Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on June 14, 2022

Even though I have forgotten more about history than most people ever learn, there remains so much I do not know. And there is not always the time to even study the things that interest me. So being able to travel to Ukraine offered the opportunity of connecting to places outside of my experience. While just about all the knowledge there is exists on the internet, researching the small town of Berezhany in Ternopil Oblast had not been at the top of my priority list. That was until I visited there, and I learned of the terrible slaughter of the once vibrant Jewish population.

The town of Berezhany has an ancient history, being ruled or attacked by the Ottoman Empire, the Kingdom of Poland, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Pre- and Post-Soviet Russia, and Nazi Germany. For context, the region was part of Poland in the 1930s, annexed by the Soviet Union in 1945, and has been a part of Ukraine since 1991. So there are residents of Berezhany with a living memory of their town belonging to three different nations.

Jews had lived in Brzeany since the sixteenth century, making up the second-largest ethnic group in the town after the Poles. Berezhany is located between Lviv and Ternopil, the two cities that were my entry and exit points in Ukraine.

The original plans for Ukraine involved spending a day in the city of Krakw, which required an arduous bus ride to cross the Polish border. Because the Russian invasion had shutdown Ukrainian airspace, and Belarus could potentially join the war at any time, Poland was the nearest nation with an airport. From there all travel was by land.

Krakw has a rich history, and dark legacy. I wanted to visit the Krakw-Paszw Concentration Camp, a place I had been told about since a small child. I knew that we lost family in the Holocaust, but not where. Growing up, the names of Nazi concentration camps seemed to always be a part of the adult conversation around me. So this trip was my best chance to set foot on that historic site.

But with the logistics of travel, such an excursion would have added one brick too much to my load. So I made the most of my time in Berezhany, and it came with an unexpected discovery. I was told that the town had an old Jewish cemetery, but I did not understand the context or historical significance until I visited the grounds.

It was said that the cemetery was as old as Berezhany itself, a testimony to the history of the community from its foundation. The first Jewish settlers bought a piece of land and sanctified it for a cemetery.

During the Great War, the cemetery was destroyed. For months, the front lines between the Austrian and Russian armies were inside Berezhany. From its high vantage point, the cemetery offered the Austrians a strong defensive position. They dug trenches among the graves, and headstones were shattered by artillery.

In the years between the World Wars, the local Jewish community repaired the cemetery, cleaning and fixing its damage. But during Soviet rule from 1939 to 1941, all the activities of the Jewish community were forbidden.

Nazi soldiers occupied the town in 1941, and within a year the Gestapo began to liquidate the ghetto in Berezhany. It is estimated that up to 2,000 Jews were shot at the cemetery between 1942 and 1943. A local resident told me what had been common knowledge in the community and passed down over the years.

The cemetery had been built at one of the tallest points in the area at the end of M. Bezdilnoho Street. It overlooked the town of Berezhany from the Okopysko Hill.

Local residents during the war years said that the Germans executed so many people, particularly during a three-day period before Passover in 1943, that blood flowed like a waterfall down the hill from so many dead.

I only realized that I was standing in the killing fields while I was standing in the killing fields. It made leaving a somber and more slow process.

One other discovery of interest was to visit the heart of what had been the Jewish community in Berezhany. The Great Synagogue of Berezhany was an Ashkenazi synagogue completed in 1718, but rebuilt around 1900. The brick building was constructed in the Baroque Survival style, and was a central location for the life of the local Jewish community.

It was destroyed during the Great War, and under Soviet Occupation in 1939 used as a shelter for refugees. It later became a gain store-house, and continued in that purpose by the Nazi forces and later the Red Army. It has remained abandoned and in ruin over the decades since.

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Images from Ukraine: An unexpected encounter with Jewish history and the bloody legacy of persecution - Milwaukee Independent

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Posted By admin on June 14, 2022

(JTA) Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?

ShvomBob Kvadrat-hoyzn, of course.

And now the Jewish world knows how to say SpongeBob SquarePants in Yiddish, thanks to a translation of the animated kid shows theme song by Eddy Portnoy, the academic advisor and director of exhibitions at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research in Manhattan.

Last week, Portnoys college-aged daughter put SpongeBob on TV, and Portnoy was inspired. He typed up the lyrics on his Notes app and posted the translation to Twitter, and let the algorithm do the rest.

I can choose anything to translate, he said, but this is sort of extra funny, because its not something that you expect to hear in Yiddish.

The lyrics alone were well-received, and then they were vocalized by Yiddish TikToker Cameron Bernstein, a communications fellow at the Yiddish Book Center, who recorded herself singing the translation.

The animated Nickelodeon comedy series features a melange of undersea characters including the titular SpongeBob (an eternally optimistic sponge); his best friend Patrick, a dim but loyal starfish; and SpongeBobs dyspeptic coworker and nemesis, Squidward (a squid).

After 21 years and 276 episodes, the show is the fifth-longest running animated series of all time, and its tongue-in-cheek theme song, loosely based on the sea chanty Blow the Man Down and sung by a pirate, is familiar to at least two generations of viewers.

In the original, the pirate sings, If nautical nonsense, be something you wish,/Then drop on the deck and flop like a fish! In Yiddish that becomes, Oyb yam-narishkaytn iz epes ir vintsht,/Falt arop af der erd vi a meshugenem fish!

People can take this stuff and run with it, Portnoy said. For me, its just sort of a fun exercise; to see if I can do it, to get it to rhyme, to see if it works.

The study of Yiddish outside of haredi Orthodox communities, where it is often spoken as a first language, has undergone a revival in recent years. YIVOs online summer learning program saw the largest enrollment in its 54-year history in 2020 and 2021, and just last week, the institute hosted a webinar asking that very question: Are we in the midst of a Yiddish renaissance? The Workers Circle also saw record enrollment for its Yiddish classes.

Portnoy isnt the first to couple Yiddish with American pop culture. On his 1998 album, Mamaloshen, Mandy Patinkin sings a Yiddish version of Take Me Out to the Ballgame. Last year, Rokhl Kafrissen, another Yiddishist, translated the lyrics of Jimmy Buffets Why Dont We Get Drunk, which was subsequently performed by a trio of klezmer musicians commissioned by the Congress for Jewish Culture. Kafrissens version is not a word-for-word translation of the original because her goal was to create a cultural translation, she wrote on her blog.

Yiddish is sort of associated with older generations and Eastern Europe and whatnot, said Portnoy. But obviously, there is this very American Yiddish and obviously ultra-Orthodox communities still use it. But theyre definitely not watching SpongeBob. Or if they are, theyre doing it in secret. I dont know if theres a huge SpongeBob underground in Williamsburg or Borough Park.

Will Portnoy be doing this again anytime soon, though?

If it becomes a regular thing, its a lot less interesting to people, he said. You cant make lightning strike twice.

By Jackie Hajdenberg

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The SpongeBob SquarePants Theme Song is Now in Yiddish Detroit Jewish News - The Jewish News

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Posted By admin on June 14, 2022

While for most British Jews, synagogue is the focal point for religious life, Talia Chain finds her faith in nature. Its why, in 2018, she founded Sadeh Farm in Kent, currently Europes only Jewish farming community.

On the edge of Sadehs plot is its forest garden a low intervention and sustainable agronomic system based on trees, shrubs and perennials. Perched on a seat, 33-year-old Chain is describing one of her most treasured Jewish customs. Its called the law of orlah, Chain says, where you dont pick or eat the fruit from a fruit tree for its first three years producing. Instead, you let the fruit ripen and fall to the ground to rot naturally.

Its just one of many Jewish laws put into practice here, with visitors and residents invited to explore their faiths now rarely exercised agricultural customs.

Its clearly a markedly different approach to working the land than that taken by their neighbours. Sadehs fields, including a wildflower meadow left untouched in the hope of restoring the local butterfly population, are surrounded by hectares of constantly productive monoculture wheat and barley.

We create opportunities for Jewish people and others to connect with nature, says Chain. Were trying to remind the Jewish community that environmentalism, sustainability and preserving the planet is a fundamental tenet of their faith.

Chain first came to Skeet Hill House, on the outskirts of Orpington, in 2017. A Jewish community space since the early 1940s, it was owned by the Jewish Youth Fund, and initially run as a retreat for young, deprived Jewish youth from a war-torn East End of London. As Jewish demographics shifted, it became a retreat for religious schools, youth movements and community groups.

Chain was granted permission by Skeets previous management to turn a small corner of the land into a vegetable garden. Three years earlier, she had on a whim enrolled on a training course at the Isabella Freedman Center, a Jewish farm in Connecticut. I read Michael Pollans The Omnivores Dilemma and realised despite being Jewish, and therefore eating ten meals a day I had no idea where my food came from.

Previously, shed struggled to connect to her culture through synagogue and orthodox practices. And here was this other Judaism that Id never heard of, using a Jewish lens to explore climate justice, food security and sustainable growing.

After relocating to Kent, Chain set about sharing her newfound knowledge with young visitors and building the impressive operation that is housed on the site today: theres a six-bedroom kosher guesthouse, brewery, staff and volunteer accommodation, and various agricultural and community programmes, all centred around their secluded seven acres.

For many Jews today, certainly in the UK, agriculture isnt integral to Jewish practice. Modern British Jewry is a mostly urban population, but these cultures and customs come from a time when Jewish communities farmed the land. Then from 70 CE until fairly recently, Chain says, not only were Jews not on the land, for much of that time they couldnt legally own it. Jews therefore had to find ways to practise their faith beyond its land-based beginnings. Chains ancestors swapped their scythes, she says, for books of law. Today, Jewish festivals are understood to be about the Jewish narrative story, Chain says. Passover is the Exodus from Egypt; Sukkot (the Feast of Tabernacles) desert dwelling post Egyptian exit, and Shavuot (Feast of Weeks) the subsequent giving of the Torah. But these festivals are actually centred around the harvest, says Chain, and reintroducing that link to the land has never been more urgent.

Over 900 trees have been planted on the site so far, most as part of the celebrations for Tu BShevat: in the Jewish calendar, the annual birthday for trees. In biblical times, Chain says, some of the harvest would be donated to the temple to feed the people who worked there. Today, we give a portion of what we grow instead to local food banks.

Judaism, Chain argues, charges its followers with preserving the planet. We have the principle of Bal tashchit the principle of not destroying the earth or wasting resources. Chain thinks modern Judaism urgently needs to consider this as significant as keeping kosher or observing the Sabbath.

She points to the law of Shmita, the Jewish practice which dictates every seventh year crops are neither sewed nor harvested. Customarily, its only observed within biblical Israels borders, but at Sadeh it is practised. So much farming is akin to mining these days, she says. We demand land is endlessly productive, taking out as much as we can. But theres no time for decomposition, for the land to rest and microorganisms to recuperate, and so we become addicted to fertilisers. When they no longer work, and the land has been totally exploited, were left with dead soil. By periodically leaving land untouched, the soil has respite to rebuild.

Over at the no-dig vegetable patch, 25-year-old Sadeh apprentice Mariel Poulos is in the full swing of weeding. Here were growing everything from garlic and turnips to chard, potatoes, beans, coriander and callalloo, she says, gesturing across the allotment. And of course we have dill a Jewish favourite, too.

Poulos lives on site, just across the field in a cosy green caravan. She arrived on a three-month fellowship, and now is undertaking the apprenticeship scheme. Like many at Sadeh, Poulos had previously felt disconnected from her Judaism. Id done nothing Jewish since I was a young teenager, she says, But I signed up. And it was the best three months of my life. Hanging out with other Jews, working the land, learning about Judaisms agricultural roots. It helped me see my own heritage differently. It offered me a place to be an active Jewish person, being a steward of the land.

Slowly but surely, Sadeh is becoming a valuable asset to the Jewish community. Their certified-kosher guesthouse provides a space for the coming together of all corners of the Jewish community. Just last week, the Board of Deputies British Jewrys community leadership organisation came for a pickling awayday.

In January this year, however, the Jewish Youth Fund Sadehs landlords informed Chain the site would soon be put up for sale. We are running a campaign to try to save Sadeh, Chain says. We want to stay until the end of our agreed 10-year lease, giving us time to find a buyer and to continue our work here.

An outpouring of support for Sadeh has come from all corners of the community, including from chief rabbi Ephraim Mirvis. I know Sadeh Farm to be an exceptional facility, Mervis says, creating impactful educational experiences for all, especially young people, helping them to understand the importance of sustainability and care for our environment. This would be a real loss to our community and I sincerely hope that a favourable solution will be found.

According to the Jewish Youth Fund, the proposed sale has not been undertaken lightly. The Jewish Youth Fund admires the education work that Sadeh does with schools and families, a spokesperson said, but this is outside our remit. The reconfigured building, with its much-reduced capacity of about 28 in en suite bedrooms, is now completely unsuited to youth groups. This has created an impossible problem for us as it is a non-income generating asset not being used in line with the charitys objectives.

To Chain, however, this just doesnt add up. What could be more important for Jewish youth, she asks, than ensuring they have a planet to live on, and our community like all others has a future? Thats what were trying to achieve here.

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Jewish roots: the Kent farm cultivating Jewish principles of land stewardship - The Guardian

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Posted By admin on June 14, 2022

Virtually all of college newspaper The Harvard Crimsonscoverage of Israel is negatively biased, according to ananalysis by Campus Reform, a college news daily founded by the Leadership Institute to counter what it calls liberal bias and abuse on the nations college campuses.

On Tuesday, the outlet said it had assessed 44 articles published about Israel by the Harvard University newspaper between April 16, 2018 and May 11, 2022, finding that 92 percent of news articles and 58 percent of op-eds malign the Jewish state, with a further 47 percent endorsing the analogy between Israel and the former apartheid regime in South Africa.

Its report also noted that theCrimsonEditorial Board recentlyendorsedthe boycott, sanctions, divestment (BDS) movement, a decision that prompted 155 Harvard University faculty to issue a letter denouncing it forcreating spaces where Jewish and Zionist students are targeted and made to feel unwelcome.

On Tuesday, university and nonprofit leaders toldThe Algemeiner that the anti-Israel bias betrayed by the Crimson is cause for concern.

The issue with anti-Israel and antisemitic bias on college campuses is very real and very troubling, formerHarvard University president and US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers said. I wish that university leaders were quicker to condemn problematic episodes of antisemitism in the same way they condemn other racist speech and acts.

Students themselves enforce hostility towards Israel, said Alex Joffe, who monitors BDS for Scholars for Peace in the Middle East (SPME), an NGO. Joffe cited as an example an incident at the University of Chicago in which the editors of the Maroon deleted a pro-Israel essay and republished it with a disclaimer and rebuttal.

Sometimes, past expressions of pro-Israel sentiment are enough for editors to disappear or edit a piece, Joffe continued, noting that those who participate in campus media quickly learn that Israel-hating activists inside and outside the organization demand a certain baseline of hostility.

Jesse Fried, Dane Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, said that Campus Reformsmethodology was unknown to me, but added:The Crimsons endorsement of the BDS movement, which openly calls for the destruction of Israel as a Jewish state, is deeply worrying.

Fried said the backing for BDS indicates that Crimson editors either are ignorant about or dislike the Jewish people, making negative bias in the papers coverage of Israel more likely.

OneCrimsonessay included inCampus Reformsanalysis, Boycott Israeli Apartheid: If Not Now, When? by doctoral student Lucas M. Koerner, equated the Holocaust and pogroms of Jews in imperial Russia with the military action taken by Israel in response to Hamas attacks in May 2021. It called for an academic boycott of Israeli scholars and universities, taking aim at Harvards partnership with the Wexner Foundation, which awards fellowships for study at the Kennedy School of Government to Israeli leaders.

Harvard must sever ties with the Wexner Foundation, in addition to ending all research agreements and study abroad programs with Israeli universities in like with Palestinian civil societys call for an international academic boycott, Koerner demanded.

Most recently, on June 9,the Crimsonpublished an essay by BDS cofounder Omar Barghouti that claimed to oppose antisemitism while arguing that only a sell-out Palestinian will ever accept a Jewish state in Palestine.

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Harvard Crimson College Newspaper Biased Against Israel, Says Conservative Group - Algemeiner

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Posted By admin on June 14, 2022

The storied career of actor Al Pacino is to be celebrated in a one night only fundraiser Al Pacino Live on Stage, presented on Thursday, June 23 at 8:00 pm at Gindi Auditorium American Jewish University.

Following a sequence of film clips, Pacino, a unique and enduring figure in the world of American stage and film, will talk about his career with a moderator, followed by an open Q+A session with the audience. The evening will end with him performing a dramatic reading.

The evening supports Shakespeare Center Los Angeles. which creates world-class theater as a process for youth development and art-based employment, and American Jewish University, a place to engage with Jewish wisdom and advance ideas, dialogue and debate.

Al Pacino Live on Stage begins with a 7 PM pre-show wine and cheese welcome for the entire audience and concludes with a 9:30 pm VIP post show champagne and dessert with Mr. Pacino in attendance. At the post reception, California State Senator Mara Elena Durazo will present a $5.5 million check awarded to Shakespeare Center Los Angeles from the State of California for its ongoing work.

Tickets beginning at $150 available at shakespearecenter.org. Additional levels of support are also available.

Ben Donenberg, Shakespeare Center Los Angeles Artistic Director said, We are grateful to Al Pacino, who has become one of our great supporters, by coming forward to create an evening in which the general public has an opportunity to hear first-hand about his remarkable career that has spanned six decades. Shakespeare Center Los Angeles is also grateful to the American Jewish University for hosting this event.

The event co-chairs are Karla & William H,. Ahmanson, Barry Navidi, the honorable Jan C. Perry (Ret) and Katherine & Frank Price.

About Al Pacino

Al Pacino was born in East Harlem and grew up in New York Citys South Bronx. He attended the famed School of Performing Arts until the age of 17, when he moved on to study acting first at the Herbert Berghof Studio (HB Studio) with teacher and coach Charles Laughton, and later, at the legendary Actors Studio with mentor Lee Strasberg. Between 1963 and 1969 he honed his craft working in numerous theatrical productions including William Saroyans Hello Out There for his off-Broadway debut in 1963; Why is a Crooked Letter in 1966, for which he won an off-Broadway Obie Award; The Indian Wants the Bronx, that earned him another Obie Award as best actor of the 1967-68 season; and Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie? for his Broadway debut and first Tony Award in 1969.

Pacino continued appearing onstage in the 1970s, receiving a second Tony Award for The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel and performing the title role in Shakespeares Richard III. In the1980s, he again achieved critical success on the stage while appearing in David Mamets American Buffalo. Since 1990, Pacinos stage work has included revivals of Eugene ONeills Hughie, Oscar Wildes Salome and Lyle Kesslers Orphans. In 2011, he portrayed Shylock in The Merchant of Venice on Broadway, garnering a Tony Award nomination for Best Leading Actor in a Play and, in 2013, appeared on Broadway playing Shelley Levine in David Mamets Glengarry Glen Ross.

His first leading part in a feature film was in the 1971 drama Panic in Needle Park, and the following year Francis Ford Coppola selected him to take on the breakthrough role of Michael Corleone in The Godfather. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his work on The Godfather and, within the next six years, he received another four Academy Award nominations for the films Serpico, The Godfather Part II, Dog Day Afternoon and And Justice For All. A long and rich film career has followed with over 45 titles including Scarface, Sea of Love, The Insider, Donnie Brasco, Heat (where he shared the screen for the first time with fellow film icon Robert DeNiro) and Any Given Sunday. He garnered additional Academy award nominations for his performances in Dick Tracy and Glengarry Glen Ross.

His role as Colonel Frank Slade in Scent of a Woman won him the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1992. He played Shylock in Michael Radfords film adaptation of The Merchant of Venice. He directed and stars in the films Looking For Richard and Chinese Coffee.

His television work includes a rich relationship with HBO first as Roy Cohn in the 2003 miniseries Angels in America and as Dr. Jack Kevorkian in You Dont Know Jack in 2010, both of which garnered Golden Globes and Emmy Awards for his performances. In 2013 ,he won Golden Globe and Emmy nominations for the title role in David Mamets film Phil Spector.

Pacino recently directed the films Salome and Wilde Salome, in which he stars as King Herod with Jessica Chastain as Salome. Wilde Salome received its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival. Most recently, Pacino can currently be seen as true-life teamster in an Oscar-nominated performance as Jimmy Hoffa in Martin Scorseses The Irishman, starring alongside Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci. The Irishman is an adaptation of the 2004 memoir I Heard You Paint Houses by Charles Brandt and follows organized crime in postwar American, as told by the infamous hitman Frank Sheeran (De Niro). Pacino can next be seen in Amazon Prime Videos highly-anticipated series Hunters.

Pacino has been awarded the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award for Lifetime Achievement in Motion Pictures, the American Film Institute Life Achievement Award and in 2011, he was received the National Merit of Arts from President Obama. He received the Kennedy Center Honor in 2016.

In 1986, Shakespeare Center Los Angeles, then operating as Shakespeare Festival/LA, presented the first Summer Festival, with performances of Twelfth Night in Pershing Square. The audience included friends, a few earnest theatergoers, and the homeless residents of the Square. The homeless took great pride in the production, and each night they became more and more involved in its promotion and management, showing the audience where to sit, handing out programs, answering questions and thanking everyone for coming.

One night, our gracious hosts presented our founder Ben Donenberg with four large trash bags filled with aluminum cans. Wanting to contribute, they explained that the actors could take the cans to a recycling center and get a nickel a piece. Deeply touched, Artistic Director Ben Donenberg declined their offer, but instead created the Food for Thought admission policy in response, requesting that audience members donate food for the needy to gain admission instead of buying a ticket.

In 1993, SCLA expanded to offer outreach programs such as Will Power to Youth and employment and enrichment program that combines hands-on artistic experience with paid job training, specifically created to provide an arts immersion for at-risk youth. In January 2000, SCLA purchased and moved into its permanent downtown headquarters, which is strategically located within a two block radius of three Title One high schools serving approximately 20% of the City of Los Angeless youth living at the poverty threshold.

In recent years, SCLA has been a national leader and innovator in the field of arts and human services. Partnerships have included the Department of Justice, the Department of Mental Health, US Department of Veteran Affairs, Arts and Healthcare, Volt Workforce Solutions in Anaheim, and the Linked Learning office of the Los Angeles Unified School District.

WHY SHAKESPEARE: Inspirational documentary created by the National Endowment for the Arts featuring the award winning programs,people and staff of The Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles.

American Jewish University (AJU) is a thriving center of Jewish resources and talent that serves the Jewish community of the twenty-first century. A portal for Jewish belonging, AJU equips students, faculty, campers, and learners of all ages with the tools to create the ideas, build the structures, and develop the programs to advance Jewish wisdom and elevate Jewish living.

American Jewish Universityadvances and elevates the Jewish journey of individuals, organizations and our communitythrough excellence in scholarship, teaching, engaged conversation, and outreach.

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Al Pacino Live on Stage | One Night Only to benefit Shakespeare Center Los Angeles and American Jewish University | The South Pasadenan - The South...

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Posted By admin on June 13, 2022

The Israel Prisons Service decided against funding cosmetic nose surgery requested by a would-be Palestinian suicide bomber who was seriously injured when she tried to blow herself up, Hebrew media reported Tuesday.

Israa Jaabis had asked for the Prisons Service to grant the procedure saying the injuries she sustained in her attack prevented her from breathing through her nose, but a police officer who was injured in the explosion appealed to top officials against the move.

In a letter to injured officer Moshe Chen on Monday, the prison service said that medical treatments offered to prisoners, including to Jaabis, would only be in provided in accordance with [its] obligations, Hebrew media reported.

IPS guidelines only require it to provide treatment needed to maintain an inmates health and not for any cosmetic reasons, the Kan public broadcaster said, dismissing Jaabiss claims that her surgery was needed for health reasons.

The prison service also denied media reports that it had even considered funding the operation, explaining that it must evaluate each request from an inmate as a matter of policy. It noted that the High Court of Justice had rejected a petition from Jaabis to force the prison service to cover the surgery.

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Two weeks ago, Hebrew media reported that Jaabis had appealed to the High Court asking that the IPS pay for the treatment and that the prison service was considering her request.

Chen, who suffered burns to his face and chest, responded by sending a letter to Public Security Minister Omer Barlev and to Israel Prisons Service Commissioner Katy Perry urging against the funding.

Opposition MK Michal Woldiger of the far-right Religious Zionism party welcomed the reported IPS decision not to fund the procedure, saying in a statement it was absurd for the state to pay for the surgery, Israel Hayom reported.

What next, hair transplants for terrorists? she said. The IPS did a good thing in rejecting the request and not being drawn into this disgrace.

Jaabis was 31 in 2015 when she detonated a gas canister in her car after being pulled over by police near the Maale Adumim settlement outside Jerusalem. She had been heading into Israel where she intended to carry out a suicide bombing, according to Israeli authorities.

The resulting fire caused burns to Chens face and chest and also seriously injured Jaabis.

Police and a forensic team at the scene of an attempted bombing near Maale Adumim, just east of Jerusalem, on Sunday, October 11, 2015. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Following the attack, the Shin Bet security service said that Jaabis was found to be carrying handwritten notes expressing support for Palestinian martyrs. She was indicted on one count of attempted murder by the Jerusalem District Court and sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2016.

Jaabis has already had two previous operations to treat injuries to her hands, Kan reported.

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Prison service rejects nose job request from Palestinian bomber - The Times of Israel

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Posted By admin on June 13, 2022

For a long time, April Berger considered herself an abstract artist, not a Judaica artist. Born into a secular family on Long Island, she moved out west after college in 1980 and settled in San Francisco. She made mostly secular abstract paintings until the aughts, which is when she felt inspired by the Hebrew alphabet.

At the time, she didnt know which letter was which.

I was drawn to the Hebrew letters purely as abstract shapes, Berger, 65, said in a recent interview. While studying Kabbalah online with the Kabbalah Centre, she learned that each letter has a different energy, and she decided to create a series of tapestries based on the letters. It was shown at a few area JCCs and led to commissions.

Around 2009, Congregation Sinai, a Conservative synagogue in San Jose, commissioned Berger to create two tapestries an alef and a tav, the first and last letters of the alphabet to hang on either side of the bimah. She also created a cover for the Torah table. Then the shul wanted new, white Torah covers for the High Holidays.

Now, she is working on her largest commission to date: new covers for all nine of the congregations Torahs.

Commissioning an artist to create a Torah cover by hand is rare, given the cost and time involved, according to Julie Krigel, a professional designer who chairs Sinais design committee. She said she knows of no other local synagogues doing so.

An internet search for Torah covers yields plenty of results, but the covers are not usually done by hand, noted Berger. When you search for someone who makes mantles or covers, they have huge machines and their output is very fast, she said. With mine, everything is done by hand. I do use a machine, but its a very simple embroidery machine, and Im making the designs myself, not using a computer.

Typically the Torah is dressed in monochromatic (often navy blue) velvet with white satin and gold accents. Some modern covers have intricate designs, but these traditional covers are still the norm. By contrast, Bergers colors are bold and bright, with hot pinks, reds and teals on blue or teal backgrounds.

Her style is more eclectic than modern, said Krigel, who teaches art at Yavneh Day School. Its complex and colorful and weaves both traditional and contemporary fabrics and imagery, but puts [them] in a more modern context. Its inviting and interesting. You want to explore when you look at her work.

The process is collaborative, with the shul committee and Rabbi Josh Berkenwald coming up with specific images and Berger showing them sketches before she starts. While many shuls wouldnt consider spending money this way, Krigel and her committee felt differently. To commission these latest covers, the shul held a fundraiser.

The goal of a well-designed synagogue is to create connection, collaboration, and a meaningful communal experience, visually, emotionally and spiritually, said Krigel, who introduced Bergers work to the committee. This is achieved when one overarching vision is seen through from start to finish, and all elements spaces, objects, colors, materials, etc. work together cohesively. Commissioning the right artist, April Berger, whose vision, style, and spiritual intent perfectly complemented our overarching vision, was key.

Each of the three covers shes completed so far features a different image: the burning bush; the tree of life; and a menorah design created by Maimonides, the medieval Torah scholar.

I dont work quickly, Berger said. Im a perfectionist. Shes had to learn different sewing techniques and how to use a special kind of sewing machine, she added.

Given the times, Berger has a Covid story to share. The shutdown happened just as she was about to start her first cover. Fabric stores had all closed, and she didnt trust buying fabric online because onscreen views of the color or texture might be off.

On Nextdoor a social media site that allows neighbors to communicate with each other and share information she posted that she was looking for velvet or silk fabric remnants that people might want to get rid of, which she would be using to make Torah covers.

Within two weeks, I had so much fabric, she said. I went all over San Francisco to different neighborhoods, and people would throw big bags to me. No one took any money; they all wanted to get rid of the fabric, she recalled, some of it having been in the attic for 30 years.

The cover that Berger is currently working on features an image of Miriam, arms aloft, playing her tambourine.

For each cover, I have to do some reading, which forces me to learn more about the topic, and I love that, she said.

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Artist April Berger leans into Judaica with Torah covers project J. - The Jewish News of Northern California

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Posted By admin on June 13, 2022

The partial list that follows features half-a-dozen establishments in Tel Aviv that serve carefully curated wines tastings, glasses and bottles along with tempting tapas meant for sharing. Four of them are open most days of the week, while two of them operate on a weekly basis. There is even one whose wines and food are all certified kosher. (As usual, entries are not ranked, but rather listed in alphabetical order.)

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Felix

(Photo: Buzzy Gordon)

Ambiance: Located on upper Dizengoff (in the premises vacated by the late lamented bistro Hotel de Ville), Felix like its neighbor both in the physical vicinity and in this list, Rova (below) has the look and feel of a typical north Tel Aviv sidewalk bar-restaurant. It is also the only wine bar belonging to the famed Bellboy group of cocktail and culinary bars, run by people who know a thing or two about pleasing customers.

Hours: Daily, 18.00-02.00. Happy Hour: Daily, 18.00-19.30 (30% discount on both the food and drinks menu)

Wine: Felix has by far the most colorful and playful wine list in town; the two-page wine list is accompanied by a separate glossary of icons emojis, if you will, that describe the flavor characteristics of all the vintages on offer. Not only is every wine in the no-fewer-than 11 sections of the main list accompanied by two symbols that complement the titles of each heading, there is also a knowledgeable and friendly English-speaking staff ready to advise you.

There is a reasonable selection of wines available by the glass, with at least one in each category. In addition, there are three specialty cocktails, a house white sangria (by the glass or pitcher), and two specialty sangrias served in pitchers.

Menu: The food menu comprises four sections, the first containing primarily starters and salads, the second consisting mostly of raw (and some cooked) fish, the third featuring meat, and the last desserts. Interestingly, we chose to have one of the dishes in the first section as a dessert.

Recommended: The house sangria; Tuna ceviche; Minute steak; Burrata with spiced pear, crme brle, and amaretto semifreddo.

Felix. Not kosher. 230 Dizengoff St., Tel Aviv. Tel. (03) 974-6999.

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Jus Bar a Vin

(Photo: Haim Yosef)

Ambiance: Jus Bar Vin is also located in the premises of a highly acclaimed and recently departed restaurant Yahaloma Levys Sahki Sahki, on Tchernichovsky Street just off Allenby. Seating options include sidewalk tables, and indoors a few high tables or at a long bar or narrow counters with wooden stools. The soundtrack is cool jazz.

Hours: Sunday-Friday, 18.00-0.00. Closed Saturdays.

Wine: By virtue of small print, the one-page wine list manages to squeeze in seven whites, five reds, and two ros wines. It is currently in Hebrew only, with an English version on the way. As may be expected from an establishment with a French name and ownership, vintages from France predominate; interestingly, moreover, there are also wines from Austria, as well as Italy, Spain and Argentina. The service is friendly and professional.

Menu: The bilingual one-page food menu lists three cold plates, 10 prepared dishes (both cold and warm), and three desserts. Fortunately, the same sous chef who worked previously at Sahki Sahki, Adar Lotan, is still there now as the chef so the kitchen is in good hands.

Recommended: Tomato-loquat gazpacho; roast beef with Savoy cabbage, fish in whey caramel, and yogurt ice cream with strawberry granita for dessert.

Jus. Not kosher. 4 Tchernichovsky St., Tel Aviv. Tel. (03) 774-4511.

Ambiance: In a somewhat surprising location in an industrial building in south Tel Aviv, one enters from rather depressing external surroundings into a pleasant private room, leading to a spacious terrace and an expansive view, ideal for watching sunsets. Thera are also sizable tables indoors, and a lively yet unobtrusive soundtrack throughout. Entry is most convenient from the parking lot (which is free).

Hours: Just once a week, usually on a weekday evening (predominantly Thursdays) or Friday matinee. The changing schedule may accessed online at either https://www.instagram.com/winebar_popup/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y%3D

(Instagram) or https://www.facebook.com/groups/490547819189700/?ref=share (Facebook)

Wine: The concept the brainchild of host Eyal Naor, who owns the Private Room (Heder Prati), among other hospitality and event venues is to host different Israeli or foreign wineries each week. Free tastes of quite a few select vintages are offered, after which one elects to purchase a bottle at the suggested retail store price, plus a corkage fee of 25%

Menu: The items on the food menu are on actually display, and consist generally of five dishes, some of which are permanent like the pizzas, or the cheese platter while others rotate. There is also a small specialty deli selling premium products to snack on (and/or take home). An interesting perk is the free dessert: the house chocolate yeast cake, served with complimentary tea or coffee.

Recommended: The stuffed vine leaves and the 12 gods Greek pastry.

PopUp Wine Bar. Not kosher. 84 Ben Zvi Blvd. Loft 618 (6th floor), Tel Aviv.

5 View gallery

Rova

(Photo: Buzzy Gordon)

Ambiance: Situated on another very busy corner of Dizengoff street (this time at the intersection of Arlozorov), the popular Rova is often jam-packed. Most seating is outside at high tables with hard wooden chairs, where the soundtrack is barely audible. There are also a few low tables with soft seats. Atmosphere is as much that of a typical Tel Aviv bar as a wine bar, and this is indeed reflected in the overall alcoholic beverage selection, which includes imported and domestic beers on tap and in bottles, as well as four specialty cocktails.

Hours: Open weekdays from 11.00 (with brunch dishes and value lunches served until 16.00) and weekends (Fri-Sat,) from 10.30. Rova closes daily at 02.00 (or until the last customer). Happy hour: Sunday-Thursday, 17.30-20.00 (50% off on alcohol, 20% off on food).

Wine: The international wine list is in Hebrew only (although the food menu is bilingual), with most wines available by the glass. The red wines are listed by country, with no fewer than six represented, while the ross are mostly from France. The white wines, also listed by country (with France in the lead again), have an unusual preponderance: they are virtually all dry vintages, with only one semi-dry white.

Menu: The extensive food menu comprises six sections: Rise and Shine, Tapas (meant to accompany the wine), Salads, Boutique Pizzas, Main courses and Desserts. The English menu is not as updated as often as the Hebrew one, so there are occasional discrepancies. Rova shares its talented chef with the nearby Josephine Baker bar.

Recommended: Polenta with mushrooms, arugula, truffle oil and Parmesan; Artichoke and Camembert bruschetta; Croissant bread pudding with vanilla ice cream for dessert.

Rova. Not kosher. 192 Dizengoff St., Tel Aviv. Tel. (03) 913-6732.

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Tasting Room

(Photo: Buzzy Gordon )

Ambiance: From the same folks who bring you the stunning Whiskey Bar and Museum (see the review on these pages), Tasting Room also in the Sarona Compound, and also certified kosher features award winning design, There is an outdoor patio cum bar upstairs, while downstairs is furnished with both low tables and chairs and high tables with stools, The surrounding walls are basically a wine cellar, containing close to

400 bottles of Israeli wines. The atmosphere is livened with a pleasant classic rock soundtrack.

Hours: Sun-Thurs, 17.00-0.00; Saturdays, 19.00-0.00. Closed Fridays.

Wine: On any given evening, some 32 vintages are available, dispensed from sophisticated pouring machines operated by a chip-enabled smart card. The eight dispensing stations comprise five stocked with red wines, three with whites one ros. The helpful wait staff will instruct you on how to select from the three different amounts that will end up in your glass: a taste, half-glass, or a full glass (with corresponding prices clearly indicated on the LED display). There are enough glasses on hand to keep changing to a new one between tastings.

Menu: The one page bilingual menu features both hot and cold tapas. While nether meat nor poultry is served, there are sufficient vegan/ vegetarian options. There is no formal dessert menu, but your server will explain which two are on offer that evening.

Recommended: Beet carpaccio, burrata with cherry tomato jam, white fish carpaccio; for dessert; crunchy chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream and fresh strawberries.

Tasting Room. Kosher. 36 Eliezer Kaplan St. (Sarona), Tel Aviv. Tel. (077) 231-0431.

5 View gallery

Wine Garden

(Photo: Buzzy Gordon )

Ambiance: Not to be confused with the downtown Wine Garden TLV (Yayin Bahatzer), the pop-up Wine Garden is a weekly adjunct to the veteran Russian restaurant Baba Yaga. Most of the seating is al fresco, just off the street in a shrubbery-sheltered courtyard, although there is also an adjacent eclosed area, plus a small interior dining room towards the rear of the premises.

Hours: Tuesday evenings, 19.30-22.30.

Wine: Each week, a different category of wine is presented, with representative vintages curated from wineries around the world. Complimentary tastings are provided and explained by the accomplished resident Russian-American-Israeli sommelier. The concept is meant to introduce people to the relaxing atmosphere of the place, and customers are invited to purchase either glasses or bottles of the wine they have just tasted, but there is no special expectation to do so.

Menu: This is the most extensive food menu in our list, since the entire restaurant menu in three languages, displayed electronically is at your disposal. There are no fewer than six sections: Starters, Salads, Specials, Main Courses (Meat and from the Sea), and Desserts. There are also adequate vegan/vegetarian options. Patrons preferring not to order from the wine tasting offerings may do so from the restaurants regular wine list or alcohol menu.

Recommended: Enjoy Russian specialties such as Forshmak (chopped herring) and Pelmeni (veal dumplings), as well as something different for dessert, the light Bird Milk Cake.

Wine Garden @ Baba Yaga. Not kosher. 12 HaYarkon St., Tel Aviv. Tel. (03) 517-5179.

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Pop Up or Traditional: Six Wine Bars to Savor - Ynetnews

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Posted By admin on June 13, 2022

All the days of his abstinence, anything made from wine grapes, even the seeds or skin, he shall not eat (Bamidbar 6:4).

In many instances throughout the Talmud, our Sages highlight the importance of establishing additional regulations that will prevent the transgression of a Torah prohibition. For example, in the very first Mishnah of the Talmud (Brachos) our Sages state that the time for reciting the evening Krias Shema is until midnight. The next Mishnah, though, states that one may, in fact, recite the Krias Shema until dawn. The Talmud concludes that the discrepancy is in order to ensure that the individual does not transgress and fail to recite the Krias Shema altogether.

Similarly we find in Pesachim (40b) the Talmud discusses adding vinegar into a pot with flour on Pesach so that the flour does not become chametz. Although this is halachically permitted, the Talmud concludes that the use of vinegar is prohibited in order to avoid a sequence of events that might lead to transgressing the prohibition of chametz.

Yet the Talmud uses the exemplar of the laws of the Nazir (Shabbos 13a) to illustrate the need to institute mandates that will separate one from transgressing, stating, Go around, go around, and do not approach the vineyard they say to the Nazirite.

R Yonasan Eybeschutz explains that the Talmud specifically chose the laws of the Nazir because it is a unique prohibition. The Nazir may not get a haircut, may not come in close contact with the dead, nor may he drink wine. However, unlike other boundary-setting prohibitions, such as muktzah (items set aside) on Shabbos, which were instituted by our Sages, the confines of the Nazir are set by the Torah, which additionally prohibits the Nazir not only from eating the grapes of the vineyard but also forbids him from eating its seeds or skin. The sages added another level here in the Talmud by advising the Nazirite to not even approach the vineyard.

Rabbeinu Yonah (Gerondi), most famously known for his Sefer Shaarei Teshuvah, writes that one who fulfills the mitzvos but is not vigilant in complying with the boundary-setting prohibitions established by our Sages demonstrates that he is not perturbed or distressed that he may possibly stumble or slip in the proper fulfillment of the mitzvos. Conversely, he says, how worthy is the individual who observes the protective restraints that were instituted to guard the fulfillment of the mitzvos, over and above his actual performance of the mitzvah itself. With this attitude, he expresses his deep love for the mitzvos and his attentiveness to their proper fulfillment.

R Yechezkel Levenstein notes that the Shulchan Aruch only cites the basic, minimal requirements of our laws, and a person must add stringencies to those laws in order to be able to fulfill them properly.

To illustrate this concept, the Alter of Kelm reflected that our Sages tell us that a human being may only require a reviis of blood to exist. However, everyone knows that this cannot be called living. An individual needs an abundance of blood. Similarly, one cannot truly be alive, living a full life, if he is merely observing the basic tenet of the law exactly as it is defined in the Shulchan Aruch.

The yeshiva of the Alter of Kelm (R Simcha Zissel Ziv Broida, 1824-1898) was surrounded by a fence of stones and a locked gate. The key to the gate was on the inside on a hook. If one wanted to gain entry when the yeshiva was in session, he could reach inside to get the key, open the gate, return the key to the hook, and then close the gate again. Each person who entered or left the yeshiva grounds was supposed to close the gate, lock it and leave the key on the hook.

There was also an individual assigned to be in charge of the key. At the end of the daily learning session, that individual would lock the gate and take the key with him. When he returned for the beginning of the next session the key would be replaced on the hook.

Anyone who came early, before the individual in charge of the key returned the Alter among them would wait patiently until the keys custodian would arrive.

Once, the doorman was delayed. The disciples and the Alter had all gathered in front of the locked gate and were waiting for him. Suddenly one of the disciples shouted: Bitul Torah (time is being wasted away from Torah). He jumped over the fence and went into the bais hamedrash.

The Alter fainted. When he was revived, he fainted a second time. The Alter was very shaken up, and his disciples wanted to know what was wrong.

Dont you see? he exclaimed. He did not abide by the boundaries that were established here. Who knows what other lines he crosses, and what other parameters he transgresses?

Why does the Rav say that? they asked. What did he do? He is a diligent and serious student.

Not too many days passed, and it was revealed that this young man had committed a reprehensible deed which indicated that his essence was corrupt to the core.

When the Alter passed by some of his students engaged in an animated discussion, he asked what the tumult was about. They told him that they were talking about the obvious ruach hakodesh of the Rav. Everyone had been under the impression that the young man was a diligent and virtuous student. How did the Rav know that he was, in fact, not honorable?

The Alter of Kelm said: There is nothing extraordinary about my insight. When we were all waiting patiently for the gate to be opened, this young man jumped over the fence. By breaching the wall, he demonstrated a lack of concern about his non-compliance with the rules. His action revealed a crucial weakness in his love of Torah, whose fulfillment includes adherence to the limitations and restrictions that have been imposed by our Sages.

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Why We Need Boundaries - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com

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Posted By admin on June 13, 2022

City and state education agencies have been ordered to finish an investigation into whether a Brooklyn yeshiva is providing students with a sound, basic education.

A New York Supreme Court judge has ruled the departments abdicated their responsibility to investigate whether the school Yeshiva Mesivta Arugath Habosem offers an education that is substantially equivalent to the public school system, court documents show.

The courts ruling should send a clear message to the NYC DOE that it is their responsibility to conclude their investigations into non-compliant yeshivas in a timely fashion, said Naftuli Moster, executive director of Young Advocates For Fair Education, a pro-secular education in yeshivas group, on Wednesday.

The case concerns Beatrice Weber, a mom of 10 who left her ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, but under a family court order had to send her child to a Brooklyn yeshiva her ex-husbands school of choice.

Weber filed a petition in September 2019 with the New York State Education Department against the DOE and the yeshiva, alleging her then-8-year-old son was not receiving the secular education required in the state.

State Education Commissioner Betty Rosa dismissed the petition, suggesting it was premature until the city investigated the allegations leading Weber to appeal to the New York Supreme Court.

This week Justice Adam Silverman ordered the agencies to complete their investigation into the Brooklyn yeshiva by September 2022.

Although this case dragged on and my son lost valuable years of learning, I feel greatly vindicated by this ruling and am hopeful that other parents will be inspired by my actions, said Weber.

The decision comes as yeshivas have sent thousands of letters pushing back against draft state oversight rules for nonpublic schools, ahead of voting on a final policy later this year.

While state officials maintain the proposal ensures students a fair education, letter-writers from the yeshivas said it hinders their ability to provide Jewish children with religious schooling.

David Bloomfield, a professor of education law and policy at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center,called this weeks decision historic in two respects that it gives individual parents alleging a lack of secular education under state law access to judicial relief, and that the court ordered the state and city to stop dragging their feet.

The only issue is how many parents will avail themselves of that opportunity, Bloomfield said.

For the most part, the parents of ultra-Orthodox students know and appear to be satisfied there isnt the necessary secular instruction, which makes it even more important for the state and city to enforce the law, he added. Even if a parent says I want my kid to know Talmud and Torah, thats not what the law says.

Bloomfield also weighed in on its impact on investigations into other yeshivas, after allegations against former Mayor Bill de Blasio said he delayed reports on their quality for his political benefit.

Mayor Adams has aligned himself with ultra-Orthodox yeshivas, and theres no indication at this point that he plans to jumpstart the required investigations that were similarly delayed under de Blasio, he said.

The State Education Department is evaluating the decision and waiting for the city to complete its investigation, said Emily DeSantis, a spokesperson for the agency.

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State, city ordered to finish investigation of NYC yeshiva - New York Post

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