Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on July 14, 2022

As most Australians were still receiving their third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in early 2022, Israel had already started injecting its residents with a fourth jab.

The Middle Eastern nation became the first place in the world to offer its adult citizens a second booster in January, just as the Omicron wave charged across the globe.

Any Israeli over the age of 18 was able to get the jab, as long as five months had passedsince they received their previous booster or had recovered from the illness.

More than 830,000 Israelis mostly the elderly, health workers and immunocompromised residents have so far taken up that offer.

Senior citizen Annette Bellows was one of them.

"Oh yes, I wanted to get it," she said.

"I felt much safer and better about my chances with another booster.I still got COVID, but presumably, I got it lighter, I don't know."

The World Health Organizationis yet to give an official recommendation on the efficacy of a fourth COVID-19 dose.

Australia last week expanded access to the second booster.

While the nation's expert vaccine advisory bodyrecommended jabs for Australians over 50, it also gave those aged 30 and older the option to get one if they wanted to.

Experts are divided on the efficacy of a second booster for younger people.

But Israeli researchers say Australia's most vulnerable residents will benefit from the expanded rollout.

Earlier this year, researchers studied the effects of a fourth shot on the immune responses of young Israeli health workers.

Theresults suggest theeffectiveness of the fourth dose is no different from the effectiveness of a third dose.

While the jury may be out on the benefits for younger people, Israeli researchers say one age group clearly receives significant additional protection.

Results of a newly published study by Tel Aviv University and Ben-Gurion University of the Negevshowed the fourth COVID-19 vaccine reduced the risk of death by 72 per cent amongIsrael's elderly.

"This is a huge step forward to control the spread of COVIDin Australia and other countries, that plan to introduce the fourth dose," lead researcher Khitam Muhsen said.

The study of 40,000nursing home residentsfound those vaccinated with a fourth dose of the Pfizer vaccine had a 34 per cent reduced risk of contracting the Omicron variant.

They also had a 64to 67 per cent reduced risk of requiring hospitalisation.

"When there was a variant that had so many mutations, there was a lot of questions about whether the vaccine would be protective, or effective," Dr Muhsen said.

"Our study shows the fourth dose is clearly protective."

Another study of over-60s, published in May, found while the fourth dose's protection against catching COVID-19 waned after about a month, the additional booster gave three times higher protection from severe disease, compared to having three doses.

The available vaccines on the market werebased on the original SARS-CoV-2 strain first detected in China in 2020.

But Dr Muhsen said the fourth shot still appeared to have some protection against variants such as Omicron.

"We have demonstrated that by enhancing the levels of neutralising antibodies, we can provide cross-protection against new variants that have so many mutations," she said.

Another consideration for young people contemplating whether to get a fourth shot is the looming possibility of an Omicron-specific vaccine.

Moderna and Pfizer both say they are close to releasing new booster shotsthat target the BA.1 sub-variant of Omicron.

However, so-called "sticky" sub-variantsof Omicron,BA.4 and BA.5, are considered highly infectious and are racing around the globe.

Pfizer saidit should be able to adapt its Omicron booster to provide protection against the newsub-lineages by October.

Israel has long placed itself at the forefront of the world's vaccination schedule, becoming the first country to approve the third and fourth COVID-19 vaccine doses.

In the next few weeks, it will become one of the few countries to vaccinate some of its youngest citizens thoseaged between six months and five years old.

Health officials have also scrapped a number of restrictions including mask mandates, COVID-19 tests at airports and lockdowns.

But the country is by no means out of the woods.

Cases there appear to be rising again, with more than 70,000 infections recorded in the past week, according to Johns Hopkins University.

But the number of deaths associated with the virus has been stable and in single digits for several months.

The vaccine rollout has had a significant impact on daily life in Israel, according to infectious diseases specialist Eyal Leshem from Sheba Medical Centre.

"Israel was very rapid in achieving high coverage in the adult population," Professor Leshem said.

"We are currently at a situation where over 90 per cent of Israelis that are aged over 30 have received three or more doses."

Professor Leshem said vaccines have had a huge impact on reducing severe disease, hospitalisation and deaths.

"Compared to other countries of our size, we've seen a lower mortality rate," he said.

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Posted By admin on July 14, 2022

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill excavation participants at the Huqoq dig in June 2022, including graduate students and alumni. Bottom row, left to right (seated): David Richman, Christine Stamey, Aislynn Grantz, Madison Brinkley and Suzy Lagunas. Top row, left to right (standing): Emily Branton, Jodi Magness, Jocelyn Burney, Matthew Grey, Grace Curry and Jada Enoch (top right). Photo Jim Haberman

(RNS) The earliest known depiction of biblical heroines Jael and Deborah was discovered at an ancient synagogue in Israel, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill announced last week. A rendering of one figure driving a stake through the head of a military general was the initial clue that led the team to identify the figures, according to project director Jodi Magness.

This is extremely rare, Magness, an archaeologist and religion professor at UNC-Chapel Hill, told Religion News Service. I dont know of any other ancient depictions of these heroines.

The nearly 1,600-year-old mosaics were uncovered by a team of students and specialists as part of The Huqoq Excavation Project, which resumed its 10th season of excavations this summer at a synagogue in the ancient Jewish village of Huqoq in Lower Galilee. Mosaics were first discovered at the site in 2012, and Magness said the synagogue, which dates to the late fourth or early fifth century, is unusually large and richly decorated. In addition to its extensive, relatively well-preserved mosaics, the site is adorned with wall paintings and carved architecture.

The fourth chapter of the Book of Judges tells the story of Deborah, a judge and prophet who conquered the Canaanite army alongside Israelite general Barak. After the victory, the passage says, the Canaanite commander Sisera fled to the tent of Jael, where she drove a tent peg into his temple and killed him.

The newly discovered mosaic panels depicting the heroines are made of local cut stone from Galilee and were found on the floor on the south end of the synagogues west aisle. The mosaic is divided into three sections, one with Deborah seated under a palm tree looking at Barak, a second with what appears to be Sisera seated and a third with Jael hammering a peg into a bleeding Sisera.

Magness said its impossible to know why this rare image was included but noted that additional mosaics depicting events from the Book of Judges, including renderings of Sampson, are on the south end of the synagogues east aisle. According to the UNC-Chapel Hill press release, the events surrounding Jael and Deborah might have taken place in the same geographical region as Huqoq, providing at least one possible reason for the mosaic.

RELATED: Earliest mention of Yahweh found in archaeological dump

The value of our discoveries, the value of archaeology, is that it helps fill in the gaps in our information about, in this case, Jews and Judaism in this particular period, explained Magness. It shows that there was a very rich and diverse range of views among Jews.

Magness said rabbinic literature doesnt include descriptions about figure decoration in synagogues so the world would never know about these visual embellishments without archaeology.

Judaism was dynamic through late antiquity. Never was Judaism monolithic, said Magness. Theres always been a wide range of Jewish practices, and I think thats partly what we see.

These groundbreaking mosaics have been removed from the synagogue for conservation, but Magness hopes to return soon to make additional discoveries. The Huqoq Excavation Project, sponsored by UNC-Chapel Hill, Austin College, Baylor University, Brigham Young University and the University of Toronto, paused in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic and is scheduled to resume next summer.

RELATED: The scientific meltdown over a controversial discovery of biblical Sodom

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Israeli Communications Minister Yoaz Hendel has claimed that he was threatened by arepresentative ofYaakov Litzman, a formerUnited Torah Judaism minister, over Hendels kosher cellphone reform.

Hendel made the revelations regarding the alleged threats at aconference in Shoham, Israel, on July 12.

A man came to me on behalf of Litzman, and clarified to me that if I touch the topic of cellphones in the Haredi sector, I will be erased. The man said, You will be burnt politically,' said Hendel, according to The Jerusalem Post.

A so-called kosher cellphone is a mobile device that can generally only make or receive phone calls and is not connected to the internet.

The devices are widely used by Haredi Jews, who comprise a number of ultra-Orthodox sects of Judaism and make up12.6 percent of Israels population and 16 percent of Israeli Jews.

Until recently,the ultra-Orthodox Rabbinic Committee for Communications maintained oversight of all devices used by Haredi Jews.

The committee approved only certain telecommunication companies and blocked some phone numbers from being accessed by Haredi members, including government welfare agencies, hotlines for sexual and domestic violence support, and secular organizations that help people trying to leave the Haredi community, Religion News Service reported.

The committee alsoworked withcellphone providers to create easily identifiable and distinct phone numbers for the devices, making it clear if a caller was using a supervised or unsupervised device.

However, in May 2022, Hendel ushered in a reform allowing thekosher cellphone market to be regulated by the government as opposed to the Rabbinic Committee for Communications.

Under the new law, which is set to take effect on July 31, Haredi Jews will have more freedom when it comes to Kosher phones, including the ability to change their mobile plans and decide limits on content restrictions without the supervision or oversight of a rabbi.

The decision sparked a backlash fromultra-Orthodox leaders who fear it will reduce their oversight over members, and protests erupted inJerusalem, sometimes turning violent.

However, Hendel defended his decision at the July 12 conference, stating that Haredi citizens should have the same opportunities as other Israeli citizens to access thecellular company, type of package, and type of device they wish.

I needed to decide whether to take a political risk or to ignore the issue, like my predecessors did, Hendel said. I decided that I am deciding [what is best] for Israels Haredi citizens, even though I know they are not my electorate.

The Haredi political operators work for themselves. [They] raise prices and limit the public. They turn a blind eye toward discrimination against Sephardi girls in Ashkenazi institutions. These operators are the opponents of the Haredi public, not me, Hendel said.

Every decision has a political price, he added. But it is unacceptable that ministers reach their positions and then only deal with survival instead of making decisions for public benefit.

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Katabella Roberts is a reporter currently based in Turkey. She covers news and business for The Epoch Times, focusing primarily on the United States.

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Longtime Mkor Shalom member Steve Friedman at the new and unified Congregation Kol Ami in Cherry Hill. (Photo by Sharla Feldscher)

On June 26 at Mkor Shalom in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, Rabbi Jennifer Frenkel took the Torahs out of the ark and handed them to the seven past presidents standing on the bimah. The group then joined hundreds of their fellow congregants in marching about two miles from their Evesham Road home to their new home: Temple Emanuel on Springdale Road, also in Cherry Hill.

Later that day, two of South Jerseys biggest Reform synagogues unified under the name of Congregation Kol Ami, which means voice of my people.

The new community of about 700 families held its first Shabbat service on July 1. Frenkel, the former leader of Mkor Shalom and the new senior rabbi of Kol Ami, led the service from the bimah.

Marylee Alperin, who with her husband Stuart Alperin was one of the founders of Mkor Shalom in 1974, watched Stuart accept one of the Torahs from Frenkel as a past president before the march to their new temple. Then the couple walked to Springdale Road together.

It was beautiful, Marylee said.

The Reform temples are unifying because it just made sense, according to leaders from both institutions. Mkor Shalom and Temple Emanuel saw their respective memberships decline from over 1,000 to about 300 to 350 in recent years. In becoming one, they could add members, sell Mkor Shaloms building and devote their resources to a single location.

The June 26 March of the Torahs, as a press release described it, was the culmination of a two-year process made possible by the retirement of Rabbi Jerome P. David, who led Temple Emanuel for 47 years. Davids decision allowed Frenkel, who was ordained in 2009, to become the senior rabbi of the unified congregation.

But even with their senior rabbi role figured out, the synagogues would not have proceeded without the support of their congregants. On Jan. 24, 98% of them voted to come together, according to former Mkor Shalom president and Kol Ami co-president Drew Molotsky. A few weeks ago, about 300 members marched together with the Torahs. The new name was submitted by a congregant.

I believe that change is a good thing, said Amy Sussman, a Temple Emanuel member for 11 years. Im excited to make new friends and make our community larger.

For Mkor Shalom congregants, the change was a little more bittersweet, as they were leaving their building. Sharla Feldscher, a Voorhees resident and PR executive who wrote the release about the March of the Torahs, was a member at Mkor from the beginning.

She sang in the choir there for over three decades; her daughters were confirmed there; her granddaughter went to preschool there.

During the last Shabbat service in the building on June 24, Feldscher and other choir members cried and hugged. They looked out at fellow members, who looked back.

It was a love fest, Feldscher said.

But the Mkor alum is also excited to become a Kol Ami member. She said shes looking forward to meeting new people.

Two days after that final service, she watched the presidents place the Torahs in the new ark at the conclusion of the March of the Torahs. At that moment, it felt like we were a part of it, Feldscher explained.

Marylee Alperin felt the same way. She called the transition difficult at first. But she kept reminding herself that she wanted all of their efforts over the years to live on.

We must perpetuate Judaism, Alperin said.

If the last Shabbat service at Mkor Shalom was emotional, the first one at Kol Ami was hopeful, according to Sussman. People were saying hello to each other and starting conversations.

It was different, but it was a good different, she said.

The 39-year-old is part of a group of about 15 Emanuel families called the up-and-comers. The parents are around Sussmans age and the kids are going through preschool, religious school and Jewish life at the Cherry Hill temple.

The Sussmans moved to South Jersey because they wanted their two children to grow up in a more Jewish area, the mom said. Susan Marinoff, 40, joined Emanuel with her husband and three children because she always felt more connected to her Jewish friends growing up, and she wanted the same thing for her own kids.

Rob Baron, another up-and-comer at Emanuel, also said it was important for his two children to grow up in a synagogue. Now, with the two temples unifying, Reform Judaism in South Jersey will have strength in numbers, he said. That strength will give his kids a place they can call home.

Its every parents hope, Baron explained. So that when they leave the house, they take those ideals with them and build their own life in Judaism. JE

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In 1990, American Jews decided they had no future.

That was the year when the National Jewish Population Survey (NJPS) revealed that more than half of Americas Jews, 52%, were intermarried.

Intermarried couples werent raising their children Jewish, according to the NJPS survey, so it was assumed their grandchildren wouldnt be Jewish either. It was only a matter of time before American Jews disappeared.

A second Holocaust is how one group of Orthodox rabbis described what was happening.

Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz warned that Jews were in danger of disappearing. Intermarriage was a threat to our survival as a people.

It hasnt turned out that way.

Recent surveys by Brandeis Universitys Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies and the Pew Research Center show that 7.6 million Americans identify as Jewish, a 35% increase since 1990.

Immigration by Jews from the former Soviet Union, Israel and elsewhere accounts for some of the increase.

But the other principal cause is intermarriage.

According to Pew, about two-thirds of intermarried couples raise their children Jewish. In a typical intermarried family one Jewish parent and two kids this means the Jewish population doubles in a generation.

Intermarriage boosting the number of American Jews was not a scenario many doomsayers imagined possible.

To be sure, some scholars remain pessimistic about American Jewrys future.

They argue that, although the children of intermarried couples identify as Jewish, they lack the commitment to Jewish learning and culture that previous generations held.

But Len Saxe, Brandeis Klutznick Professor of Contemporary Jewish Studies, sees it differently.

Judaism and Jewish culture are flourishing. American Jews express their Jewishness in diverse ways. But for most, it is a valued part of their identity.

When the NJPS study on intermarriage appeared in 1990, Barry Shrage was three years into his 30-year tenure as head of Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston.

He says the typical reaction to NJPS findings was a combination of panic, despair, and rage at the Jews who supposedly abandoned their religion. The consensus was that Jews should do everything possible to prevent interfaith marriage.

Shrage, now head of Brandeis Initiative for Jewish Identity, urged another strategy: Make them feel welcome.

CJP now included a message encouraging the participation of interfaith families, couples and significant others in all its activities in its correspondence and invitations.

In the 1980s and 1990s, other Jewish organizations and the Reform Judaism movement also grew more accepting of interfaith families.

In 2013, Pew released another survey of American Jews showing nearly two-thirds of intermarried couples were now bringing up their kids Jewish.

In a 2017 article, Brandeis Universitys Saxe and several colleagues attributed the transformation, in part, to the more welcoming and inclusive attitudes and practices toward intermarried families by Jewish organizations.

For more than two decades, Hadassah-Brandeis Institute (HBI) research associate Keren McGinity has studied what motivates Jews who intermarry to raise their children Jewish. Shes found the decisive factor is the mothers wishes.

In earlier generations, women who married outside their faith had less influence in determining their childrens religion. But, as McGinity states in her 2009 book, Still Jewish: A History of Women and Intermarriage in America, feminism empowered women to bring their kids up as Jews.

The most recent Pew Report, out in 2020, found that children of intermarried parents whose mothers are Jewish were 1.86 times more likely to be raised exclusively Jewish than those whose fathers are Jewish.

But Sylvia Fishman, Brandeis Joseph and Esther Foster Professor Emerita in Judaic Studies, says intermarriage has put American Judaism at risk of becoming bland, superficial, and meaningless.

She says the generation of American Jews she began studying more than two decades ago experienced a profound connection to Judaism.

They felt their Judaism in their kishkes, she says, using the Yiddish word for gut.

But, Fishman says millennials, especially those who grew up in intermarried households, have a much more superficial commitment to Judaism.

As a result, she says, the number of Jews may not be dropping, but Jewish culture is fading from a large segment of the Jewish population.

But HBIs McGinity, who also serves as interfaith specialist at the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, remains optimistic.

She cautions against pessimism. Judaism has a remarkable staying power in the face of threats far greater than intermarriage.

Despite past predictions of Jewrys demise, the reverse happened.

Right now, she says, were in a renaissance.

The author is the editor of The Jewish Experience. A version of this article originally appeared on The Jewish Experience, Brandeis website devoted to Jewish issues.

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Repair the World Detroit and The Well both nominated Lindsay Ottersen, 38, of Detroit as Volunteer of the Week for her active dedication to giving back throughout the community.

Lindsay came to a Detroit Community Fridge cooking event this past winter having not heard of the community aid project before and now routinely drops off food for the fridges out of the kindness of her heart, said Rachel Wasserman, a senior fellow with Repair the World Detroit.

Ottersen says she has had a passion to volunteer since she was a teen and continues to give back when she can.

Ottersen, a Michigan native, briefly moved to Texas and then returned to Gross Pointe. She now calls Detroit her home.

When I moved into the city, I thought it was super important to try to engage in the community and make an effort to volunteer with a few different organizations, she said.

Covenant House, which offers support services to young people in need, is one of the organizations. Ottersen had been on the board of the nonprofit for the last three years and recently stepped down to focus on exams for her career.

These are young adults, between the ages of 18 to 24, who are kind of in limbo as far as trying to get on their feet after being released into the community from foster care or whatever they were in, she said.

One of the organizations biggest fundraisers is Sleep Out, where once a year in the middle of winter they sleep out in solidarity to raise funds for the organization.

Every year, we get between $30,000 and $50,000. Over the years, I think Ive personally raised a little over $8,000, she said.

Aside from working a full time job as an insurance agent, Ottersen says the inspiration of giving back comes from the ideologies of Judaism to repair the world.

I think its important that we look beyond ourselves, she said. While its important to take care of ourselves and our families, its also important to take care of the strangers that are in our community, that are kind of the unknown family. Theyre part of us, and we all depend on each other even if we dont necessarily see or feel it in the day to day.

When Ottersen moved to Detroit over four years ago, she saw a need she could fill with Little Free Libraries, a nonprofit that promotes neighborhood book exchanges.

I was working as a substitute teacher at the time and was chatting with my library and the teachers who I was working with. They gave me thousands of books to help stock up the little free libraries throughout my neighborhood. I have continued to keep them stocked every month to keep it running for the kids, Ottersen said.

Since the pandemic hit, Ottersen says shes shifted her attention and changed the little free libraries into pantries because she was worried about the food scarcity and thats when she learned about the Detroit Community Fridge.

I started making sandwiches for them and they asked me to make 60 sandwiches and bring them over for lunch. And I try to load up every time I go grocery shopping for myself and get a couple extra cereals or whatever I can afford that week to give to the Detroit Community Fridge.

Ottersen feels its important to set aside time, money or items like books or food whatever you can give to help fill the needs of the community.

You can commit an entire year, or every weekend a year, or just a few hours one time in one year; but the end result is that the world is better off because of what you did. Your light and love and positivity lasts much longer than those hours, those weekends, that year.

If you would like to nominate someone to be the next volunteer of the week, send a nomination with a short paragraph telling us why tosocialmedia@thejewishnews.com.

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SUMMER VACATION SERIES

Edited by Aryeh Werth

Is it proper to participate in higher risk activities like whitewater rafting or mountain climbing?

Summer is a time for vacation and for many that means a total change from the normal routine. From the earliest times man has sought adventure, but in ancient times through the Middle Ages that was more in the manner of exploration, seeking new vistas and thus human habitation spread from the cradle of civilization all across the globe.

It was the Greeks who introduced adventure as a sport that challenged one to perform almost impossible physical feats. Do we as Jews worship such type of sport? Surely, we should not. However, we too need at times some recreation and today that seems to include challenging sport activities.

The Torah (Devarim 4:15) warns us, Vnishmartem meod lnafshoseichem Be very heedful of your souls. The Rambam (Hilchos Rotzeach uShmiras Nefesh, chap. 11:5) states, There are many things that our Sages forbade due to danger to life and limb and one who transgresses and declares I will endanger myself is liable for stripes due for his rebellion (makos mardus).

Even though there is an element of danger in every type of sport that one wished to engage in, it is not within our power to restrain individuals. Therefore, it is crucial that one engages professionals in that particular sport who can give the proper training and safety measures.

One cannot expect to have the miraculous outcome that Avraham Avinu experienced in Ur Casdim when he was thrown into the Kivshan Haesh fiery furnace. That was an adventure and rescue beyond our comprehension.

Rabbi Yaakov Klass is Rav of Khal Bnei Matisyahu in Flatbush; Torah Editor of The Jewish Press; and Presidium Chairman, Rabbinical Alliance of America/Igud HaRabbonim.

* * *

There is a fundamental Jewish principle encapsulated in the Torahs mandate of Vnishmartem meod lnafshoseichem. Our lives are gifts from Hashem; as much as we aspire to eternal life inOlam Haba,that can only be attained by properly exploiting our opportunities for spiritual growth in this world. Endangering our lives is both sinful and foolish.

Of course, there is risk in even innocuous activities. A person must therefore assess the realistic hazards in any endeavor and decide accordingly. Having gone whitewater rafting myself, it strikes me as not very dangerous at all. If I ever get the urge to go mountain climbing, I do it virtually, the Jewish way (Ill watch a video of Gentiles climbing mountains). Bungee jumping, despite the statistics that imply safety, seems like a good way to court death or serious injury. It actually provides people with the sensation that they are about to die, only to be saved at the last moment. No thank you.

Each activity must be weighed based on its real risks, its potential rewards versus other means of achieving the same or similar enjoyment, and better ways of spending our time. And during the Nine Days all hazardous activities should be eschewed.

It also behooves us to recognize that too many young people drown every summer in avoidable swimming accidents, even though swimming seems not to be inherently dangerous. From a Torah perspective, safety is a more important value than fun.

Rabbi Steven Pruzansky is Israel Region Vice-President for the Coalition for Jewish Values and author of Repentance for Life now available from Kodesh Press.

* * *

A cardinal principle in Judaism is that Hashem gave each of us a guf to house our souls and entrusted us to look after them in order to serve him to the best of our abilities. In fact, the body really doesnt belong to us, rather it is given to us to function as custodians for it. For this reason, explains Radvaz, it is forbidden to damage ones own body. Certainly, suicide is strictly forbidden just as it is assur to murder another. The fact that the body is ours only makes suicide more of a chet, just as we understand that killing ones own relative is a worse offence than killing a stranger.

From this we understand that putting our lives in danger is also forbidden by Torah Law, as it is written in the well-known verse, Vnishmartem meod lnafshoseichem. Even though in context this pasuk refers to guarding our neshamos from sin, Chazal understand that this applies as well to shmiras haguf.

Of course, the Torah understands that a Yid must live in this world and make a living and even engage in activities for leisure and recreation. Not only that, but even such activities which carry with them a limited risk may be permitted. Anything that is acceptable and considered normal and part of life by a significant group of regular upstanding people is most probably mutar.

Rabbi Yehoshua Heber is Rav of Khal Tomchai Torah at Yeshiva Torah Vodaath and Dayan at Bdatz Mishptai Yisrael.

* * *

The answer to this question lies in a gray area that is greatly determined by the risk involved, the health of the individual as well as the personality of the person. Mesilat Yesharim says that being properly cautious is defined as avoiding known dangers. To determine a known danger, you would have to look at the statistics of injury and death that happen while doing the activity.

Usually, what we see that it is no more dangerous than many other things we take for granted. For instance, over 40,000 people die on the U.S. highway system every year, and yet we all get behind the wheel of a car and drive.

The answer is that statistically there is a certain percentage of people who get injured or die. However, this doesnt make the activity inherently dangerous, if its something that is done and accepted. Assuming that one is in reasonable shape and has climbed before, then mountain climbing might be in the category of something that is considered normal and safe. As long as the activity is in the realm of usual and accepted for someone within the same age group, temperament and lifestyle, then it would remain in the same category.

Nonetheless, for an older person in his 60s to go mountain climbing or whitewater rafting for the first time might be inherently dangerous; whereas for a young person, assuming that the person is fit for that activity, I dont think there would be anything wrong with doing it and it would be within the category of what the Gemara calls dash bei, something that is done, normal, and considered acceptable behavior. Not only would one not be prohibited, but one would also be able to do it at his own leisure, if he felt like he wanted to.

A reminder: any of these questionable activities are considerably less dangerous than texting while driving.

Rabbi Ben Zion Shafier, founder of The Shmuz and author of 10 Really Dumb Mistakes That Very Smart Couples Make (available at theshmuz.com)

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Anyone involved in the discourse on Israel and Zionism is aware of the fact that the words as a Jew always presage something distinctly monstrous. As a Jew is inevitably followed by ferocious denunciations of Israel, Zionism, the Israel lobby, the pro-Israel American Jewish majority and more or less everything elseexcept, of course, for hardline Palestinian nationalists, left-wing anti-Semites and Muslim pogromists.

It would be a mistake, however, to see anti-Zionist Jews as wholly alien to us. They are, in fact, part of our historical legacy and a phenomenon that has recurred throughout the history of the Diaspora: that of radical Jewish messianism.

Messianism is, of course, fundamental to Jewish belief, and is not by definition a bad thing. At its best, it can be what philosopher Eric Hoffer called a miraculous instrument for raising societies and nations from the deadan instrument of resurrection. Indeed, even secular Zionists are Messianists to one degree or another. In its radical form, however, Jewish messianism has remarkable destructive potential.

Radical messianism, generally speaking, has followed a consistent pattern over the centuries, and usually occurs in four stages. The formulation that follows is my own, but it stands on the formidable shoulders of the great scholar of the Kabbalah Gershom Scholem, particularly his bookThe Messianic Idea in Judaism.

Antinomianism: After declaring the arrival or imminent arrival of the messianic age, the Messianists assert that Jewish tradition and law have been superseded, transformed or completely vitiated, and often engage in behavior that directly challenges Jewish norms. The most famous example is the 17th century movement surrounding the false messiah Sabbatai Zevi.

Spiritualization: As part of this rejection of the law, Messianists spiritualize it. The rabbinic tradition is rejected as too much of this world to wield practical authority in the next, and is declared to be, at best, an expression of spiritual truths. Practice, in effect, becomes faith.

Heresy: Antinomianism and spiritualization inevitably lead to outright heresy. For example, the person of the messianic claimant is often declared Divine, contrary to Jewish prohibitions on idolatry. The ultimate result is usually a complete break from Judaism itself through conversion or even the founding of a separate religionthe most obvious example being Christianity.

Retaliation: Having split from Judaism, the now independent Messianists turn on it, denounce and demonize their former brethren and often incite or commit acts of considerable violence. The long history of Christian anti-Semitism is the best-known example, but cults like the 18th century Frankistswho aided in a blood libel case after abandoning Judaism en massehave also followed this pattern.

In the case of the anti-Zionist Jews, we are seeing this process repeat itself. First, the anti-Zionist Jews are proudly antinomian. They reject, in whole or in part, the moral consensus of the Jewish peoplewhich is, whether the anti-Zionist Jews like it or not, profoundly Zionist. Indeed, if it were not, the anti-Zionist Jews would have no reason to exist, given that they base their entire identity on violating that particular norm.

Spiritualization is most notable in phenomena like the use of the term Tikkun Olam by radical Jewish activists, but it is by no means confined to them. All anti-Zionist Jews employ Jewish terminology and concepts, but abstract them out so that they stand in for transcendental concepts like justice, rights, liberation or resistance. Traditional Jewish practice is, in effect, superseded by pure thought.

The question of heresy is more difficult, in that most anti-Zionist Jews are not religious in the formal sense. However, out of their antinomianism, they are creating something like a heretical faith. Being an anti-Zionist Jew is taking on a systemic form that defines personal and spiritual identity much as formal religion does. In effect, the anti-Zionist Jews undergo a conversion, though in a distinctly secular age, formal conversion is no longer necessary. Political submission is all that is required.

The issue of retaliation is so obvious as to go without saying. If anything defines the anti-Zionist Jews, it is their remarkably hateful and poisonous rhetoric. To them, the Jewish people are a force for pure evil. As a result, they accuse us of all possible sins: racism, genocide, settler-colonialism, political and financial corruption and undue influence, control of the media and the public discourse and so on.

Moreover, the intention behind their discursive venom is obvious: not just to defame the Jews, but to break them. This is, in fact, the ultimate essence of their ideology. They know that they cannot break Israel without also breaking the Jews, and this, they hope, will be their ultimate vengeance.

In quite another context, Scholem wrote: Whether or not Jewish history will be able to endure this entry into the concrete realm without perishing in the crisis of the Messianic claim which has virtually been conjured upthat is the question which out of his great and dangerous past the Jew of this age poses to his present and to his future.

In an age in which, to some degree, Jewish redemption and Jewish destiny have been realized in Zionism and the State of Israel, we must also ask this question. But if anything is certain, it is thateven though they are part of a long and often dark tradition that is nonetheless oursthe anti-Zionist Jews have already perished in the crisis of the messianic claim. It is incumbent upon the rest of us, who have made the choice to stand firm in our sense of redemption and destiny, to see that we endure it and them.

(Benjamin Kerstein is a writer and editor living in Tel Aviv. Read more of his writing onSubstackandhis website. Follow him on Twitter@benj_kerstein)

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Posted By admin on July 14, 2022

Law enforcement escorts a family away from the scene of a shooting at a Fourth of July parade on July 4, 2022 in Highland Park, Illinois. Photo by Mark Borenstein/Getty Images

By Mark ZimmermanJuly 07, 2022

I am who I am because of a gun.

In my familys Ashkenazi Jewish tradition, my siblings and I were named after deceased relatives. Ive known since I was very young that I inherited my Hebrew name, Mordechai, from my Dads older brother. But as a child, I did not understand that something was very wrong with the fact that my father who was 32 years old when I was born already had a brother who was deceased.

Uncle Milton was born in 1919 in Louisville, Kentucky. He served in World War II, where he earned a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star. After the war, Milton returned to Louisville, where he married Jean. The two welcomed a daughter, Dana, in June 1947.

Milton eventually took a job at a local liquor store, where his story took a horrible turn.

On Dec. 23, 1948, two young men entered the liquor store, pulled a gun and demanded money. Uncle Milton complied, but he was shot dead on the spot. At the age of 29, Uncle Milton, Mordechai ben David, was buried in Louisvilles Keneseth Israel Cemetery.

All of my Louisville relatives at the time lived through that horrible moment, and his daughter Dana did not really know her father.

Ive since learned more about Uncle Milton, partly thanks to the genealogy project my cousin Allan undertook, and partly because of the internet, where Ive been able to read all of the articles from the Louisville Courier about Uncle Miltons murder from the shooting, to the arrest of the suspects, to their trials which resulted in death penalties, to their appeals overturning the verdicts, to eventual retrials. Ultimately, the accomplice got life in prison, and the murderer was sent to the electric chair in 1951.

As I read about the killings in Buffalo and Uvalde, and now in Highland Park and so many other places, I was reminded of the preciousness of life and the horror of how many times these precious lives are ended by a gun.

Of course, it is not only mass shootings: Its a spouse murdering his partner. Its a child accidentally pulling a trigger and losing a sibling. Its a drug deal gone bad. Its a terrorist with an evil agenda. And its a robber like the one who killed Uncle Milton.

Im glad that Congress recently passed new bipartisan gun legislation, but Im certainly not celebrating. These new regulations are such a small drop in the bucket and will have no effect on the vast majority of shootings and killings that take place every day.

Everyone knows yes, everyone, including gun owners, gun manufacturers, NRA members, hunters that we can do better than this. And we must do better than this, to ensure that no more parents, no more siblings, no more children, no more relatives, no more friends, must grieve over the death of loved ones because of a gun.

I have no doubt that there will be babies named in the coming months and years after the Jewish victims in Highland Park, names that will be assigned way too soon.

I should have been named after a great-grandfather, or another relative much older than me. Someone else should have been named Mordechai. Maybe my grandchild. Or Uncle Miltons great-grandchild. But because of a gun, a 29-year-old man named Mordechai ben David, Milton Zimmerman, was honored when my parents passed on his name to me.

To contact the author, email editorial@forward.com.

Mark Zimmerman is a social worker and writer in Melville, New York. He is the author of several Jewish trivia books and a weekly column under the title RASHI, RAMBAM, and RAMALAMADINGDONG.

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

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Posted By admin on July 14, 2022

Fight Over Fear: Ayesha Khan on the importance of mammograms in fighting breast cancer

It was a first time mammogram that revealed to FOX 5's Ayesha Khan that she had breast cancer. That mammogram - she said - is what she believes saved her life.

WASHINGTON - It was a first time mammogram that revealed to FOX 5's Ayesha Khan that she had breast cancer. That mammogram - she said - is what she believes saved her life.

A year later - after a courageous fight and 16 rounds of chemotherapy - she returned to that same clinic in Montgomery County for a second mammogram.

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Here's her story about that visit:

A flood of not so pleasant memories came rushing back as I returned to Community Radiology and Associates in Germantown to get a second mammogram.

After all, it was only a year ago, when my world came crashing down.

The mammogram showed a large mass in my right breast which turned out to be stage three cancer.

I felt like time had just stopped while I recovered from a single mastectomy to remove the cancerous tumor.

Then came 16 grueling rounds of chemo, then radiation and now a ten-year regimen of a twice a day pill to reduce the chances of the cancer returning.

But the truth is, going forward, it will take more than just daily medication.

FOX 5'S AYESHA KHAN INSPIRING OTHERS TO GET TESTED FOR BREAST CANCER

Every year, I will have to go through what I believe, is a very uncomfortable process of compression and lots of squeezing from various angles.

This way, my doctors can keep checking for anything suspicious that might pop up in my left breast.

Dr. Janet Storella with Community Radiology Associates gave me the good news. An all clear after a review of that second mammogram! But because I've had cancer I'm considered high risk

I got my results pretty quickly on the same day -- but that wouldn't be the case for everyone as there are two different types of exams: a screening and a diagnostic.

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"Screening is for women who are asymptotic," explained Dr. Storella, "you don't have a lump, you don't have discharge, we are looking for a disease that as far as we know otherwise you don't have, and you don't have any symptoms. Diagnostic exams are for women who have symptoms."

While at the clinic, I learned that during peak COVID-19, many people stopped getting breast screenings, which doctors say is dangerous, considering they are seeing an uptick in younger people getting the disease.

"I would tell you it's troubling to me as well," said Dr. Storella, "I'm seeing more and more women under 40 or in their 30s who are developing breast cancer."

Dr. Storella said, if women want to know if she is at higher risk and if she needs more screenings other than a yearly mammogram, then she can get a formal risk assessment. That means, a doctor can take a very detailed history of a woman's health to determine their personal level of risk. She said, women who have family history are at a higher risk. Also, women who are of Ashkenazi Jewish descent have a higher risk of developing breast cancer and there is a dense population of Ashkenazi Jewish descent in Montgomery County.

You can use the Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool to take a risk assessment online.

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