrants throughout the generations. Whether locals or not, they are equally subject to the rules about offerings and other standards for holiness. When the community makes an offering as atonement for sin, the immigrant population is also considered forgiven.

On the other hand, migrants called nokri commonly translated as foreigner have a more restricted social status. Deuteronomy prohibits Israelites from charging interest on loans to a fellow Israelite, but not to nokri. Likewise, the law commands Israelites to forgive each others debts every seventh year, but not debts of nokri.

The Hebrew Bibles view on strangers is not just about dealing with others. Biblical ideas about foreignness are forged through the Israelites own experiences and collective memories about being strangers.

In the books of Exodus, Leviticus and Deuteronomy, a main reason to protect strangers is repeatedly given: Because Israelites themselves were ger in the land of Egypt.

The many meanings of foreignness are also explored in biblical literature from after the Babylonian exile of the Jews. Some groups returned to the land of Judah, some remained in Babylon and some had never left in the first place.

The Book of Esther, for example, concerns the life of the diaspora community living in Persia. The story unfolds mainly through the actions of Queen Esther, who carries a dual identity as a Jew and as a Persian, and its central themes deal with the struggle to survive in a foreign land.

Meanwhile, the protagonists in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah are repatriates who had previously lived in Mesopotamia, but encountered a new sense of foreignness upon their return. Nehemiah Chapter 13 describes Nehemiahs shock when he learns that Jews had married women from surrounding cultures, and half of their children only spoke other languages.

The Bible speaks about migration with many different voices even beyond its pages. Migrant communities across the globe have continued to read and interpret it through the lens of their own experiences ever since, opening up new possibilities for understanding.

(Ki-Eun Jang, Assistant Professor of Theology (Bible in Global Cultures), Fordham University. The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of Religion News Service.)

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Debates about migration have never been simple just look at the Hebrew Bible - Religion News Service

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Posted By admin on October 1, 2022

This Sunday night is Rosh Hashanah, or the Jewish New Year. Heres everything you need to know about how Judaism celebrates its new year.

Rosh Hashanah, literally means start of the year and always takes place on the first two days of Tishrei, the first month of the Hebrew calendar.

Judaism has its own calendar that, unlike the solar Gregorian calendar most countries use, the Hebrew calendar is a lunisolar calendar. That means months are based around the phases of the moon, but also an extra month is added every two or three years to keep it in line with the solar calendar.

The final month of the Hebrew calendar is 29 Elul which is from the evening of 24 September to 25 September. In the Hebrew calendar, days begin at sunset of the previous day.

So the 1 Tishrei and the Jewish New Year starts on nightfall of Sunday 25 September this year.

The Hebrew calendar also puts its year 0 way earlier than the Gregorian calendar.

While the Gregorian calendar places year 0 as the year Jesus Christ was supposedly born, the Hebrew calendars year 0 is when 12th century Jewish philosopher Maimonides calculated the creation of the world.

By Maimonides calculations then, the new Jewish year will be 5783.

Suddenly, 2022 doesnt seem so old. Although the Jewish calendar doesnt exactly accomodate to there being events before it.

Rosh Hashanah is also not just one day long for many Jews.

As the day starts on the first of a new moon, in Biblical times it was only certified to be the new year when a witness had testified to a court they had seen the new moon. If the witness didnt come forward, the day would be established retroactively.

In keeping with this tradition, many Jews still celebrate the first two days of Tishrei as Rosh Hashanah.

While for New Years Eve in New York, the famous ball drop happens in Times Square in Manhattan and fireworks go off in pretty much every major city, how do Jews celebrate Rosh Hashanah?

One of the most important traditions is blowing the shofar.

A shofar is a rams horn hollowed out to make a musical instrument. The blowing of the shofar symbolises a call to people to wake up and begin repentance. Its also symbolic of the ram that was sacrificed in Isaacs place in a famous biblical story.

On the subject of repentance, another tradition has Jews throwing their sins away, although not literally.

Tashlich is observed on the first day of Rosh Hashanah often by chucking small pieces of bread into a nearby body of water.

Both these traditions are part of the build up to another Jewish holiday, Yom Kippur that takes place just over a week later. On Yom Kippur, Jews atone for the sins of the past year to start the new year on a clean slate.

But whats a new year celebration without a tasty treat?

For Rosh Hashanah, its tradition to celebrate a sweet new year with some sweet foods.

Apples are eaten with honey. And the bread traditionally eaten before a meal with a pinch of salt, is eaten with a dollop of honey as well. Lots of Jews also eat pomegranates over the festival.

In Ukraine, theres also a longstanding tradition to make a pilgrimage to the city of Uman where Rebbe Nachman, who founded a movement within Judaism, is buried.

In 2020, president Volodymyr Zelenskyy made Rosh Hashanah a national holiday in Ukraine, the only country other than Israel to do so. Despite the war, 4,000 Hasidic Jews have still made the pilgrimage to Uman this year.

If you thought it was complicated enough that the Hebrew calendar has a different new year to the 1st of January, its not even the only new year the Jews observe.

Theres also the ecclesiastical new year.

The ecclesiastical new year is the date from which the months and Jewish festivals are counted. This year starts on the 1st of Nisan, which is next on 23 April 2023, starting the evening before.

Passover is the first festival of that year, starting on 15 Nisan, while Rosh Hashanah happens on the seventh month of the year.

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It's Jewish New Year: but what is Rosh Hashanah? - Euronews

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Posted By admin on October 1, 2022

On the Jewish new year holy day of Rosh HaShanah, September 26th and 27 this year, Jews throughout the world read the Torah chapters of Genesis 21 and 22; the narrations of Abraham, the Hebrews (Genesis 14:13) two first born sons: Ishmael, Abrahams first born son of Hagar the Egyptian; and Issac, Abrahams first born son of Sarah, the Hebrew.

In the Muslim account Abraham has two separate families. His Jewish descendants come from Abrahams marriage to his cousin-wife Sarah; and his Arab descendants come from Hagar, hisEgyptian concubine. Hagar had been given to Sarah as a gift from Pharaohs sister and, although Sarah had initially allowed her husband to sleep with Hagar, Sarah became jealous when she remained barren while Hagar became pregnant and gave birth to Ishmael.

On these special high holy days Jews read aboutProphets Ishmaelas well asIsaac. Reading about the patriarch of the Arab people is part of the Jewish tradition because these events are important to our identity as Jews and Chapter 21, the story of the birth and banishment of Ishmael, establishes our Jewish connection to Gods non-Jewish children.

Everybody knows that God tested Prophet Abraham by calling upon Abraham to sacrifice his two first born sons; and although the Quran does not name the son tested; both Muslims and Jews can believe that Ishmael, like his half-brother Isaac, was spared from this terrible fate.

The following narration was transmitted orally in both Arabic and Hebrew for many centuries, and was finally written down in several different versions in the early 19th century. It illustrates how the tests of these two brothers Ishmael and Isaac; at their two holy places of Mecca and Jerusalem, can be closely connected even though these two places are geographically separated by 765 physical miles.

Some say this happened in the age of Noah, and others say in the generation after Prophet Abraham was born.

Two brothers who inherited a valley to hilltop farm from their father divided the land in half so that each one could farm his own section. Over time, the older brother married and had four children, while the younger brother was still not married.

One year there was very little rain, and the crop was very small. This was at the beginning of a long-term drought that would turn the whole valley into an arid, treeless, desert where even grain did not grow, and all the springs dried up.

The younger brother lay awake one night praying and thought: My brother has a wife and four children to feed, and I have no children. He needs more grain than I do, especially now when grain is scarce.

So that night, the younger brother went to his barn, gathered a large sack of wheat, and left his wheat in his brothers barn. Then he returned home, feeling pleased with himself.

Earlier that very same night, the older brother was also lying awake praying for rain when he thought: In my old age, my wife and I will have our grown children to take care of us, as well as grandchildren to enjoy, while my brother may have no children. He should at least sell more grain from his fields now, to provide for himself in his old age.

So that night, the older brother also gathered a large sack of wheat, and left it in his brothers barn, and returned home, feeling pleased with himself.

The next morning, the younger brother, surprised to see that the amount of grain in his barn seemed unchanged, said I did not take as much wheat as I thought. Tonight Ill take more.

That same morning, the older brother, standing in his barn, was thinking the same thoughts.After night fell, each brother gathered a greater amount of wheat from his barn and in the dark, secretly delivered it to his brothers barn.

The next morning, the brothers were again puzzled and perplexed. How can I be mistaken? each one thought. Theres the same amount of grain here as there was before. This is impossible! Tonight Ill make no mistake. Ill take two large sacks.

The third night, more determined than ever, each brother gathered two large sacks of wheat from his barn, loaded them onto a cart, and slowly pulled his cart toward his brothers barn. In the moonlight, each brother noticed a figure in the distance.

When the two brothers got closer, each recognized the form of the other and the load he was pulling, and they both realized what had happened! Without a word, they dropped the ropes of their carts, ran to each other and embraced.

Only God can make anything holy, and God thought the brothers love and concern for each other made their descendants worthy to rebuild a primordial Holy House in this valley; and later to build a new Holy House on that hill. So God sent Messengers to their descendants to guide them to do this.

When all those, both near and far, who revere these sacred places as a standard, share it in love with everyone else who reveres it, then Abrahams request for Allah to Make this a land of peace, and provide its people with the produce of the land (Quran 2:126) will be extended throughout the world; and all the spiritual children of Prophet Abraham will live in Holiness, Kindness, Prosperity and Peace.

Christians and Jews believe the hill is Jerusalem. Muslims believe the valley is Mecca. I believe they are both right and God willing, someday everyone may see both cities and their sanctuaries as a pair of lungs that are central to our spiritual inspiration by a connection to the One God of Prophets Abraham, Ishmael and Isaac.

The Quran states: Believers, be steadfast in the cause of God and bear witness with justice. Do not let your enmity for others turn you away from justice. Deal justly; that is nearer to being God-fearing. [Quran 5:8]

And Prophet Isaiah states: In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt, and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together.In that day Israelwill joina three-partyalliance with Egyptand Assyria,a blessing uponthe heart.The LORD of Hosts will bless them saying, Blessed be Egypt My people, Assyria My handiwork, and Israel My inheritance.(Isaiah 19:23-5)

May Peace, Friendship and Brotherly Love overcome the voices of anger, revenge and hatred in our communities in our lifetime.

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Islam And Judaism Can Bring Peace To The Middle East OpEd - Eurasia Review

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Posted By admin on October 1, 2022

I read with interest the article by Alan Wolkenstein, Antisemitism remembered. This was a well written article bringing back many memories of my youth. Im sure that many long time Milwaukee residents recall stories from their parents or grandparents with similar experiences.

My parents faced the same housing discrimination when they searched for housing in the 1940s. I reflect back to the 1950s where my exposure to antisemitism was a bit deeper than rental issues. The north side of Milwaukee was predominantly inhabited by a population of German heritage. The 1950s were post World War II years and, with my father having served in the military, one would have expected more appreciation and respect than what our family received.

We were the only Jewish family in the immediate area of 20th Street and Capitol Drive. I attended all public schools and as I got older, I took city buses after school to an Orthodox Hebrew school on west Center Street. Here I was exposed to other Jewish students who were preparing for bar mitzvahs. Not growing up in a neighborhood with other Jewish kids made my meeting and establishing friendships a bit difficult, as I needed to get on a return bus right after Hebrew classes let out.

Not all of our neighbors were antisemitic, but some experiences have left lifetime scars that never left my memory. Up until around third grade, I was given a ride to school by my dad on his way to work until I could get familiar with the streets leading to school. I was probably around 8-9 years old and walked to class at a school on 24th and Nash streets. As I walked south down my block, I was met by a group of teenagers on a porch throwing stones and rocks at me demanding that I get off of their property and get into the street you dirty Jew! From that day forward I often saw the same group on their porch waiting for me. Not wanting to get bullied, harassed or pummeled anymore, I would deliberately step into the street and cross to the other side to continue my walk to school (there were no school buses).

On the street where I lived, three houses to the north, was an older German family who would fly a swastika flag on flag days. If they saw me playing in the alley with neighbors, they made sure we didnt come anywhere near their garage or yard. Unfortunately, we had a party telephone line and this same family would pick up the phone and demand we get off you dirty (derogatory term for Jews)! I heard that term a number of other times after transferring to a newer high school where there was a Jewish population. I felt obliged to defend my heritage.

Upon transferring colleges in 1966 to University of Wisconsin Madison, I met many other Jewish students who were predominantly from Milwaukee North Shore suburbs, Chicago and the East Coast. As I got to know them and shared some of my youthful experiences, they looked at me with disbelief. Times and generations have changed, but the memories of these experiences has had a lasting effect on various interactions I have had and continue to have.

Ron Sager is a retired educator of more than 40 years, with his longest stint at a Milwaukee Public Schools high school for 23 years.

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Opinion: The antisemitism was real in 1950s Milwaukee I was there and I remember - The Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle

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Posted By admin on October 1, 2022

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Clearing up misinformation about Christianity among Americas estimated 7.6 million Jewish population is a crucial calling for Messianic ministries. Within this backdrop, 1.2 million, or 16%, of Jewish adults claim no religion.

Many Jews dont know that Yeshua, Jesus original Hebrew name, is actually Jewish, according to U.S. missionary Robert Specter, who serves with Intercultural Ministries. They also believe you are no longer Jewish if you believe in Jesus, he says.

Specter says his father, Hyman, a former Orthodox Jew, experienced a supernatural revelation of Jesus the Messiah at age 20. Hyman eventually served as an Assemblies of God world missionary in Haiti and West Africa for more than 20 years before founding Rock of Israel (ROI) ministries in 1971.

Robert Specter came to faith as a missionary kid living with his parents in West Africa. Robert, 65, now serves as president of Rock of Israel Ministries and lives in Fairfield, Ohio.

ROI completed an 18-day outreach in September at the Canadian National Exposition in Toronto, an event which drew more than one million visitors.

The ministry normally conducts up to nine similar-sized outreaches annually at U.S. state fairs. ROI rents a booth displaying and selling Judaica products made in Israel such as seder plates, Shabbat candles, Star of David jewelry, menorahs, and wood or metal mezuzah (doorpost) cases containing a small parchment inscribed with Deuteronomy 6:4-9, 11:13-21.

Specter and ROI teams, including volunteers from local Messianic congregations, engage hundreds of curious Jewish visitors. A prominent banner proclaiming Jesus Made Me Kosher ignites interesting conversations.

In a caring way, team members approach visitors with challenging questions: Do you believe in God, if so ask Him whether Yeshua is the Messiah? Have you ever heard of Messianic Jews? Have you read Isaiah, the first of the latter prophets in the Hebrew Bible, particularly chapter 53?

Most conversations end with the vendor offering a book of Jewish testimonies, a Jesus Made Me Kosher bookmark, invitations to local Messianic congregations, or information about ROI.

ROI exhibits also provoke opposition. Ultra-orthodox Jewish groups have lashed out in anger against Messianic Jews, seeing them as traitors and not real Jews. Rabbis have videotaped conversations with ROI triggering arguments. Jews for Judaism targets groups like ROI to stop evangelism activities.

Nevertheless, our state fair presence is a seed-planting ministry, Specter emphasizes. And we try to follow up those showing a serious interest in the gospel message.

Additional ministry programs include urban street outreaches, Messiah in the Passover interactive seder meals, online evangelism, Messianic presentations in churches, and exhibits at AG and denominational meetings and conventions.

However, regular church-attending evangelical Christians often are reluctant to share the good news with Jews, according to veteran U.S. missionary William Bill Bjoraker, founder of Operation Ezekiel in Pasadena, California in 1998.

Many Christians believe Jews have a built-in resistance to the gospel and fearing rejection, they sidestep witnessing, says the 70-year-old Bjoraker, who also is with Intercultural Ministries. Others even believe Jews dont need the gospel because they have their own path to God.

Some Christians avoid digging into the Old Testament and therefore are intimidated about explaining biblical prophecies about Christ, Bjoraker says.

Both Bjoraker and Specter are members of the National Jewish Fellowship (NJF) of the Assemblies of God. NJF is a Messianic Jewish outreach and one of the two dozen ethnic/language fellowship groups in the AG.

The NJF represents 70 AG credential holders and 13 Messianic congregations. Specter serves as NJF treasurer and Bjoraker teaches courses aimed at helping Christians share their faith with Jewish friends. Typical NJF online classes cover Messianic storytelling, contemporary Jewish thought, significance of Jewish holidays, Messianic prophecy, traditional Jewish life, and antisemitism.

Bjoraker is writing and developing seven books under the banner Engaging the Jewish World, which will be adopted for online NJF classes. He has finished the first book, The Biblical Era, which covers 2000 to 300 B.C. The remaining six books will focus on the Hellenistic, Rabbinic, Islamic, European, and modern eras, and finally return to Zion. Bible publisher Zondervan has engaged him to write the commentary for the book of Esther in the new Messianic Study Bible scheduled for release in 2025.

Persecution and violent acts against U.S. Jews are a growing threat that Christians need to be concerned about, Bjoraker says.

In 2021, antisemitic behavior increased 34% and attacks against synagogues and Jewish community centers hit an all-time high, rising by 61%. New versions of antisemitism are surfacing. Falsely claiming Israel an apartheid state, the BDS movement (boycotting, divesting, and sanctioning) is aimed at hurting Israeli and Jewish business interests globally, according to Bjoraker.

Replacement theology, dating back to the first century, has gained new credibility. It espouses that Jews are no longer Gods chosen people and the Church has totally replaced Israel in Gods plans. In addition, the theory claims prophecies in Scripture on the blessings and restoration of the Promised Land are no longer valid.

We are very much aware of and monitoring recent antisemitic actions and we try to inform our AG churches and encourage them to support the Jewish community against these attacks, says NJF secretary Carol Calise. Christians supporting Jews on this issue open new doors for sharing the good news of Yeshua.

Carol is co-leader of Beth Emanuel Messianic Synagogue with her husband, Michael, in Holbrook, New York. Michael is NJF president.

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Assemblies of God (USA) Official Web Site | Jesus Made Me Kosher Conversations - AG News

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