Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on June 26, 2022

Following the Supreme Courts decision to reverse Roe vs. Wade, which opens the door for states to outlaw abortions, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) addressed the media with a statement that referenced a poem.

Today, the Republican-controlled Supreme Court has achieved their dark, extreme goal of ripping away a womans right to make their own reproductive health decisions, Pelosi remarked. While Republicans seek to punish and control women, Democrats will keep fighting ferociously to enshrine Roe vs. Wade into the law of the land.

Pelosi said she was overwhelmed by the courts decision and quoted the poem I Have No Other Country by Israeli poet Ehud Manor, whose writing Pelosi often turns to in times of strife.

I have no other country even though my land is burning/ Only a word of Hebrew penetrates my veins, my soul/ With an aching body and with a hungry heart/ Here is my home, Pelosi recited. I will not be silent for my country has changed her face/ I shall not give up on her/ I shall remind her and sing into her ears/ Until she opens her eyes.

Pelosi ended her public remarks by saying, Clearly, we hope that the Supreme Court would open its eyes.

Manor, the poems author, was an Israeli poet, lyricist, translator and media personality who was awarded the Israel Prize, the countrys highest cultural honor, in 1998 for his contributions to Israeli music.

As a songwriter, he wrote more than 1,000 Hebrew songs, including 1978 Eurovision Song Contest winner Abanibi, and translated hundreds of songs into Hebrew including the soundtracks of major musicals such as Cabaret, Les Misrables and Hair. He died in 2005.

This is not the first time that Pelosi has responded to worldwide events through poetry or even the first time she has cited this particular poem.

Pelosi also invoked the poem, which is actually the lyrics to a song Manor wrote in 1982, also titled I Have No Other Country, in January 2021 as she urged members of Congress to impeach former President Donald Trump following the Jan. 6 riot.

On St. Patricks Day, Pelosi recited a poem by U2s Bono at the White Houses holiday celebration in which he compared Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to St. Patrick.

Irelands sorrow and pain is now the Ukraine, Pelosi read. And St. Patricks name is now Zelensky.

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Who is the poet Pelosi recited in her Roe vs. Wade reaction? - Los Angeles Times

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Posted By admin on June 26, 2022

For Myasar Khamaisy, 44, her involvement with Sindyanna of the Galilee began with an empty nest.

It was 2015, her three daughters had left home for college, and she had nothing to do. To get a job, she knew she had to improve her Hebrew language skills. She signed up for a Hebrew course offered by Sindyanna in her Galilee village of Kafr Kanna.

Then she took a course in basket weaving. She became so adept at weaving baskets from bamboo and palm fronds that she now teaches the course in both Arabic and Hebrew.

Khamaisy was one of the first women in the village to attend courses at Sindyanna. Over the years, hundreds of women, both Arab and Jews, have participated.

An award-winning bottle of Sindyanna olive oil. Photo by Yoram Ron

Since 1996, Sindyanna, a unique nonprofit organization, brings women from different backgrounds together, promotes Fair Trade, creates economic opportunities for Arab women, and assists local growers and producers.

A goat was wandering through a parking lot in a nearby village as I drove to Sindyannas Visitor Center on a recent morning. Although set in Kafr Kannas industrial zone, inside the center there is a calm, pastoral feeling.

There are photos on the walls of olive groves and local farmers, artwork by Jewish and Arab women, shelves filled with olive oil, homemade soaps, local products like Conscious Carob Syrup, and some of the woven baskets that Khamaisy and other women have made, filled with homemade trinkets.

We are all connected

Birthright participants at Sindyanna of the Galilee. Photo courtesy of Sindyanna

During my visit, two Birthright groups came to learn about Sindyannas activities and make zaatar, or hyssop, mixed with sesame seeds and spices, to take back to the United States.

As Sindyanna co-director and group facilitator Nadia Giol, 51, told the Birthright visitors some tattooed and all in their 20s We are all connected. What happens in Europe and Israel and America affects us all.

Giol said that her own story runs parallel to the story of Sindyanna. She was born in the shadow of the conflict. Her parents were from the village of Saffuriyyeh, now part of the Tziporinational archeological park.

From left, basket-weaving teacher Myasar Khamaisy, volunteer Ronit Erez and Nadia Giol, co-director of Sindyanna of the Galilee. Photo by Diana Bletter

After marrying a Spanish man studying at Hebrew University in Jerusalem (he is Christian and she is Muslim), she lived in Spain for two years where she thought her involvement with the conflicts of Israel would be finished.

But when youre far away, your problems get bigger, Giol said.

She and her husband moved back to Israel, settling in Nazareth, and she became active in multicultural groups but they were more talking than working. She trained to become a non-violent group facilitator with the goal of changing things through social work and education.

She began working at Sindyanna in 2015 and from the start, she said, I felt like I was home, because it was an organization where we promote peace, work for the environment, and make changes.

Giol added, I come from a place of hope.

Kendall Simons, a Birthright participant, at the Sindyanna Visitor Center. Photo by Diana Bletter

Kendall Simons, one of the Birthright participants, said she found Sindyannas story and its mission very moving.

Especially the idea of enriching our lives by coexisting with other cultures, Simons said. As Giol said, We create borders in our minds. If we can create borders then we can take them down too.

Benefiting people and society

Before she started studying at Sindyanna, Khamaisy said she never met Jewish women, and now were friends, we go to each others houses.

When I asked her how her husband feels about her involvement, she said, When he comes home after work and the house is clean and he has food, hes happy. Then she paused and smiled, You know how men are.

Hadas Lahav is co-director of Sindyanna, which she co-founded in 1996 after the Oslo Accords. She said the idea was to to benefit people and society on both sides.

Likening it to a startup, she said the organization brings money to Arab women because they take raw materials and turn them into commodities.

In the past year, Sindyanna has taught 30 women to set up hydroponic systems in their houses. Some of the women now sell the tomatoes, carrots and lettuce that they grow at home.

Were trying to spread the idea of environmental awareness, Lahav said.

Despite the complex facts on the ground, Lahav said that Sindyannas small successes will create something different in the end. The ability to live together is not nave, its essential. Just the fact that there are interactions among the Jewish and Arab communities is very important.

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The place where hope and livelihoods grow in the Galilee - ISRAEL21c

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Posted By admin on June 26, 2022

The main diagnostic tools were observation and superficial physical examination.

The physician had few aids to use in his work. Demons can cause physical illness in the human body (Mat 9:32-33; 12:22; 17:14-18; Mark 9:20-22; Luke 13:11, 16), although not all sickness and disease are the result of evil spirits (Mat 4:24; Luke 5:12-13).

The Hebrew word translated leprosy in Lev. 13 is a general term used to describe a number of different skin eruptions. Although true leprosy occurred in ancient times and often caused changes in the skin, many of the persons brought to the priests undoubtedly suffered from more common bacterial and fungal infections of the skin. The priests had the duty of determining on the basis of repeated examination, which of these eruptions posed a threat to others. They had the authority to isolate persons with suspected dangerous diseases from the community.

Isaiah 38 relates the story of the very serious illness of King Hezekiah. The cause of his illness was a boil (v.21). The Hebrew word translated boil is translated sore boils in Job 2:7. It is also the word used to describe the eruption occurring on men and beasts mentioned in Exod 9:8-11 (cp. Lev 13:18-20; Deut 28:27). The illness of Hezekiah was treated by applying a poultice of figs (Is 38:21)

Medical care in biblical times frequently employed the use of different kinds of salves and ointments. Olive oil was used widely, either alone or as an ingredient in ointments. The use of oil for the treatment of wounds is mentioned in Isaiah 1:6 and Luke 10:34. Oil also became a symbol of medicine, and its use was coupled with prayer for the ill (Mark 6:13; James 5:14). Oil is also a symbol of the Holy Spirit of God (as used in anointing kings; see 1 Sam 16:1-13. See Vision of the Lampstand and Olive Trees in Zechariah Chapter 4. Thus oil can represent both the medical and the spiritual spheres of life. Christians should not separate the physical and the spiritualJesus Christ is Lord over both the body and the spirit.

Wine was commonly thought to have medicinal value. One of its uses was to alleviate pain and discomfort. Wine, mixed with gall and myrrh, was offered to Jesus prior to His crucifixion, but He refused to drink it (Matt 27:34; Mark 15:23). Wine also was used to soothe stomach and intestinal disorders (1 Tim 5:23) and to treat a variety of other physical problems.

Mental illness and epilepsy (see Mark 9:17-26) were not uncommon in the ancient world, and the victims suffered greatly. Their sickness was usually associated with demonic powers. The afflicted person was often isolated and even abused in some cases.

Email:mercyolumide2004@yahoo.co.uk. http://www.thebiblicalwomanhood.com Mobile: +234 803 344 6614; +234 808 123 7987

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Divine healing in the Bible - Part 2 - Guardian Nigeria

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Posted By admin on June 26, 2022

A forever future of bliss or an afterlife of pain? Ben Esposito and Angel Pixels newest first-person action runner game Neon White gives players a choice to decide their fate during the games final mission. After White and Green are left to squabble in one last epic fight for the future of Heaven itself, the player can either write Green into the Book of Death for his sins or forgive him for his actions and mark him down in the Book of Life. Each ending comes with a vastly different outcome. In case you missed one of these conclusions or are itching for an explanation behind them, this is Neon Whites Book of Death and Book of Life endings explained.

After being given the inkhorn by Mikey and left to decide Greens fate, White is given a power beyond any of his godlike Soul Cards: to permanently decide how his nemesis will spend eternity. In the Book of Death Ending of Neon White, the titular protagonist commits the ultimate sin: never showing his enemy forgiveness and trapping his soul in a state of neverending suffering. During the twos final exchange, White declares that his enemy deserves to suffer for his sins and lack of accountability. With no time to fight back, Green is drowned in a devil-like spirit and disappears from Heaven permanently.

After White passes out from the power of the inkhorn, God is fully restored to his former power and Mikey shows pride for his ally before wishing him a good rest. However, in a post-credit scene, the player discovers that Mikey is unable to honor his allys efforts in the afterlife. God decides to write only Yellow, Violet, and Red into the Book of Life while White is placed in the Book of Death. Baffled by his decision, Mikey attempts to reason with God that all mortal beings arent perfect and White deserves a better fate for saving him.

One quick line later though, Gods reasoning ultimately seems to sway Mikeys mind as he agrees with the almighty being.

First of all, to unlock the Book of Life ending players must obtain all of Whites memories by collecting every gift and completing every dialogue conversation in Neon White. Players must discover gifts around individual levels after gaining at least two of their speedrunning medals. From there, the player can bring these gifts to their dedicated Neon and angel to see secret dialogue conversations that flesh out the games cast.

In the Book of Life ending of Neon White, while Green was never able to cleanse himself of his sins, White, the ultimate decider of his fate, was willing to forgive him for all he had done. Rather than following his feelings and sending Green to be damned forever, in the true ending of the game the main character makes the moral choice to write his enemy into the Book of Life. Before Greens soul can turn to light and be placed in paradise, White and the antagonist have one final chat where they are able to make peace with one another.

While Green expected to be locked in battle with White for all eternity, wind up in hell, or destroy the entire universe, he ironically finds comfort in his own conclusion and is willing to give up on his own mission. More importantly though, this moment for White is what is able to clear him of his lifes sins and be forgiven by God. In Gods eyes, he sees White as being a man worthy of redemption due to being open to forgiving his worst enemya reflection of several pieces of religious text where the sparing of a sinner is seen as a righteous act over murdering them in cold blood for what they have done.

When God and Mikey speak to one another after White once again goes unconscious from the inkhorn, God jokes with the angel that he would have never expected White to write Green into the Book of Life. This conversation at first glance may seem a little odd, but it actually ties into Mikeys first closed-door encounter with White where he tells him that God is a complete jokester and is always messing with him. Ultimately, both Mikey and God find a great sense of pride in Whites actions.

For this reason, God makes the decision to spare both White and Green. God allows the two to rest in paradise with their fallen friends. This is further reinforced just before the credits can roll when God writes White into the Book of Life rather than the Book of Death. As Mikey alludes to during their conversation, God believed that White had cleansed himself of all his sins by simply holding restraint against Green. Showing mercy rather than becoming one with the cycle of violence was the correct choice, and so God closes the Book of Life.

The closing of the book may seem like the perfect way to close Neon White, however, there is one more post-credits cutscene that depicts the whole gang back together, preparing for a feast, and having a laugh as they celebrate their former lives in the land of the living. As per usual with Neon Whites conversations, Red and White show their love for one another, Green wants to share the moment with his best bro, Violet aims to please Green, and their enemy begins to show a change in perspective.

Greens line to White saying we have a big day ahead can be interpreted a couple of different ways depending on how the player envisions paradise, but the bottom line is that the group has found peace in death. To close things off on a happy note, Green decides to take a photo of the group at their celebration and the crew goes out showing their style.

While there are plenty of interpretations of the religious subject matter, the Book of Life and the Book of Death in Neon White are entirely based upon their documentation in the Hebrew Bible, also commonly referred to as Tanakh and Mikra. There are two specific reasons that point to this interpretation of the books being the main inspiration for Angel Pixels title. The first is that God himself uses an Inkhorn to write names in the books and the second has to do with how each book is portrayed.

When being written into the Book of Life or the Book of Death in the Hebrew Bible, God used a pen known as the Inkhorn that only the holy being and his six heavenly envoys could helm. Due to Mikeys placement and characterization in the story, it is possible that he was one of these envoys. Furthermore, to be written into the Book of Life, God has considered that individual righteous. In Judaism and Catholicism, this can generally be interpreted as a person being clear of their sinswhich of course would perfectly reflect Neon Whites story of forgiveness and the result of each ending. To be written into the Book of Death, one would have to be considered impure and unredeemed of their sins.

On a final note, a hidden detail that only players aware of the Hebrew alphabet will be able to spot in Neon White is that the characters names during the final cutscene are not just actually written in a stylized look. Gods writing in the Book of Life contains a mix of Hebrew letters and Englishthe latter has just been altered to look like Hebrew letters. For example, Whites name is spelled out as shin, H, zayin, dalet, and E. Additionally, the Book of Lifes cover features the Star of David. Its a small detail many players may not initially recognize, but one that actually adds quite a bit of acknowledgment of reality!

Wondering whats next for Neon White? Join us this week on the NXpress Nintendo Podcast where we will be interviewing the games director Ben Esposito to find out more regarding the storys meaning, gameplay design, and if a physical Nintendo Switch release will be possible in the future!

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Neon White Ending Explained: What Happens in the Book of Life and Death? - Goomba Stomp

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Posted By admin on June 26, 2022

CAMBRIDGE City Council is marking Refugee Week and Holocaust Memorial Day with a free community fundraising event Voices of Hope and Healing at Cambridge Corn Exchange this Sunday (26 June) from 4pm.

The poetry and song concert will feature performances from poet and author Michael Rosen, with many of the poems from Michael's volume of poetry On the Move. Poems about Migration. Plus poems have been especially commissioned by HistoryWorks which Michael Rosen will debut at the concert.

These new pieces are called Voices of Hope, Healing Put Your Arms Around Me, and Nothing is Forever to fit with the themes of Holocaust Commemoration and Refugee Week.

New songs have been composed using Michael Rosens words by Andrea Cockerton; dances choreographed by Helen Garner with music by Alex Cook, plus physical theatre choreographed by Russell Burgess; and more than 3,000 children from primary, secondary and sixth form schools in Cambridge have been involved behind the scenes in workshops composing poems and songs, dances and dramas to empathise with refugee experiences.

On the day, some of these young people will perform the pieces they have been working on with Michael Rosen and historian Helen Weinstein of HistoryWorks in recent weeks, as part of educational outreach work for the council.

Performances of the new pieces with words by Michael Rosen will be given by the Dosoco Foundation Choir, Cambridge Academic Partnership Singers, Youth Elevation Dance Company and Coleridge & Parkside Community College Drama Club.

Cllr Mairad Healy, Executive Councillor for Equalities, Anti-Poverty and Wellbeing, said: We are honoured to once again be hosting Cambridges commemorations for Holocaust Memorial Day. Its as important as ever that the atrocities of the Holocaust when over six million Jewish people were murdered, with an estimated 11 million people dying as a result of the Nazi regimes policies and subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur, are never forgotten.

In addition to what is set to be a deeply moving afternoon of poetry, song and dance, its really important to us that Michael Rosen and the team at HistoryWorks spent time in the months leading up to the event working with school pupils. The children learnt about and creatively reflected on the poetry, stories and first hand accounts of the experiences of those who suffered both during the Holocaust but also those who have been persecuted in other conflicts and those who have needed to flee their homes.

I would encourage people to come along to help us demonstrate that Cambridge is a place that rejects all forms of persecution, discrimination and hatred.

Helen Weinstein of HistoryWorks said: Please come along on Sunday to the Corn Exchange when we hold a concert of poetry and song, drama and dance performances for marking Refugee Week and Holocaust Commemoration. It will be an inspiring event, uplifting and full of hope as we use words and music and movement to express support for people in need.

The themes of Hope and Healing have been chosen because Healing means recovering from a tragic and painful experience or situation. No one understands this better than survivors of genocide, and those who have lost their homes in war and become refugees having to build new lives from scratch. Michael Rosen has also talked with me and the school children about hope, and how we have much to learn from refugees about holding onto hope when everything seems impossible. He has written a moving poem called Today One Day which is an anthem song for our concert on Sunday. It will show how we can use words and music to show our care and to ask for change so that refugees can feel truly safe. For the national marking of Refugee Week we are all coming together to imagine a world where healing replaces harm, because healing matters to all of us.

Michael Rosen, Poet in Residence at Historyworks, said: Ive worked with some 3,000 school students on poems and songs for themes chosen to mark Refugee Week and to commemorate the Holocaust. Ive been introduced to all these school pupils at the HistoryWorks sessions for teachers and their KS2 and KS3 students where Ive been reading poems out loud to schools alongside Andrea Cockerton playing the songs I wrote lyrics for. Ive told some family histories about refugees and victims of persecution in my family. And with the children we wrote collective poems which we turned into songs on the spot! Really uplifting! Full of hope and support for refugees!

I support Refugee Week and Holocaust Commemoration partly because of my own familys experience of being refugees and finding out some of my uncles fled their homes and then were murdered by the Nazi regime. But also because of basic human rights, which if we dont adhere to, we destroy what holds us together.

Holocaust Memorial Day is marked each year on 27 January, the date that Auschwitz was liberated, but the annual civic event for Cambridge had to be postponed in January 2022 due to Covid-19 and will instead be commemorated this Sunday, to tie in with Refugee Week. The event is free, and not ticketed, so there is no need to book in advance.

Although the event is completely free to attend, attendees who wish to make a donation at the event will be welcome to do so. This year collections will be taken for the Refugee Hardship Fund which is administered by Cambridge Ethnic Community Forum (CECF) Refugee services, which supports refugees, especially newly arrived refugees from Afghanistan and Ukraine, and destitute asylum seekers. Donations can also be made to the fund by texting the word REFUGEE to 70560.

The concert is suitable for children from Key Stage 2 onwards. However, organisers suggest that children under the age of nine only attend at the discretion of adults in their family who can guide their children through discussing issues they will hear and learn about during the event. Children aged 16 or under should be accompanied by an adult.

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Cambridge to mark Refugee Week and Holocaust Memorial Day at free civic event on Sunday 26 June - Cambridge City Council

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Posted By admin on June 26, 2022

A.B. Yehoshua, one of Israels most revered authors, died on Tuesday last week at the age of 85.As a member of the 1948 generation, his struggles with the transformation and redefinition of Jewishnesshas gone through several intellectual stages, and is concisely described in the essay below, whichhe contributed to the book I am Jewish, Personal Reflections Inspired by the Last Words ofDaniel Pearl ( Jewish Lights Publishing, 2003). His emphasis on a secular, choice-based national Judaism,in the spirit of Ruths Your people is my people, reflects the attitude of most Israelis, buthas acquired new dimension in light of the appearance of psuedo-Jewish groups such asJewish Voice for Peace and other anti-national or anti-Zionist movements that American Jewry has spawned.To be a Jew means to belong to a national group that can be left or joined.

We discover an astonishing fact in the classic Halachic definition. According to the Halachah, nothing is said about the Jews conduct, histhoughts, or basic principles of behavior. There is nothing indicating his homeland or language, or even the nature of his affiliation to a specific collective (such as maintaining solidarity with the Jewishpeople). A Jew is nothing more than a child of a Jewish mother, not even of a Jewish father. Is this biological fact really so compelling and binding? Not at all! Jews are not a race and never viewed themselves as such. They viewed themselves only as a people. According to the Halachic definition, a Jew, the son of a Jewish mother, who converts to Christianity ceases to be a Jew. That the Halachah enables someone not born of a Jewish mother to become a Jew also indicates that the Jews do not constitute a race.

To be a Jew means to belong to a national group that can be left or joined, just as any other national group is left or joined. Countless Jews have abandoned the Jewish people, and the struggle now and in all generations against assimilation indicates that it is possible to leave the Jewish people, that the individual is not compelled to retainhis membership in it.

We are now approaching the root of the matter. If we delve deep into the logic of the religious definition we see at its base another definition:

A Jew is someone who identifies as a Jew.

Someone born of a Jewish mother is no longer considered a Jew if, for example, he converts to Christianity or to Islam. It is of no importance where the Jew goes. What matters is his desire to leave. It must be understood that in the past, when everyone had a religious identification, Judaism ruled that passing to any other religion turns the Jew into a non-Jew. But today, when the individual is not obliged to maintain a religious identity, a person can leave theJewish people without having to pass through a religious corridor, even if according to the Halachah it seems that he must. The determining factor is not the technical step of formal religious conversion but his desire no longer to identify with the Jewish people. A Jewish atheist can become a non-Jewish atheist; the passage through another religion is a dispensable formality.

The same holds for joining the Jewish people. The determining factor is the act of identification, free will, and not the formal conversion, which may be altogether meaningless for the convert who, let us assume, is a confirmed atheist. These religious corridors (for entry and exit) may be good as a salve for the conscience of religious establishments, but they are irrelevant and meaningless for someone who wants to enter or leave, anddoes so as a freely chosen act.

The definition I am proposing, that a Jew is someone who identifies as a Jew, is not one I would want to be maintained always, but his definition has been the realistic, correct, and genuine definition until now. Itis the base definition underlying the Halachic definition. The Halachic definition, born in the recesses of Jewish history, was suited to a world and situation in which religion was the decisive element of a personsidentity. The secular identity taking shape before our eyes in the world and in Israel (which always existed as a potential) exposes the deep and true definition at the foundation of the Halachic definition, that whichdeclares that a Jew is someone who identifies as a Jew.

All the pseudo-Sartrean theories that would base Jewish self-identification on the existence of the Gentile (in the best circumstances) or the anti-Semite (in the worst circumstances), who forces the Jew to identify as such, are ridiculous. I dont need the Gentiles perception or the anti-Semites hostility to establish my Jewish identity. Even if there werent an anti-Semite in the world I would still want to identify as a Jew. How demeaning to present Jewish identity and belonging as a kind of trap from which there is no escape. Hundreds of thousands of Jews have left theJewish people for good, as a matter of their own choosing, and have been lost forever among other peoples. To be a Jew is a matter of choice. This element of freedom in the act of Jewish identification has of late been obscured, but it is an element of tremendous importance,for it brings with it responsibility. If I identify as a matter of free choice I assume certain responsibilities. When young people repeatedly ask, as they have been doing with increasing frequency since the Yom Kippur War: Is it possible to cut ones ties with the Jewish people? Is it possible to carry out a disengagement of forces with the Jewish people? Or, in the words of a soldier, is it possible to be just a person?to all of these questions my answer is clear: It most definitely is possible. But if a person decides to identify as a Jew he assumes responsibility for his identification, since his decision was freely made. I do not ignore the social, cultural, and family influences a decision about identification, but these are not sufficient to determine the identification. It requires willed choice. The dimension of freedom, which always formed part of Jewish identification and which has recently been obscured by notions of Jewish fate and by the experience of the Holocaust, needs to be highlighted once again. The sense of freedom immediately lightens the sense of responsibility. A man is capable of mighty actions if he has a sense of freedom, while feeling coerced only depresses and incenses him.

The element of freedom in the act of identification is also what makes possible change and reinterpretation of Judaism. I do not dismiss those who think only of continuity, who want to keep alive the ember they imagine has been passed on to them. But no less legitimate is the desire of those who want to introduce change in Judaism, with which they identify as an act of free will.

Reprinted with permission from I Am Jewish: Personal Reflections Inspired by the Last Words of Daniel Pearl.Based on excerpts from AB Yehoshuas book, Between Right and Right.

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The Definition of the Jew: The Dimension of Freedom - Jewish Journal

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Posted By admin on June 26, 2022

Connor Raiff in "Cha Cha Real Smooth." Photo by Apple Tv+

By PJ GrisarJune 22, 2022

At the end of an art-themed bar mitzvah party, the emcee debriefs with some non-Jewish guests.

Wasnt it extra beautiful today? asks Andrew, a 22-year-old recent college grad, as he picks party favors off the ground.

Sometimes I really envy Judaism, a 30-something single mother named Domino offers.

Same, Andrew says. And then they chat a bit about how the family was sweet and the parents were literally to die for.

The pleasantness of this reception is noteworthy for Cha Cha Real Smooth, now streaming on AppleTV+. Elsewhere in the film, Jewish mothers, fathers and their kids are rarely so agreeable. The scene is important for another reason too: It establishes that the main characters arent Jewish, but misfits in a Jewish milieu of bnai mitzvah season. But rather than offer some non-Jewish insight into this world, the film mostly reinforces the same shopworn stereotypes Jews can generate themselves. This occasional envy can be taken as at best ethnographic and, at worst, offensive.

Directed, written and starring Cooper Raiff, the dramedy sold for a record bid at Sundance and is now something of a critical darling. I liked it too but only when overlooking most of the Jewish parts.

By way of plot: The film starts when Raiffs Andrew tags along with his teenage brother to a bat mitzvah and walks away with job offers from moms eager to have a hype man at their kids parties. While there, Andrew also meets Domino (Dakota Johnson) and gets a side gig babysitting for her autistic daughter, Lola (Vanessa Burghardt) naturally, Domino and Andrews relationship gets complicated.

The film positions Andrew, Domino and Lola as outsiders and the Jews as insiders, with their own gossip, offscreen ritual and efforts to outspend other families in lavish rites of passage themed around sports or social media. Andrews occasional antagonists are mothers who pearl-clutch when hes playful with the rabbi or sip wine while sniping at women they suspect of having affairs with their husbands. One of the only featured dads defends his jerkish child with his fists.

Such people certainly exist on the bar/bat mitzvah circuit, but its not always comfortable to watch a non-Jew bring them to life.

There is a thematic reason for the Jewish backdrop. Andrew is learning to become a man and overcome a post-college plateau. Its a shame that Raiff had to include in this effort a fling with Andrews shallowly rendered Jewish former classmate (Israeli actress Odeya Rush as Macy), a lover of lashon hara who, unprompted, in the aftermath of a hookup, says she was never attracted to him in high school. Macys meant to be sympathetic, but she checks too many Jewish-American Princess boxes to be an unproblematic proxy for the chosen people.

These caveats aside, Raiff, who was inspired by his own bar mitzvah-hopping when he was a kid in Dallas, gives us something I dont ever remember seeing in a bar mitzvah scene: motzi and kiddush. Though, in the case of the latter, we just hear the voice of a geriatric rabbi as the camera lingers on Andrew, Domino and Lola, looking bored. Its hard to know why thats there, why the blessing isnt shown or what exactly Raiff means to convey. He remains standing till the amen, not knowing what else to do with himself. Perhaps that listlessness is the point.

The films purely incidental interest in Jewishness is disappointing, in that it took great care to get the character of Lola right, casting an actress on the autism spectrum and consulting with a disability rights nonprofit, RespectAbility. The score was co-written by Este Haim, and Jewish actors Brad Garrett and Leslie Mann play Andrews stepfather and mother, but none of these collaborators alone could deliver the nuance or potential beauty of the rite.

Thats saved for the one scene, at the art-themed bar mitzvah with the to-die-for parents. The function is treated like the ultimate outlier in a world of exhausting, vapid, pubescent dance parties.

And in its way, thats true. Bnai mitzvah in wealthy suburbs are often garish affairs with airbrushed T-shirts, spoiled teens boasting about perfunctory volunteer projects and no small amount of cruelty for kids who dont fit in.

Raiff could be said, in a film with so much bracing honestly and so many flawed, indecisive characters, to be a gifted observer of the human condition. But some truths arent universal some are simply Jewish, and are best left to Jews.

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Cha Cha Real Smooth is a charmer but its Jewish characters need some work - Forward

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Posted By admin on June 26, 2022

Stanley Cup. located between the Clarence Campbell Trophy and the Conn Smythe Trophy. Photo by Getty Images

By Irv OstererJune 22, 2022

For Jews of a certain vintage, Passover Seders were synonymous with Stanley Cup chatter, but in 2022, the NHLs champion will be decided well after Shavuot.

Several Jewish players have contributed to their teams playoff prowess this year, most notably the Edmonton Oilers Zach Hyman and the New York Rangers Adam Fox.

And although neither the Oil nor the Blueshirts made it to the finals, the question remains just how many Jews have hoisted Lord Stanley, and how many Jewish names are immortalized on hockeys holy grail, the oldest trophy for professional athletes in North America.

The Cup was donated in 1892 by Lord Stanley of Preston, then Governor General of Canada, and was to be presented to the championship hockey club of the Dominion of Canada. Winners from 1893 to 1926 were determined by challenge games and league play, involving teams from across the continent.

At the turn of the last century, Aaron and Bertha Rosenthal were leading members of Ottawas young Jewish community. Their son Martin was a board member on the early championship Silver Seven and Senators teams. The Stanley Cup was prominently displayed in the family jewelry stores Sparks Street window (now the Birks Building in Ottawa). But with the exception of the 1907 and 1915 seasons, only the winning teams name was recorded on the trophy, not those of individual players.

In the Roaring 20s, a new tradition emerged, and since 1925, the Stanley Cup is the only professional sports trophy where the name of each member of the winning team is inscribed.

Charles Cotch may have been the first Jew to participate in what were then called the Stanley Cup playdowns. When Cotch was active, Lord Stanleys prize was still a challenge trophy involving league champions from the National Hockey League, the Pacific Coast Hockey Association and the Western Hockey League.

From 1922 through 1924 Cotch skated for the PCHA Vancouver Maroons, who lost to the Montreal Canadiens in 1923 and the Ottawa Senators in 1924 in what today would be considered semifinal contests.

Cotchs affiliation with Judaism is extremely tenuous at best; he is buried in the Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Southfield, Michigan.

The honor of being the first Jewish name on Lord Stanley belongs to Cecil Hart, who served as the Montreal Canadiens manager/coach for three cup-winning teams. His name is included on the thin band located on the upper portion of the 1924 trophy, the first won by the Habs in the NHL, and on the silver rings attached to the 1930 and 1931 Stanley Cups.

Hart is credited with signing Howie Morenz, one of the games greatest players.

Cecils father, Dr. David Hart, donated the Hart Trophy, given annually to the National Hockey Leagues most valuable player, in 1924. The redesigned Hart trophy now recognizes the contribution of father and son to the game.

In 1924-25, the Victoria Cougars were victorious; on their roster was winger Wilfred Harold Gizzy Hart. Because of his famous hockey surname, many hockey aficionados erroneously concluded that Harold was a member of the tribe, but alas this is not the case.

The first Jewish player to have his name engraved on Lord Stanley was Sammy Rothschild, of Sudbury, Ontario. His team, the Maroons, hosted the first Stanley Cup playoffs at the Montreal Forum. Rothschild later competed for the New York Americans, who recognized his market value as a Jewish player.

In retirement, Sam returned to his hometown and coached the 1932 Memorial Cup-winning Sudbury Wolf Cubs. Before he died in 1987, he was the last surviving member of the 1925-26 Maroons Stanley Cup champions.

That 1925-26 series marked the last year the Cup was achallenge trophy.From this point forward, the NHL took full ownership of the Stanley Cup.

Toronto won the Stanley Cup in 1932, their first season in Maple Leaf Gardens, defeating the New York Rangers in three straight games. On their roster was defenseman Alex Levinsky whose hockey card included the nickname Mine Boy, a reference to his fathers enthusiastic cheering.

Levinsky was subsequently dealt to New York and then to Chicago where in 1938, he patrolled the blue line for the Blackhawks second Stanley Cup win. Eight American players including the Syracuse born Levinsky skated for the Hawks; this would be the most U.S. talent on a Cup winner for nearly 60 years.

In the 1950s, the Detroit Red Wings became the first NHL team to go undefeated in the postseason, inspiring the appearance of octopi on Olympia ice the eight tentacles represented the games needed to win Lord Stanleys trophy.

Montreals rugged Larry Zeidel was a late season call up for the Red Wings, appearing in 19 regular season and five playoff games with the 1952 Stanley Cup champions. The Rock was traded to the Blackhawks in 1953, but after a full season with Chicago, he was banished to the minors. He returned to the NHL with the 1968 Philadelphia Flyers. Zeidel is tied for second for the longest length of time between NHL appearances; he comes in behind Jewish goalie Moe Roberts.

Ed Sniders contribution to the success of hockey in Philadelphia and the Atlantic region of the United States is immeasurable. It is most fitting that he was the first Jewish owner to have his name inscribed on the 1974 and 1975 Cups. Snider was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1988. He founded the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation, and the Flyers organization continues to do extraordinary community work in his memory.

In 1979, the Montreal Canadiens Irving Grundman became the second Jewish general manager to have his name engraved on Hockeys holy grail. Grundman was the Habs boss from 1978 to 1983.

Morris Belzberg, who opened the first Budget Rent-a-Car franchise in Canada in 1962, had his name inscribed on the cup after the Pittsburgh Penguins won it in 1992; he was the second Jewish team owner thus immortalized.

A veteran of almost 1,300 NHL games with 10 teams, Mathieu Schneider won his only Stanley Cup with the 1992-93 Canadiens. He skated for Team USA at the 1998 and 2006 Winter Olympics and was inducted into the American Hockey Hall of Fame and the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in Israel. He is currently an executive with the National Hockey League Players Association.

Mike Hartman was originally left off the 1994 New York Rangers Stanley Cup list, as he had not played enough games to qualify. However, he was so respected by teammates that they rallied on his behalf. The NHL relented and allowed his name to be inscribed on the last line with teammate Ed Olczyk. After his professionalcareer, Hartman captained Team USA at the 2013 Maccabi Games hockey tournament in Israel. He now hosts a popular podcast on iTunes.

In 1997, the NHL decided to allow a maximum of 52 names on the cup, and has listed criteria for players and non-players. This allows teams to list individuals who they feel made a significant contribution to team success. Consequently, we see longer lists and a few more Jewish names.

Colorado strength and conditioning coach Paul Goldberg has his name on the 2001 cup; Dr. Barry Gerson Fisher, nicknamed the Mensch by colleagues and friends, was the New Jersey Devils lead team physician for 33 years. His name appears on the 2000 and 2003 trophy

Tampa Bay Lightning owner William M. Bill Davidson is the first name engraved on the 2004 Stanley Cup. He is the only owner in sports history to win the NBA title (Detroit Pistons) and the Stanley Cup eight days apart. His Detroit Shock basketball team had already captured the WNBA title in April, marking the first time in sports history that an owner won championships in three different professional leagues within one year.

Davidson was enshrined in the Michigan Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1986 and the NBA Hall of Fame in 2008. He died in 2009 and was posthumously inducted into the International Jewish Sports of Hall of Fame in 2012.

Under team owners Henry and Susan Samueli, the Anaheim Ducks became the first California team to win the Stanley Cup in 2007. The Jacobs family, who no longer closely identify with their Jewish faith, own the Boston Bruins team, which won the cup in 2011. Colby Cohen was called up for the 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs, but never dressed for a game. He is in the team photo and received a ring, but his name is not on the cup

Jeffrey Solomon was part of the front office of the L.A. Kings who won the 2012 and 2014 cups.

Washington Capitals assistant general manager and director of legal affairs Donald Fishman had his name etched on Lord Stanley in 2018. Steve Richmond played 159 games in the NHL from 1983 to 1989, but got his name on the 2018 Cup as the Caps director of player development. Washington included goaltending coach Mitch Korn and equipment manager David Marin on their list of names engraved on the 2018 cup.

Jeff Vinik, who purchased a struggling Tampa team in 2010 and personally paid for arena upgrades and invested heavily in the Florida community, has been rewarded with his name on back-to-back Stanley Cups. Jeff Halpern, who missed a game in 2005 to observe Yom Kippur, and whose 14-year NHLcareer included three seasons with the Bolts, is now an assistant coach with the team. His name is inscribed on the 2020 and 2021 cups as is that of assistant equipment manager Jason Berger.

Tampa Bay has the distinction of having the most Jewish names on the Stanley Cup and may add more in 2022 as they are currently in the finals, hoping for a third straight triumph.

And, of course, no discussion about the Stanley Cup and our lantzmen would be complete without mentioning NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. He has appeared at every final playoff game since 1993, presenting the trophy to the winning team. For his efforts and genuine commitment to the game, he has been inducted as a member of the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2016 and the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018.

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Meet every Jewish name that has ever been inscribed on NHLs Stanley Cup - Forward

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Posted By admin on June 26, 2022

At the Revelation at Mount Sinai, God chose the people of Israel to receive the Torah. This unique and unprecedented covenant between God and a group of human beings was to have an immense influence on human civilization. The Torah prescribed a specific way of life for the Jewish people. Yet, the Revelation though experienced directly by Israel was also concerned with humanity as a whole.

A fascinating Midrash points out that at the Revelation the voice of God divided into seventy languages, representing the seventy nations of the world i.e. all of humanity. The Torah, while containing a particular message for the people of Israel, also includes a universal message for all human beings. We must maintain an equilibrium, keeping our particularism and universalism in balance.

Some stress universalism. They advocate Jewish ethics, but denigrate the need to fulfill the specific ritual commandments of the Torah. Others are devoted to the ceremonial rituals, but are little involved with the world at large. They retreat into their own spiritual and physical ghettos, often trying to drive as many wedges as possible between themselves and the rest of society.

Judaism emptied of its particularistic mitzvot is hollow; Judaism robbed of its universalistic vision is cult-like, rather than a world religion.

Both of these approaches represent a deviation from the harmonious balance implicit in classic Judaism. An ethical universalism outside the context of observance of the mitzvot is not true to the Jewish religious genius. Likewise, a parochial commitment to rituals, without a concomitant concern for universalistic ethics, is also an aberration. Judaism emptied of its particularistic mitzvot is hollow; Judaism robbed of its universalistic vision is cult-like, rather than a world religion.

During the modern period, efforts have been made to strengthen the universalistic impulse within Judaism. Those who have been most identified with universalistic attitudes have also tended to be those who have moved away from traditional religious beliefs and observances. Thus, universalism has been identified with assimilation and loss of Jewish religious integrity.

Although the tendency toward isolationism may be understandable from a historical and sociological perspective, nevertheless, it is a tendency which needs to be corrected. Vibrant, religious Jewish life needs to look outward as well as inward, and to regain its spiritual vision that focuses on all humanity.

Jews are commanded to be constructive members of society. The Torah demands that we be righteous and compassionate. This responsibility is not confined merely to the broad category of social justice, but extends to the general upbuilding of human civilization as a whole. Rabbi Ben-Zion Uziel (Hegyonei Uziel, Vol. 2, p. 98) discussed the classic concept of yishuvo shel olam, responsibility to help in the upbuilding of human civilization. This involves practical society building, but also includes expanding human knowledge. Scientific research, for example, helps us gain a deeper appreciation of Gods wisdom. It also leads to technological discoveries which improve the quality of life. Working to improve the human condition is a Jewish religious imperative.

The Jewish impact on human civilization has been vast. We have given the world many ideas and ideals. On the other hand, we have also learned from the non-Jewish world. And we have been strengthened by non-Jews who have converted to Judaism. In the words of Rabbi Eliyahu Benamozegh (Israel and Humanity), each proselyte in becoming converted has contributed his own impulses and personal sentiments to the Israelite heritage. Rabbi Benamozegh argued that in order to achieve the concept of a universal Providence extending to all peoples and sanctioning the legitimate rights of each, men must cease to believe that the national or ethnic group is all that counts, that mankind has no significant existence apart from the nation or tribe We should not be surprised that such has not been the case with Hebraism, which teaches that all mankind has the same origin and thus that a single Providence looks over all.

Victor Hugo observed that narrow horizons beget stunted ideas. Classic Judaism has included an idealistic universalistic world-view. Judaisms horizons have been great; and it has begotten great ideas. The challenge to modern Jews is to remain faithful to their distinctive mitzvot while maintaining a universalistic ethical idealism.

Rabbi Angel is Founder and Director of the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals.

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The Universalistic Vision of Judaism - Jewish Journal

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Posted By admin on June 26, 2022

As a member of the towns religious leadership, Rabbi Yudi Steiger of the Chabad Lubavitch of Park City is always looking for ways to help local residents and visitors create a stronger, more unified community.

This is why he will teach a class titled Beyond Right: the Values That Shape Judaism Civil Code. The six-week Jewish Learning Institute course, which will be held in person at 2669 Canyons Resort Drive and virtually on Zoom weekly at 3:30 p.m. every Wednesday, starting June 29, will combine an exploration of Jewish values with an in-depth study of practical Jewish law, according to Steiger (see accompanying schedule and class rundown).

We will focus on the connection between these two concepts and show how values shape law, he said. Judaism contains an ethical value system as well as a legal system, and we will see how the two of them are related.

Every lesson will explore the core Jewish values from Torah sources and explore how they have been shaped over the years, according to Steiger.

We hope to give a whole new perspective on practical, legal and ethical dilemmas people come across in life, he said. I think a lot of people and Jews will say Jewish values are important to them and an integral part of what being Jewish means to them. But at the same time, when you ask them to define what is unique about Jewish values and what they are, they are hard pressed to give a detailed answer.

Another goal for the course is to show how the community can go further than just the letter of the law, Steiger said.

While the Rabbis and the Torah will teach us how to keep the Jewish holidays, how to keep the Sabbath and the laws of Kosher, there are things they dont teach, he said. For example, is it stealing if my neighbors wifi doesnt have a password, and I use it without their consent?

As an added bonus, attorneys who take the course will receive nine continuing legal education (CLE) credits.

According to state law, Utah attorneys must earn 24 hours of CLE credits every two years, and the requirement must include two hours covering ethics and one hour that covers professionalism.

Steiger is looking forward to teaching the class because he believes education is important in the community.

Through education, we can learn from our mistakes and our past, and we can see what is really important in life, he said. Thats why Chabad is always looking forward to bringing new programs and new activities to Park City.

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New class offered by Chabad Lubavitch of Park City will go 'Beyond' what is right - The Park Record

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