Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on September 11, 2022

Photo taken in Tel Aviv, Israel

Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, is coming sooner than you think (were sorry!) on September 25, 2022. This means that its time to start ordering those Rosh Hashanah presents!

Are Rosh Hashanah presents a thing? Maybe not quite as popular as Hanukkah presents, but a nice gift for whichever brave soul is hosting your Rosh Hashanah dinner, or just some new swag for yourself and kids, is always welcome. Here at Kveller, we love Jewish gifts (thats why we just launched our own Jewish merch store!) so weve collected a list of gifts for everyone on your Rosh Hashanah list. Happy shopping and chag shameach!

For kids:

High Holiday hive sticker set

This fun re-stickable set of puffy stickers includes both Ashkenazi and Sephardi Rosh Hashanah traditions. Use code Kveller20 to get 20% off your order!

Jonah and the whale lego kit

Perfect for Yom Kippur, this lego kit of Jonah, whose story we retell on the holiday, also doubles as a tzedakah box.

For the ones who adore adorable things:

Rosh Hashanah apple and honey pillow

This very cute honey-dipped apple holding a shofar may be the perfect accent pillow for a couch or a kids bed. It can even double as a booster during the Rosh Hashanah meal.

Etrog pillow for Sukkot

Right on the heels of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is Sukkot. An adorable pillow of an etrog hiding a lulav will help make your sukkah even cozier this year. Just dont shake it too hard!

Gefilte fish cat

This cat. Is holding. A gefilte fish. Need we say more?

For adults (and their kids!) who love to cook:

Modern Jewish Comfort Food by Shannon Sarna

Shannon Sarna is a Kveller contributor and the editor of our partner site, the Nosher. She is also a writer of wonderfulrecipes that both I and my children love, and her newest book is a great way to set a friend up for a year full of cooking joy and comfort food.

Jewish food kitchen towel

A kitchen towel full of Jewish food staples!

High holiday sugar cookie decorating kit

A fun activity with the kids that ends in all of you munching on delicious cookies. We can get behind that.

For a very sweet new year:

Honey

Honey is the ideal Rosh Hashanah gift.I always get mine when I go home to Israel (its the land of milk and honey for a reason!)but you can order some delicious Israeli wildflower honey without leaving the comfort of your home.

Rosh Hashanah marzipan

Marzipan isnt for everyone, but those who love it love it.

Seed + Millk halvah trio

Theres no better sweet treat than halvah! The middle Eastern sesame sweet is just impossible to stop eating, and Seed + Mill truly make some of the best halvah out there.

For the caffeine addict:

Shofar so good mug

I have mixed feelings about Jewish puns (you may have noticed I havent included anything with the term challah days in this list) but this one isnt bad, and certainly the design of shofars on this mug is very appealing.

Kvell mug

Start the year off on positive vibes with a mug that reminds you to kvell whenever you can.

For your friend who keeps googling when the Jewish holidays are (thats us, we are friend):

Jewish holiday calendar print

This calendar will stop your loved ones from freaking out about not knowing how soon a Jewish holiday is maybe?

For the challah lover:

Schmooze challah cover

A basic, but striking, black and white challah cover.

Seven species challah cover

These silk challah covers are just so beautiful.

Beaded challah ornament

Hang a challah ornament to signal your love for challah all year round! It also doubles as a Christmas tree or Hanukkah bush decoration for your multi-faith friends!

For the friend who loves a good in-home manicure

High Holiday nail decals

These decals give a festive feeling every time you look down at your hands! Use code Kveller20 for 20% off.

For the friend with the jewelry collection:

Pomegranate earrings

The pomegranate is both a commonly used new fruit on the second night of Rosh Hashanah and a part of the Sephardic Rosh Hashanah seder, but its Jewish significance goes way beyond the Jewish holiday which is why adorning yourself with pomegranate jewelry is a great thing to do year round.

Pomegranate necklace

A matching pomegranate necklace for those pomegranate earrings!

Bagels necklace

A great way to broadcast the one thing we all want for every new Jewish year all the bagels.

For the Judaica lover:

Blue bird candlesticks and kiddush cup

Remember the old Portlandia sketch that mocked the put a bird on it aesthetic? Well, its been over a decade (oof!) and Im still all for putting birds on things, especially my Judaica!

Rosh Hashanah seder plate

The perfect plate for a Sephardic Rosh Hashanah seder.

Wavy pomegranate sculpture

Every Jewish home needs more pomegranates.

Pomegranate candlesticks

Maybe the new saying should be, put a pomegranate on it?

For the book lovers:

For adults: some great books to help prepare for the High Holidays

For kids: Im Sorry, Grover: A Rosh Hashanah Tale, The Very Best Sukkah: A Story from Uganda, Rosh Hashanah With Uncle Max, New Year on the Pier, Sammy Spiders First Rosh Hashanah, Rosh Hashanah Is Coming and A Moon for Mo and Moe.

When you want to go all out:

Yemenite shofar

This large shofar was once seen on The Colbert Report, and it is truly an unbeatable Rosh Hashanah gift.

All of our recommendations are independently selected by Kvellers editorial team. We may earn a commission if you buy something through one of our affiliate links.

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All the Rosh Hashanah Gifts You Need - Kveller.com

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Posted By admin on September 11, 2022

Kazakhstan is a country of diverse cultures and religions. They coexist in harmony, respect, and tolerance. It is not by chance that the 7thCongress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions is to take place in the countrys capital, Nur-Sultan, on the 14th and 15th of September. During the same period, the Pope will also be a guest in the country. The state visit of Pope Francis will take place for the first time since Pope John Paul II visited Kazakhstan in 2001 under the motto Love One Another.

Upon landing in Kazakhstan on Tuesday, September 13th, the Pope will pay a courtesy visit to the Kazakh President, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, as well as a formal speech addressing the diplomatic corps accredited in the country and the civil society. On Wednesday, he will have a moment of silent prayer with religious leaders, and address them during the Congress opening and plenary session. The Pope will then meet with some of the leaders privately. In the afternoon, he will celebrate Mass for the countrys Catholics.

About 100 delegations from 60 countries are expected to take part in the Congress, including representatives of Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Shintoism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Hinduism and other religions. Among them are Pope Francis, Supreme Imam of Al-Azhar Ahmed Mohamed Ahmed at-Tayeb, Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem, Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi David Lau, Chief Sephardi Rabbi of Israel Yitzhak Yosef and other religious leaders, as well as representatives of a number of international organizations.

Since the countrys independence in 1991, its First President, Nursultan Nazarbayev, fostered dialogue and a mutual understanding of cultures and religions. He championed the creation of the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions. In September of 2001, he welcomed John Paul II, during the 10th Anniversary of the countrys independence.

This year, the theme of the Congress is The role of leaders of world and traditional faiths in the socio-spiritual development of mankind in the post-pandemic period. Four panel sessions will be organized, focusing on questions on the role of religions in strengthening spiritual and moral values, education and religious studies in promoting peaceful coexistence of religions, countering extremism, radicalism and terrorism, especially on religious grounds, as well as the contribution of women to the well-being and sustainable development of society.

For Kazakh society, religious traditions of various ethnic groups have become a bridge that unites diverse communities and builds cohesion across the country. This attitude has nourished mutual respect and tolerance toward each other. With a population of nearly 19 million, the word Kazakhstan means home for more than 135 ethnic groups and 18 denominations.

Roughly 65 percent of Kazakshtans 18.6 million people are Muslims, most of whom are Sunni following the Hanafi school of teaching. Roughly 26% of Kazakhstanis are Christian (wide majority Orthodox, a minority Catholic), and the remaining 5% follow Judaism or other beliefs.

The majority of Christian citizens are Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians, who belong to the Eastern Orthodox Church in Kazakhstan under the Moscow Patriarchate. About 1.5 percent of the population is ethnically German, most of whom are Catholic or Lutheran. There are also many Presbyterians, Jehovahs Witnesses, Seventh-day Adventists and Pentecostals. Methodists, Mennonites, and Mormons have also registered churches in the country.

Historians believe that as early as the second century AD in the town of Merv, today known as Mary, ((in Turkmenistan, not too far from Kazakhstans border) there were Christians among Roman soldiers taken prisoners after a battle they lost against the Persians.

One of the greatest missionary-diplomats of the 13th and 14th centuries was the Italian, Giovanni da Montecorvino (1247-1328). In 1307 Pope Clement V appointed Montecorvino as Archbishop in the city of Kambalik and Patriarch of the Far East. After the death of Giovanni da Montecorvino in the early XIV century, Kazakhstan was without a Catholic bishop for 600 years.

According to the Roman Observatory, the history of the Catholic Church in Kazakhstan resumed in the 20th century when Stalin ordered the deportation to Central Asia of whole peoples of the Catholic tradition. Providence turned a diabolical plan into a missionary event beyond the boldest dreams of even Propaganda Fide or any missionary strategist. From 1930 onwards, many priests were deported and sent to concentration camps in Kazakhstan.

In 1980, when the Church of St Joseph in Karaganda was consecrated, built after endless disputes between the Soviet authorities and the people, and not only Catholics, did Bishop Chira reveal his identity. It is moving to think of this bishop humbly teaching the faith to hundreds of young people, many future priests (including Bishop Joseph Werth, Titular of Bulna and Apostolic Administrator of West Siberia of the Latins) without revealing his authority even to his parish priest.

In 1991, Pope John Paul II appointed Fr Pavel Lenga as Apostolic Administrator of Karaganda for Catholics of Latin Rite in Kazakhstan, and the other four former Soviet territory Republics of Central Asia, Uzbekistan, Talikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan. He was ordained at Krasnoarmiejsk but the Episcopal See is Karaganda, the main centre of Catholicism in Kazakhstan.

On 25 June 1995, Bishop Lenga consecrated Kazakhstan to Mary Queen of Peace at the shrine dedicated to Our Lady under this title at Oziornoje, northern Kazakhstan.This is the only Marian shrine in this part of the world. It was built as an act of thanksgiving by deported Poles who in 1941 were literally dying of hunger. A nearby lake was miraculously filled with fish and the people survived. In 1994 diplomatic relations between the Holy See and Kazakhstan were established.

In 1999, Astana received an Apostolic Administration as did Almaty and Atyran. There are 250 parishes; 20 churches have been built so far, there are 63priests, 74 religious sisters and in 1998 a major seminary was opened under the title Mary, Mother of the Church.

The cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Fatima, located in Karaganda, is the largest Catholic church in Kazakhstan. For its construction, the Cathedral in Cologne, Germany, was used as a model. The consecration of the cathedral took place on September 9th, 2012. In the warm season, it also hosts concerts of organ, symphonic and choral music.

St. Josephs Basilica was constructed in the 1970s while Kazakhstan was a Republic of the Soviet Union, at the request of Catholics in exile. The church was approved in 1977 and dedicated in 1980, at which point it became a focal point for the countrys Catholic community. In September of 2020, the Vatican has named St. Joseph Church the first minor basilica in Central Asia, a region that includes Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan.

The Cathedral of the Temple of Holy Ascension (1904-1907) in Almaty, also known as Zenkovs Cathedral (in honor its architect Andrei Zenkov), is located in the Park of 28 Panfilov Guardsmen. It is the main Russian Orthodox Church in Kazakhstan, and is included in the list of historical and cultural monuments of Kazakhstan. The church brings together local and Russian architecture as both Kazakh and Russian people participated in its construction.

The church is one of the tallest wooden buildings in the world and the tallest Orthodox wooden church. The highest point at the upper end of the cross on the main dome is 39.64 meters, at the top of the bell tower 46 meters.

This Orthodox church is located in Almaty, in the Karasu district (Vysokovoltnaya Street). Built in 2011, the Church in Honor of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross was designed in Byzantine style, with a height of 33 meters.

This cathedral has beautiful blue roofs with side semi-domes. Completed in 2009, this 68 m tall structure serves as the main place of worship for Orthodox Christians in Nur-Sultan. A triple-decked 18 m tall iconostasis with more than 50 icons, gilded doors, elaborate wood carvings, and gold-leafed murals creates a majestic atmosphere, enhanced by the cathedrals acoustics.

Russian Orthodox church in Almatys Almaly district. Set in a small green park with ornate gilt domes contrasting with white and pale cyan walls, the buildings interior features elaborately painted walls, ceiling, and icons.

It houses relics of 20 different saints in the church. A library and a reception hall stand adjacent to the cathedral, with a life-size statue of St. Nicholas next to the stairs leading to the main entrance. Having served in the past as a museum of atheism and a stable, the church has been reopened to worshippers since 1980.

See the rest here:

A tour of what it means to be Christian in multicultural Kazakhstan - Travel Tomorrow

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Posted By admin on September 11, 2022

Engraving of astronomers looking at the sky. (iStock)

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished September 7, 2022

Do Jewish tradition and scientific reasoning provide two different and sometimes contradictory sources of truth? Its a question that Jewish thinkers throughout the ages have strived to address. For the past year, St. Louis Jews have been invited to not only engage in this line of thinking but participate monthly in making their own connections between Judaism and science.

The program Jews in Science is hosted by Kol Rinah. This Sunday, Sept. 11, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Jewish Light Editor-in-Chief Emeritus Bob Cohn will lead the conversation on the topic of the Israeli elections and political science.

Created in the fall of 2020, during the height of the COVID pandemic, Jews in Science seeks to educate and teach Kol Rinah members as well as interested non-members about Judaism.

I have always seen a connection between Judaism and science, said Richard Gavatin, a Kol Rinah congregant who helped create the program. Not only is Judaism compatible with science, as in there is no Galileo and the Pope situation with Judaism but we see the scientific approach as an essential part of the Jewish civilization.

Gavatin, who holds a Master of Science in PharmaceuticalSciencesis co-chair of the Verein Group along with Dr. Ralph Graff. The word Verein is German for society or association and is a nod to a group of Jewish European intellectuals in the 1820s who were the first to look at Judaism as a science. The positions they took prophesized changes in Judaism leading to Reform, Conservative and Modern Orthodox Judaism.

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In recognition, we chose the word Verein for the name of our adult education committee after the merger between the two Synagogues, BSKI and Shaare Zedek in 2013, said Gavatin.

To begin, Gavatin and Graff contacted potential speakers, primarily within the Kol Rinah membership in the fall of 2020. Kol Rinah has many college academics and other professionals in its midst. So far, all the lectures have been on Zoom.

So, for instance, for the science of Albert Einstein, we relied on a member, WU Physics Professor Marty Israel, recalled Gavatin. In our presentation of the father of Cognitive Behavior Therapy, (CBT), Dr. Aaron T Beck, we had a Washington University clinical psychologist, Randi Mozenter, be our speaker. And that is how we expanded the pool of speakers. Bob Cohn is not the first non-member we asked, and he wont be the last.

The series continues this Sunday on the topic of political science, whereby Cohn will share his expertise on the subject and its relationship to history and foreign affairs as it relates to Israel.

All sessions are free and open to anyone. Registration on the Kol Rinah website is required.

Link:

How Judaism and science come together every month in St. Louis - St. Louis Jewish Light

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Posted By admin on September 11, 2022

In April 1945, a young British forces soldier helped liberate the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Climbing onto a wooden crate he shouted, in Yiddish, to the living human skeleton survivors in striped uniforms before him: Jews! There are still Jews living!

That young man was Chaim Herzog, the Belfast-born and Dublin-raised politician who later became Israels sixth president.

This week his son, Isaac, Israels 11th president, used a three-day state visit to retrace his fathers footsteps back to the former Nazi camp.

History always weighs heavy on such visits, but adding even more to the burden this time was the 50th anniversary of the 1972 Munich massacre when Palestinian extremists took the Israeli Olympic team hostage.

Half a century on, Germany offered a formal apology for the bungled police response which saw 11 Israeli hostages killed in a bloody shootout. German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier asked for forgiveness for this and for subsequent insensitivity towards the mourning families. The Olympic Games continued without Israel, it took 45 years for a memorial and it was only last weeks 38 million compensation deal that convinced the families to travel to Munich.

In a Berlin parliament address, President Herzog praised Germany for owning up to its historical responsibility. As with Holocaust reconciliation, though, the Munich anniversary fell victim to cultural cross-purposes.

While his German hosts asked for forgiveness in the Christian tradition, Herzog recalled his fathers Bundestag address in 1987 that underlined the Jewish tradition: I bring no forgiveness, no forgetting. Only the dead have the right to forgive, the living have no right to forget.

The state visit came as two interlinked scandals rock Germanys Jewish community. The first involves Walter Homolka, one of Germanys best-known rabbis and a leading light in liberal Jewish circles.

He has stood aside as director of a rabbi training college near Berlin amid claims his husband a lecturer at the institution sent a student photos of his penis.

Claims he tried to cover up the affair, which he denies, have prompted closer scrutiny of his institution, Potsdams Abraham Geiger College. It was established in 1999 as continental Europes first training college for rabbis and cantors since the Shoah, but critics claim Homolka treats the institution as his personal fiefdom. In a statement, he said it hurt to have to read such things.

I have no influence over the behaviour of those closest to me, he wrote, nor do I want to.

Among his most outspoken critics, Berlin cantor Avitall Gerstetter said the shameful accusations were a deep blow to liberal Judaism in Germany. But now Gerstetter, a rare female face in the male-dominated world of Jewish sacred music, has delivered a blow of her own.

Writing in Die Welt daily, she said a wave of Germans converting in the last 30 years meant, in some communities, 80 per cent of those now attending services were not Jewish by birth including many rabbis and cantors. A new soulless Judaism is emerging that that was less about experience and tradition, she argued, than a theoretical Judaism, almost an entirely new religion.

In some services I feel more reminded of an interreligious event than of the visit to the synagogue I have been familiar with since childhood, she wrote.

Her most controversial claim: some Germans are converting as a bizarre form of reparation and a wish to be allowed to switch to the other side from the perpetrators family to a new, Jewish family construct.

Gerstetters article landed like a grenade in her synagogue on Berlins Oranienburger Strasse.

Its rabbi, Gesa Ederberg, who converted to Judaism in 1995 and was ordained in 2003, said she and the community members were flabbergasted by the claims.

They issued a statement insisting that all worshippers are welcome, whether Jewish-born or converted and then fired Gerstetter. The cantor, whose father was a convert, has hired a lawyer to challenge her dismissal.

Fears of dilution of Jewish identity and religious practice, though not unique to Germany, have particular resonance in the land of the Holocaust.

In the early 1990s, new arrivals from the Soviet Union not all of whom could prove they were Jewish were accused by locals of reshaping the struggling German communities they had helped save.

Some in Berlin Jewish circles say Avitall Gerstetter has merely said in public albeit somewhat undiplomatically what many here feel in private. For German-British rabbi Walter Rotschild, the controversy around Walter Homolka another convert had been the final straw.

The converts are telling Jews what they should think, how they should pray, that they should practise as they do, he said.

But there has been energetic pushback, too, against the cantors claims from converts.

One unnamed woman from Frankfurt, who converted in 1996 aged 31, wrote to Die Welt accusing the cantor of reviving 19th-century bourgeois salon anti-Semitism. She likened her experience to trans people with mismatched sexual identities and biological sex.

I am a trans-Jew, she wrote. I didnt convert, I merely made public my true identity.

More here:

Concerns about Germans converting to Judaism carry resonance in land of Holocaust - The Irish Times

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Posted By admin on September 11, 2022

Our name is the first thing we own when we enter the world. Names honor ancestors, recall favorite characters, evoke nature, and bring joy to those who bestow them. We write our names in crayon on our kindergarten drawings. We scribble it on receipts, carve it into trees, wear it on necklaces, display it on the back of athletic jerseys, type it in 12-point-font on school essays, and sign it on life-changing contracts. When we are gone, it is chiseled into stone, affixed to park benches, or whispered on the wind. We leave it behind as proof. Proof that we were here. We all want to be remembered, but it should also matter, to ourselves and others, that we are here now. Imagine a world in which we utter the words you matter, as a promise to all childrenand keep it.

Promises so often are broken, sometimes in the places we least expect it, like public and school libraries. The promise of inclusivity and equity relies on its source, the childrens publishing industry, and their message certainly communicates who exactly matters.

According to pre-pandemic Diversity Statistics from the Cooperative Childrens Book Center at UW-Madison, 3,134 childrens books were reviewed in 2018. Of those, 50% of the characters featured were white, while 27% were animals/other, 10% African or African American, 7% Asian, 5% Latinx, and 1% Native/Indigenous. Animals and anthropomorphic objects had more representation than all humans of the global majority combined. Sixty-one books featured a Jewish primary subject or character, a scant 1.9% of the books reviewed that year.

As educators, librarians, parents and caregivers, we have the power to curate quality collections, for all readers, that robustly showcase Jewish people and their ample diversity, while also advocating for more published representation. All childrens books can be reviewed with criteria that analyze quality, accuracy, originality and appeal within both text and illustrations. Specifically, through a Jewish lens, we must consider how Jews and Judaism appear on the page. Are stereotypes and tropes perpetuated? Is there overtly harmful content? How does the authors bias show up? Intentional or not, are Jewish identities misrepresented or are they erased entirely? What is not written is just as important to evaluate as what is written.

We need all kinds of Jewish stories. Books with bubbies, bagels and bat mitzvahs. Holidays, history and Hebrew. But we also need underrepresented Jewish stories, imperfect experiences and relationships with Judaism, non-traditional families, and intersectional identities. We lose nothing and gain everything by hearing all Jewish stories.

If I know anything about children, it is this: They are deeply curious, wonder-filled creatures. They breathe in stories and gobble up books, along with their embedded messages about who and what matters in the world. When the majority of stories, characters and creators come from the default identity white, straight, cisgender, non-disabled, Christian we all miss opportunities to meet our global neighbors, and for them to meet us.

Stones erode, paper decomposes, trees topple. But we are here now. We matter now. Let us publish our own stories and carry each others. Representative stories cannot wait. They deserve to be devoured, too.

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Opinion: We need stories that represent - The Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle

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Posted By admin on September 11, 2022

Sept. 9, 2022

By Joseph Dorman

One of the most remarkable figures in Israeli history, Rabbi (Rav) Abraham Isaac Kook, who died in 1935, left a large and complicated legacy.

The country's first Ashkenazi chief rabbi and founder of the modern Chief Rabbinate of Israel, he is still the leading thinker of religious Zionism.

His large and complicated body of thought at the same time nationalist and universalist; rigorous in religious practice and open to modern society; traditional and revolutionary has led to his still being claimed by or attacked by both left and right.

In a series of books in English and Hebrew, including his most recent, "Towards the Mystical Experience of Modernity, The Making of Rav Kook, 1865-1904," professor of Near Eastern and Judaic studies Yehudah Mirsky has sought to present a more richly nuanced and compelling picture of Kook than those presented by his acolytes and critics alike. In so doing, he also brings to life little-known chapters of Jewish thought and history.

Mirsky depicts Kook as a profound, subtle, deeply ethical thinker who sought to resolve the contradictions of Zionist thought and modern Jewish life into a universal messianic vision. In this vision, the Jews' return to Zion to create a just and better society was the first step of the messianic redemption that would save the human race.

"Kook was this magisterial authority of traditional Jewish law, philosophy, and mysticism, with a remarkable command of the entirety of Jewish thought," Mirsky said. "He plunged headfirst into the storm of modernity."

TJE spoke with Mirsky, a faculty member at the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies, about Kook and how the rabbi wound up so misunderstood and criticized.

He was born in 1865 on the western edge of the Russian Empire in Lithuania. The mass migration of Jews to the U.S. and the assimilation of both European and American Jews into gentile society were bringing about the collapse of the traditional Jewish world. At the same time, there was a remarkable Jewish creativity in spirituality, the arts, and communal life.

During his years in Europe, and even more so after he arrived in Palestine in 1904, he was riveted by the Jewish socialist revolutionaries and Zionists who thought of themselves as building a new Jewish society, culture, and eventually, a state and who rebelled against tradition in the name of ideals of social justice and care for Jewish welfare and, crucially, were willing to put their lives on the line for those ideals.

Most Orthodox rabbis of the time rejected secular Zionism. Some chose to work with it but were careful to distance themselves from its efforts to create a new Jewish culture. Rav Kook, alone among his peers but with remarkable stature, affirmed the effort to create a modern Hebrew culture in a new state of Israel as something to be embraced for the betterment of Judaism and the world.

He starts with this conviction that's very much rooted in the Jewish mystical tradition that there is no space devoid of God. And as far as he's concerned, that means that principled, idealistic movements working towards noble goals like a renaissance of the Jewish people and making a better world are expressions of God's presence in the world.

Kook was convinced that he lived during the apocalypse of authority, both secular and religious. He had the conviction that this remarkably dynamic, fluid, unstable historical period meant the world was on the threshold of the messianic era. God was jump-starting a new phase of Jewish history.

As he saw it, all the great contradictions of Jewish and world history were now rising to the surface en route to their final resolution. And so, even secular Zionism had a role to play.

The secular Zionists would undertake the enterprise of building a new Jewish society with vibrant social, economic, and political institutions and would provide a material basis for a greater cultural and spiritual renewal to follow.

For many colleagues, everything he's doing and saying is the worst kind of heresy. This major rabbinic figure is seemingly sanctifying the secular revolution, sanctifying secular Zionism.

Kook didn't put it in these terms, but a part of his argument with his rabbinic colleagues is him saying to them:

"Guys, look, these young people who are rebelling against us are not doing this because they want to eat cheeseburgers. They're moving to Palestine and draining swamps and getting shot at by Arabs.

"And they're saying that they're doing this because we haven't taken good care of the Jewish people, we've fallen down on the job. Our religious ideas are stale, and we have nothing to say about modern philosophy and art and culture. Our religion has become rote and ritualized. And they're right."

Exactly. At one point, Kook says, heresy is coming to our world like a bonfire. It's going to burn everything in its path. And on its smoking embers, we will rebuild the new Judaism.

There is another phrase that appears in his writings at different times "Everything is rising."

This means everything is making itself right. God is this motive force in human culture and history, and Judaism needs to be reborn. Traditional Judaism would open itself to modernity, and those who had fallen away from it, like the secular Zionists, would return to the fold.

A traditional Judaism imbued with a new and vital spirituality, embraced by all Jews and shorn of the narrowness that often pushed away the larger world.

He's not accepted by them either. They don't want to be celebrated by him.

They're like, "Rabbi, that's very sweet of you, but I am not part of your sacred revolution, okay? I'm not God's unwitting instrument for messianic redemption. Get over it."

Yes. But it was really after the Six Day War in 1967 and then the 1973 Yom Kippur War that Zvi Yehudah Kook emerged as a leader in religious Zionism.

He eventually became the spiritual leader of the settlement movement, saying the way to carry forward his father's program was to enhance the sovereign Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria [the West Bank].

Yes and no. Crucially, the [elder] Kook didn't live to see the Holocaust or the creation of the state of Israel. Also, his messianism was different from that of his son.

As the elder Kook saw it, God sent the Jews into exile to purge us of the desire for power and of wanting to rule over other people or use violence for political ends. We learned to be just from our own experience of oppression. When we return to Zion [Israel], we can be different than everyone else.

His son didn't disagree, but after the Holocaust and Arab-Israeli wars, he concluded that nothing was more important than bringing Israeli sovereignty and its messianic fight to all of the biblical land of Israel.

He was not a pacifist and recognized the necessity of violence. What he was and in many ways deeply resembled many other early Zionist thinkers and figures was a tremendous idealist. He thought Jewish politics would be essentially different from non-Jewish politics and more moral. He thought the rabbinic institutions he created would not become politicized but would light the way to the new vibrant Judaism of the future. He thought, as so many did, that the disputes with the Arabs could be resolved peacefully.

First off and as the vast scholarly and popular literature on him (almost all in Hebrew) attests he's a vital and deeply consequential figure in modern Jewish history and thought, and, I argue, in the history of modern religious thought in general.

The sheer richness of his corpus in law, theology, poetry, mysticism, social commentary, and more is worth a lifetime of study. And the institutions he created the Chief Rabbinate, his yeshiva, and in general, the model of rabbinic training and of Jewish education integrating faithfulness to tradition with engagement in society and the world are still very much with us today.

Second, almost nobody thought as deeply as he did about the profound continuities and discontinuities between Zionism and Jewish tradition. Whether one agrees or disagrees with him, dealing with those questions means sooner or later engaging in dialogue with him.

In some ways, if we're thinking for a moment not as historians but as political and moral actors in the present, that isn't the right question.

The question, rather, is, given who we are in the world we live in today and our responsibilities today, how do we, after studying all Rav Kook and so many other thinkers and figures have to teach us choose to act and live in the here and now?

That, as always, is the question, and each one of us has to answer it for ourselves.

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Posted By admin on September 11, 2022

A new project teaches Muslims living in the old Jewish quarters of Moroccan cities about their former residents, and gives them the tools to develop their neighborhoods to welcome Jewish, Israeli tourists

Moroccans now living in the mellahs historic urban neighborhoods in Moroccan cities that were once thriving Jewish quarters do not know anything about the people who lived there before them. These neighborhoods later became small, mostly poor ghettos, with little to no connection to Jews today.

But a new program might change this. Rebuilding Our Homes is a multi-year US Agency for International Development-supported New Partnership Initiative of the American Sephardi Federation and Mimouna Association. It aims to revive the prosperous Jewish life in the historic urban areas in Fez, Essaouira and Rabat, by teaching their current residents about local history, and helping to make them part of the rich heritage of the place.

From right, El Mehdi Boudra, founder/president Mimouna Association; Jason Guberman, executive director, American Sephardi Federation; and Moroccan artist Amina Yabis at the Rebuilding Our Homes exhibit opening at the Mohammed V Foundation in Fez. (Courtesy)

We make the residents of these neighborhoods take part in preserving the place by letting them document and upload photos of old Jewish houses to our archive, and teaching them Hebrew, Jason Guberman, executive director of the American Sephardi Federation, told The Media Line.

Guberman is one of the founders of the three-year project, which still has another 18 months to go.

We wanted to establish a connection between youth and grownups in these neighborhoods and their own history as well as to the rich Jewish heritage surrounding them, he explained.

This is the reason for another workshop that has become part of the project: Judaica and traditional Jewish art.

Today, many of the residents of the mellahs make a living from creating Jewish artifacts and selling them to tourists. Mezuzas, Shabbat candlesticks and other traditional pieces of Judaica made by Muslims are filling the shops in the narrow alleys.

I took a course in traditional Jewish industry, and how to mix it with local Moroccan art, Hicham Essaidi, one of the artisans taking part in the project, told The Media Line. We learned about what tools Jews use for their holidays, whats important in religion and many other nuances.

The course, he explains, was presented as part of a cooperation of the Mimouna Association, the American Sephardi Federation, USAID and the Mohammad V Foundation.

Essaidi said he is excited to meet the expected tourists to the neighborhood and expressed his hope that many Israelis will come to Morocco.

We had to teach people not only the art, but also go deep into the meaning of each artifact, El Mehdi Boudra, president of the Morocco-based Mimouna Association, told the Media Line. These artifacts will be sold to Jewish and Israeli tourists, which we expect in big quantities starting next year, he added.

Some 200,000 Israeli tourists are expected to visit Morocco next year. Israel and Morocco agreed to normalize relations in December 2020 as part of the Abraham Accord

There were only four Hebrew-speaking tour guides in the kingdom before we started the project. Now there are 200, and many more want to learn Hebrew. People are waiting for Jews to come visit, and they are looking forward to interacting with them, Boudra said.

As to his own connection to Judaism, Boudra has a surprising answer.

Im a proud Muslim. Ethnically Im Arab and Amazigh. But culturally Im Moroccan, which means Jewish as well, he said. Morocco was home to the biggest Jewish community in the Muslim world for centuries. Judaism is an integral part of our culture as Moroccans, and we should take pride in that.

Prior to the massive immigration of Moroccan Jews to Israel in the 1960s, there were nearly 250,000 Jews living in the kingdom, in several different cities.

My mom came from Casablanca, where Jews and Muslims lived side by side, so I always heard stories about the Jewish community, without knowing them personally. The younger generation living in the mellahs, however, knows almost nothing about the rich Jewish heritage our country has, said Boudra, whose association is one of several partners supporting the project.

Boudra said that the general public has a positive opinion about the Jews who lived in the mellahs.

We surveyed what people here thought about Jews before we started the project, and discovered 85% of the population has a positive opinion about them, he said. Thats a high support rate, which was important for us to initiate the program.

We also tested what people think of the Abraham Accords and found out that about 93% of people are supportive of (Jews), mainly for economic reasons. Its a good reason, but we wanted to encourage a connection to Jews and Israel that is deeper than just money. The two peoples were close, and could be as close once again, he explained.

A Moroccan Muslim woman diplays her wares in the mellah. (Courtesy/Hicham Essaidi)

Rebuilding Our Homes, including the courses and workshops the program offers to locals, is expected to carry on for another year and a half. Boudra says it should be more than enough.

Our goal was to give people the tools to develop their neighborhoods and make them welcoming for Jewish tourists, because the economic prosperity shouldnt stay only at the high-class resorts and hotels, he said. But now its up to them. We hope the people living in the mellahs take these tools and go forward with them, making this a success story. And we are optimistic, he said. People are already starting to open kosher Moroccan restaurants and show more enthusiasm about Judaism. We hope this continues.

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Posted By admin on September 11, 2022

In bringing The Fabelmans to Toronto, Oscar-winning filmmaker Steven Spielberg unveiled yet another masterpiece in cinema.

Steven Spielberg has always had a way with the camera but what this film does is show audiences just how this love of filmmaking came to be. If youve watched Spielberg on HBO or read Joseph McBrides book, youre already at an advantage. Its why none of the film came to me as a surprise because I was already familiar with what he went through during his childhood.

We go from Spielberg beginning to fall in love with film upon being mesmerized by Cecil B. DeMilles The Greatest Show on Earth in 1952 to the events that would shape his future in filmmaking as we know it: the moves to both Arizona and Northern California. As we grow older, we see Sammy Fabelman (Gabriel LaBelle) becoming a blossoming filmmaker during his high school years. The joy in watching thisaside from Spielberg bring back his parents by way of Burt (Paul Dano) and Mitzi Fabelman (Michelle Williams)is getting to watch Spielberg not only direct the film hes making for the audience but the many films within the film that he shot as a child. Its so much fun getting to see a glimpse of the filmmakers childhood while hes behind the camera. One can only assume that longtime film editor Michael Kahn is on double-duty here.

The film isnt without its sad moments. Anybody familiar with Spielbergs work already knows that the broken family theme is one that repeatedly shows up throughout the course of the film. Its a theme thats front and center during the film. It is not an understatement to say just how much the divorce impacted him and film audiences in the years to come. Broken family issues notwithstanding, Judaism is up front and center during the film. If youre Jewish, youre bound to get some big laughs during some of the moments here. I know that I certainly had to restrain my laughter more than a few times. If youve ever been Jewish in December, you should know what I mean!

Speaking of Judaism, the film does not shy away from antisemitism. The antisemitism that Spielberg dealt with as a child is what lessened his observance during his adolescence. Its not easy to watch on screenhes called the K word and hes bullied for being a Jew. And yet, in making the Ditch Day 1964 film, Spielbergs Fabelman comes out on top. But anyway, making Schindlers Listis what brought him closer to Judaism than ever before. Schindlers will forever be his greatest legacy because it lead to the USC Shoah Foundation and getting Holocaust survivors to go on record in telling their stories.

Judd Hirsch isnt in the film for long but he turns in one of the best supporting performances this year as Sammys great-uncle, Boris, on his mothers side. Michelle Williams also shines in her performance as Mitzi. And yes, she joins the list of non-Jewish actresses starring as Jewish women on camera. While I firmly believe that Jewish actors need to be given more opportunities to play Jews on screen, Steven Spielberg has more than earned the right to do what he wants in telling his story. Seth Rogen portrays Bennie Loewy, who is Burts best friend and an uncle figure to Sammy. Of course, the big breakout star of the film is Gabriel LaBelle as the teenage Spielberg. Hes certainly going places.

The downside of this film is that it marks the end of an era for Spielberg and the legendary John Williams. Spielberg was definitive during the press conference when he said that he was not retiring. However, Williams is retiring from film composing with Indiana Jones 5 in summer 2023. The duo have had a long relationship dating back to The Sugarland Express in 1974. Take in every bit of the score because after 29 films, there will never be another Williams score for a Spielberg-directed film. Its been a pleasure getting to watch their collaborations over the years.

Outside of Toronto, audiences wont get to see Spielbergs first-ever festival film until November. First up is closing night of AFI Fest on November 6. This will be followed by the films limited theatrical release on November 11 before going wide on November 23. Listen, I know that some readers will wait for the film to hit Peacock but I highly recommend seeing this on the biggest screen possible. I dont know about you but I know what Im doing over Thanksgiving weekend!

The Fabelmans is one of the finest Steven Spielberg films and it lands the upper tier of his filmography. This is the sort of movie that the Oscars tend to love. Going into TIFF, this was my most anticipated film along with Glass Onion. Currently, its my #1 film of the year. Much like Kenneth Branaghs Belfast in 2021, this is a film that Steven Spielberg could only make after his parents died. Hes been wanting to make it since 1999 but the wait was worth it. Spielberg dedicates the film in memory of his father, Arnold, who died in August 2020.

DIRECTOR: Steven SpielbergSCREENWRITERS: Steven Spielberg & Tony KushnerCAST: Michelle Williams, Paul Dano, Seth Rogen, Gabriel LaBelle, Jeannie Berlin, Julia Butters, Robin Bartlett, Keeley Karsten, and Judd Hirsch

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Posted By admin on September 11, 2022

The opinions expressed in this article are the author's and not necessarily those of Brandeis University.

Sept. 9, 2022

By Rabbi Ron Kronish '68

One of my favorite High Holidays prayers is the U-vkhein, several paragraphs added to the Amidah, especially for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

The Amidah, said while standing (Amidah means standing in Hebrew), is the central prayer of the Jewish liturgy and recited throughout the year.

The U-vkhein particularizes the prayer for the "Days of Awe," as the days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are known. It consists of three petitions to God that explore the constant tension in Judaism between universalism and particularism, between thinking about how we can make the upcoming year a better one for ourselves and our community and also for all of humanity.

The first paragraph stresses the universal. We ask God to care about all his children all of humanity:

God, instill Your awe in all You have made, and fear of You in all You have created, so that all You have fashioned revere You, and all You have created bow in recognition, and all be bound together, carrying out Your will wholeheartedly. [Translation taken from Mahzor Lev Shalem, published by the Rabbinical Assembly, 2010].

The overarching message: We Jews are connected to all humanity. We all are in this together. We are mindful that we are part of the human family.

Yet, Jews are also a specific people, something we have been since biblical times when we left Egypt and received the Torah [first five books of the Hebrew Bible] at Mount Sinai in the wilderness. We have a particular destiny and a special land, Israel, which is central to our Jewish identity. And therefore, this set of unique prayers asks the Divine Presence to be mindful of us as a people:

Bestow honor to your people, God, praise to those who revere You, hope to those who seek You, recognition to those who await You, joy to Your land, gladness to Your city.

"Your city" refers to Israel, specifically Jerusalem, which has always had a special place in our prayers and hearts.

Thus, the universal and the particular go together. It is not either-or, but both. We are a people, and we are part and parcel of humanity.

Once we realize this, the prayer goes on to say, then we can be happy and fulfilled:

Then the righteous, beholding this will rejoice, the upright will be glad, the pious will celebrate with song, evil will be silenced, and all wickedness will disappear like smoke when You remove the tyranny of arrogance from the earth.

This is truly aspirational. It helps us seek to do better in the year ahead.

When we all partner with the Divine Presence, we can all work together to combat evil. We can create a world of harmony and respect rather than one of constant confrontation and incitement. We can and must cooperate with God to get rid of tyranny and arrogance, especially the tyranny of arrogance.

When we do all this, in the words of the prophet Isaiah which are quoted in this prayer: "The Lord of hosts will be exalted through justice, and the holy God sanctified through righteousness."

These special prayers, like many others on these holidays, should motivate us to act for a better world, a world where justice and righteousness prevail.

During this High Holiday season, may we be mindful of our responsibilities to the human family to combating poverty and injustice wherever we find it and to the Jewish people, in Israel and in the Diaspora.

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Posted By admin on September 11, 2022

Israeli musical group Yamma Ensemble has taken YouTube by storm, racking up quite literally millions of views for their mesmerizing blend of Middle Eastern music sung in Hebrew, drawn from the vast diaspora of Jewish migration throughout that region and North Africa.

What: Race Brook Lodge Barnspace Concert

Who: Yamma Ensemble from Israel

Where: Race Brook Lodge, 864 S. Undermountain Road, Sheffield

When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 14

Tickets: $20 to $30. Stagecoach Tavern open for dining before the event.

Box Office/Information: http://www.rblodge.com, 413-229-2916

This fall, following European summer travels from Denmark to Croatia, they will embark on a cross-country tour of the United States, taking them from Massachusetts to California, before closing out the year in Morocco and Turkey.

They'll launch their North American travels in Sheffield, at the rustic Race Brook Lodge.

We are all excited about coming to the U.S., said vocalist and ensemble leader Talya Solan by phone from Tel Aviv in Israel.

Our last U.S. tour was 10 years ago in 2012. Most of our YouTube audience is there. We are rehearsing and preparing ourselves, and hope everything will go smooth because we have a really tight schedule.

Solan formed Yamma which means toward the sea in Hebrew, and mother in Arabic in 2010 in preparation for that original U.S. tour. With a few personnel adjustments after one year, the second year we toured very successfully, and are now together 12 years, she said.

Yamma, which is a five-member group, will perform as a quartet at Race Brook Lodge.

Solan studied music theory at Tel Aviv University, and took private voice lessons.

Ive been performing since 2005, doing my own music and music direction, she said.

While she is also a guest singer on other projects, Yamma is Solans primary musical outlet. Im the one who leads it and chooses the material, she said in teamwork with her fellow musicians, she noted, all of whom are in high demand for other work.

Israeli musical group Yamma Ensemble will perform Wednesday, Sept. 14, at Race Brook Lodge in Sheffield.

Yonnie Dror is the wind instrument player. Hes amazing, he plays Middle Eastern instruments and also Western saxophone, Solan said. He is especially acclaimed for blowing the Shofar, a rams horn more typically heard at Jewish New Year religious services. Its not an instrument, but he knows how to bring out a very good sound from it, she added.

Sahar David is stepping in for Yammas longtime percussionist, Nur Bar Goren, who stayed home with his new baby. Besides playing percussion, David also sings and plays the ney, a Middle Eastern flute.

Aviv Behar is making his U.S. debut, playing mostly traditional Middle Eastern stringed instruments like the oud and kopuz. He has a successful career performing Israeli pop music, Solan said, but the Middle Eastern side he brings to Yamma is totally different. Its really amazing that each one of this group has other colors, other faces to show in the music.

Behar also composes and writes Hebrew lyrics. I love the way he writes poetry, Solan said.

Yamma mostly performs live outside of Israel. Im singing mainly in Hebrew, we are the only group from Israel that exports Hebrew lyrics, Solan said. Outside the country, most Israeli groups sing languages of the Jewish diaspora like Yiddish, she explained.

Hebrew is the most ancient language, it has been related to Judaism since biblical times. Its the only dead language that was revived and is still spoken.

Some of Yammas songs include Arabic lyrics, and concerts often begin with a song that transitions from Arabic to Hebrew.

Weve tried to collaborate with Arab groups, Solan said, but its very tough, because they have problems if they are seen with Israelis. We wanted to make a collaboration to launch a new album where Im singing in Arabic, and found a group we liked very much, but they told us very gently they are not available.

Unlike more familiar European Ashkenazi and Sephardic Judaism, Yamma plays music drawn from the rich Jewish cultures of the Mizrahi diaspora, that stretches from Morocco to former Soviet lands. Their music is both contemporary and traditional.

We honor and respect our origins and our heritage, Solan said a heritage that includes mostly non-European countries, quite typical for Israelis their age. In such a relatively young country as Israel, she explained, people started to immigrate during the 1950s, '60s and '70s, from different corners of the world, and mixed with each other.

My mothers origins are from Bulgaria, my fathers are from Yemen. Yonnis father is from Iraq, Aviv is a mixture of parents from Turkey and Bulgaria. Each one of us brings origins from both sides.

They are all native Israelis, known as Sabras. We were born here, but when you go to your grandmothers and she speaks [another language] with your mother, you cant miss it, Salon said.

Migrant Jews brought the ancient Middle Eastern instruments from their native lands, which Yamma uses to perform their music, along with Hassidic tunes, in a heady mix of religious and secular songs.

Musically, Israel has been greatly influenced by neighboring Arab countries such as Syria, Lebanon and Egypt, Solan said. Some musical traditions are instantly recognizable Arab music with its quarter tones, Bulgarias polyphonic harmonizing choirs. But there is not something that you can say, this is Israeli, besides the mix of cultures, she said.

For people accustomed to a pianos half tone, the lute-like oud's quarter tone might sound out of tune, she cautioned.

Yamma draws age-old sounds and rhythms into contemporary compositions.

[Audiences] are going to hear the tapestry, the color, the richness of Israeli contemporary culture, the traditions but also our own creations, [that reflect] whats happened in our lives. We hope they will enjoy it.

Solan is looking forward to starting Yammas U.S. tour at Race Brook Lodge. Its not hectic or noisy, thats why we chose it. After a very long flight, were landing in a place that is so calming.

The venue's general manager, Casey Meade Rothstein-Fitzpatrick, is only too happy to host them. A decade ago, the widely-traveled documentary filmmaker took over the reins of the historic inn, restaurant and music venue his family has owned for more than 30 years. He brings eclectic musical interests to programming live performances in its 200-seat Barnspace concert venue and basement Down County Social Club speakeasy, the latter now returning to weekly events.

The Stagecoach Tavern restaurant, normally closed on Wednesdays, will be open for people coming to this concert, he said.

This is the first group from Israel he has presented. Its beautiful music, I dont need any other reason, he said. Theyre a fantastic ensemble, I listened to them online and was inspired by their musicianship and unique sound. Were always interested in welcoming really gifted artists from different cultures, and exposing people to music they wouldnt otherwise see live.

Besides American music bands, Rothstein-Fitzpatrick has orchestrated an impressive lineup of world music. Weve hosted Alsarah and the Nubatones, a contemporary urban ensemble out of New York with musicians mostly from North Africa and Egypt, he said. Also artists from Crete, members of Brooklyn Raga Massive collective, an African kora player, Indian classical music, Dominican and Brazilian bossa nova music, Indo-Middle Eastern-influenced Epichorus, and esoteric ensemble Tribe of Love almost annually.

We try to mix it up a bit in the genres, he said.

I have equal amounts of respect for people that want to preserve their tradition as I have for others who want to embellish and expand on it, he added. Music and the arts are often the best ways to have a window on to different cultures.

If You Go:

What: Race Brook Lodge Barnspace Concert

Who: Yamma Ensemble from Israel

Where: Race Brook Lodge, 864 S. Undermountain Road, Sheffield

When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 14

Tickets: $20 to $30. Stagecoach Tavern open for dining before the event.

Box Office/Information: http://www.rblodge.com, 413-229-2916

Continued here:

Yamma Ensemble will bring music of the Mizrahi Jewish Diaspora to Sheffield's Race Brook Lodge - Berkshire Eagle

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