Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on May 31, 2022

The history of blintzes and how to make them yourself.

In Judaism, food is an important part of our history and culture, and the route that it takes from the history books to our plate tells a story. Whether its a holiday or an event, theres rarely an empty plate or stomach in sight.

If youve been to a Jewish-hosted bruncheon, luncheon, or New York deli, youve sampled delicious, mostly Ashkenazi food. Ashkenazi cuisine originated from the Jews of Eastern European countries and was brought with them when they immigrated to North America. Most delicatessens in North America feature these Jewish Eastern European delicacies because of the Ashkenazi Jews who craved a piece of home. Historically, Ashkenazi Jews were forbidden to harvest crops in their home countries, and thus the cuisine is traditionally void of vegetables and heavily reliant on meat, potatoes, and dairy.

There's no shortage of delicious foods to nosh on with dishes like slow-cooked brisket, potato latkes, stuffed cabbage, and dairy dishes like blintzes and kugels. Ashkenazi Jews from both Ukraine and Russia as well as Hungary have a strong preference for blintzes, although in Hungary they are called Palacsinta. Ukraines rich culinary history influenced what Ashkenazi Jews and gentiles view as Jewish Food. A notable component of Ukrainian dishes is that many of them are cooked twice, like the blintz!

Where do blintzes come from?

Blintzes, from the Yiddish word blintze and Russian pancake, blin. Blintzes are thought to have originated in Slavic countries (including Russia and Ukraine), adopting the name of blin and the rest is history!

What are blintzes?

Blintzes are sweet crepes filled, folded, and rolled around a sweet and creamy filling, and fried until golden. Common in Ashkenazi cuisine, they are often served at brunch at dairy-based meals. Blintzes are common in Eastern Europe, especially in Ukraine and Russia. Blintzes are served for #brunchgoals, and during Shavuot, a holiday that celebrates all things dairy!

What is the difference between crepes and blintzes?

While both blintzes and crepes start with a thin, wheat-based pancake, blintzes are almost always filled with a blend of sweet cheese. Crepes, on the other hand, may be filled with a sweet or savory filling, and are often eaten plain, or with a light dusting of sugar. Not only do the fillings differentiate crepes and blintzes, but blintzes are cooked in butter until golden and crispy, and are cooked twice, whereas crepes are finished in the pan. There is another cousin of the blintz, a lesser-known cheese pancake called syrniki, made of farmers cheese, eggs, sugar, and often raisins, and shallow fried in oil or butter, similar to pancakes you know and love.

What can you fill blintzes with?

Traditionally, blintzes are filled with a sweet mixture of farmers cheese. Farmers cheese is a pressed cottage cheese that has lower moisture, and a firmer texture than the cottage cheese typically found in your supermarket. Difficult to find outside of Russia and Ukraine, drained, creamed, and packed cottage cheese and be substituted. If youre looking for a shortcut, many supermarkets with dedicated kosher sections sell pre-made frozen blintzes but do yourself a favor and whip up your own, I promise theyll be infinitely tastier, fresher, and totally customizable. In a pinch, pick up some premade crepes, and fill them with your favorite blintz filling and fry them up!

Can you prepare these in advance?

Making blintzes can feel labor intensive, from mixing, resting, cooking, filling, rolling, and cooking once more, but luckily blintzes are the perfect prep ahead dish! Pro tip: make extra crepes and freeze them for extra special breakfasts, any day of the week!

What makes these blintzes different?

Unlike the plain-vanilla or lemon flavored blintzes of kiddush past, these flavorful blintzes are packed with spicy cinnamon, cardamom and vibrant pistachios for a new take on an old classic.

Try my recipe for Pistachio Cardamom Blintzes.

Like What You Read?Give Jews around the world thechance to experience engaging Jewish wisdom with more articles and videos on Aish. It would make your mother so proudand as a nonprofit organization it's your support that keeps us going. Thanks a ton!

See original here:

What Are Blintzes and Why Are They Jewish? - aish.com - Aish

Category: Jewish | Comments Off on What Are Blintzes and Why Are They Jewish? – aish.com – Aish
Tags:

Posted By admin on May 31, 2022

Where is your brother? Pope Francis urged to be troubled by this question as he received a delegation from the Jewish human rights NGO Bnai Brith International at the Vatican on May 30, 2022. During the audience, he invited them to remember the Shoah and so many other atrocities.

In front of the members of this organization, which he already knew as Archbishop of Buenos Aires, the Argentine pontiff expressed his concern about the dangerous extremisms that are rampant in the world, seeing material, educational and spiritual poverty as the greatest risk factor.

To fight against forms of particularism and nationalism the head of the Catholic Church invited cultivation of the memory of the past, of the Shoah and of countless other atrocities. And the Pope brought his guests back to the shared spiritual memory of Jews and Christians, with the first act of violence of humanity, that of Cain killing his brother Abel.

We cannot take the Lords dream of a world filled with brothers and sisters, and replace it with a world of only children, marked by violence and indifference, Pope Francis said. He urged his hearers to break the circle of violence and to begin to protect the other. We cannot be fully ourselves without watching out for our brothers and sisters. We cannot find the Eternal One without welcoming our neighbor, he added.

Friendship and dialogue

Even before I became Pope, the promotion and deepening of Jewish-Catholic dialogue was something close to my heart as a boy at school I had Jewish friends, the Bishop of Rome confided in conclusion. In 2012, he hosted a commemoration of Bnai Brith in his diocese of Buenos Aires.

The organization, founded in 1843 in the United States, is regularly received at the Vatican. It came there notably in 2015 under the pontificate of Francis, in 2011 under Pope Benedict XVI and in 1996 to see John Paul II.

During a general audience last January, for the International Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Holocaust, Pope Francis called for the cultivation in new generations of an awareness of the horror of this black page of history.

Original post:

Before a Jewish delegation, the Pope urges to remember the Shoah - Aleteia

Category: Jewish | Comments Off on Before a Jewish delegation, the Pope urges to remember the Shoah – Aleteia
Tags:

Posted By admin on May 31, 2022

The mission of on-campus Jewish organizations is to connect and engage Jewishly with interested Jewish freshmen students of all denominations and levels of affiliation.

Inherent in that mission is a great deal of challenge and nuance, especially as there is so much diversity in Jewish expression. Sara Alevsky, co-director of Chabad at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland; Adam Hirsh, executive director of Hillel at Kent State University; Nicki Greenberg, Metro Hillel Campus Innovation Springboard Fellow at Cleveland Hillel Foundation, and Jill D. Ross, Metro Hillel campus director and assistant director of Cleveland Hillel Foundation, talked about the ways they connect with next generation freshman Jews.

Often the first interaction involves a combination of outreach and inreach. An organization receives lists of interested freshmen and participates in student fairs during freshman orientation week.

Every year, we get a list of students who express interest, plus we do outreach, Ross said. Having info ahead of time is ideal.

Students also hear about Jewish organizations and activities by word-of-mouth, and many activities are offered during orientation week, including smaller fairs, info drop-in sessions, Shabbat dinners, and tables around campus.

Hillel at Kent State prioritizes having at least one touch-point with every incoming Jewish student prior to their arrival on campus, Hirsh said. By doing so, we can learn about their areas of interests and Jewish identity to connect them with our many student organizations and upcoming initiatives. In order to ensure we have that engagement, we host a table at all university sponsored admissions fairs and incoming student orientations, host summertime student meet-ups in the Cleveland area, and finally a full week of fun events, open to the entire campus community, during KSU Kickoff.

Alevsky said, We are part of every fair, and we have a big, well-known and well-attended barbecue.

She described the front-and-center presence maintained by herself and co-Chabad representative and husband Rabbi Mendy Alevsky and, often, their children.

We are out there on campus, very visibly, Alevsky said. We travel around with a mobile sukkah on Sukkot. We introduce ourselves to everyone personally. We go to fraternity and sorority houses and bring apple pies. We cannot just sit there and wait for people to come to us. We go to them.

Cleveland Hillel Foundation attempts to get as much info as we can get out. We hired first year engagement interns to do peer-to-peer engaging, Ross said. Hopefully, every student will have info about Hillel. The idea is to hit all Jewish students and they are very interested ... this year we had a tremendous amount of first-year interest.

Both Hillel and Chabad make it a top priority to be welcoming and open to every Jewish student.

We helped the students develop their expressed interests for these communities, including Keshet for LGBTQ students and the Hillel Volunteer Collaborative, Ross said. Hillel is always a safe space that gives students a place to be authentically themselves. ... We are thrilled that we can afford the Hillel undergrad leadership committee this opportunity everything is based on student input and desire, otherwise, its not going to work. We work with the students to create an environment thats comfortable for them.

Hirsch said Hillel is an organization unique to itself.

There is nothing like it in the Jewish world pre- or post-college, he said. Students often come to campus without an understanding of what Hillel truly is, and if they have heard of it, they think Hillel is a synagogue, JCC or youth group, as thats what they are familiar with. In reality we are a student center with wonderful resources and staff, thanks to our supportive community, with the goal for the students we serve to simply succeed academically, outside the classroom and in their journey as a Jew.

Both Chabad and Hillel regularly offer Shabbat-related activities. Hillel has a Shabbat committee, sometimes featuring an activity based in tikkun olam, sometimes a pluralistic approach to Shabbat services, including Reconstructionist, Reform, Conservative and traditional choices.

Recently, they requested a traditional egalitarian morning minyan and we made that happen, Ross said.

Chabad offers weekly Shabbat dinners, Orthodox davening, holiday meals and classes, all warm, beginner friendly, welcoming and open to every Jewish student, Alevsky said.

Students can count on us to offer the same warm traditional Judaism every time they come through our doors, she said. We bring the people closer to the Torah versus the other way around.

Lisa Matkowsky is a freelance reporter.

Continued here:

Many ways to engage Jewishly as college freshman - Cleveland Jewish News

Category: Jewish | Comments Off on Many ways to engage Jewishly as college freshman – Cleveland Jewish News
Tags:

Posted By admin on May 31, 2022

Rodef Shalom Congregation is steps away from being enshrined as an integral part of Pittsburghs history.

Legislation recognizing the Reform temples historic designation potentially the first in the city dedicated to a Jewish place of worship passed a standing committee of Pittsburgh City Council on May 25, and is up for a full council vote this week. After that, if it passes muster, it will be sent to Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey for signing.

Its had a lot of different steps along the way, said Matthew Falcone, president of Rodef Shaloms board of trustees, and an ardent supporter of the designation process. There were several commissions the historic review commission and the planning commission then city council, then the mayors office.

Get The Jewish Chronicle Weekly Edition by email and never miss our top storiesFree Sign Up

Theres always been this connection to how Rodef Shaloms history ties into Pittsburghs collective history, he added. The process has been amazing.

Rodef Shalom officials, during the congregations 165th anniversary in November 2021, submitted a 70-page application to the City of Pittsburgh seeking the designation as a historic city landmark. The designation sought to affirm the temples importance in the growth and fabric of the Steel City and protect the site from ill-intended changes or redevelopment.

Rodef Shalom, which is considered the oldest and largest synagogue in western Pennsylvania, grew in jumps and starts over many years.

In 1847, 12 Jewish immigrants formed a burial society to establish a Jewish cemetery on Troy Hill, according to the congregations historic designation paperwork. The next year, the group began meeting in a rented room for religious services as the Orthodox Shaare Shamayim congregation.

In 1855, the membership of Shaare Shamayim split, and Rodef Shalom, or the pursuer of peace, arose. The German congregations first home was a rented hall on St. Clair Street in the city of Allegheny in 1859. Shaare Shamayim merged back with Rodef Shalom in 1860 when the latter congregation started a day school and bought property on Eighth Street in downtown Pittsburgh. At that buildings dedication in 1862, it was the only synagogue in western Pennsylvania.

Rodef Shalom soon established itself as a leader among some American congregations in the transition from Orthodox to Reform Judaism. In 1863, a majority of Rodef Shaloms congregation voted to realign its practices with Reform Judaism: Services were shortened, women were permitted to sit with men in the sanctuary, men were not required to wear yarmulkes or prayer shawls and an organ was introduced to accompany traditional songs.

In 1885, the congregations spiritual leader, Rabbi Lippman Mayer, hosted a national convention of like-minded rabbis that led to the Pittsburgh Platform. It held that Judaism was a religion, not a nation; that the Bible was an ethical guide, not the infallible word of God; and that American Jews need not keep kosher, according to the application for historic landmark designation. The Pittsburgh Platform guided Reform Judaism until 1937, when the movement adopted a different platform.

Since the 1970s, Rodef Shaloms building has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Researchers Jeff Slack and Angelique Bamberg, Cornell University alums who worked together on the historic designation application for several months, said the national designation is almost entirely honorific.

Slack worked on researching Rodef Shaloms architecture and design, looking for character-defining features that allow us to see and understand the significance of the property, he said. Bamberg focused more on the congregations social and cultural history.

Pittsburgh City Councilperson Erika Strassburger, whose district includes Rodef Shalom, spoke on the congregations behalf at a recent hearing.Rodef Shalom has played an integral role in Pittsburghs history, not only for congregants but for the city as a whole, Strassburger told the Chronicle afterward. Most would look at this gem of a building and assume it was already designated as historic; Im happy to play a small role in making that a reality.

If signed by Gainey, the legislation could provide another avenue for Rodef Shalom to seek funding grants and otherwise for building upkeep and restoration, Falcone said.

It shows its important to everyone, that it contributes to the public good, he said.

If approved, the congregation would celebrate the designation in November during the 166th anniversary of the temple and, also, the anniversary of the Pittsburgh Platform, Falcone said.

Were looking forward to having a celebration and a historic designation unveiling, too, he said. It would be lovely and something were looking forward to. PJC

Justin Vellucci is a freelance writer living in Pittsburgh.

View post:

Rodef Shalom headed toward historic landmark designation | The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle - thejewishchronicle.net

Category: Jewish | Comments Off on Rodef Shalom headed toward historic landmark designation | The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle – thejewishchronicle.net
Tags:

Posted By admin on May 31, 2022

Do you want to lead the Danish Red Cross humanitarian and recovery work in one of our oldest and most important country interventions in the Middle East? Are you a positive and solution-oriented team player, who understands the value of working with and through partnerships? Danish Red Cross is looking for an ambitious and experienced humanitarian professional to direct our operations in the Palestinian Territories.

In Palestine, a protracted protection crisis continues, directly linked to the ongoing occupation, with consequences for both civilians and civilian infrastructure, along with ensuring the rights of Palestinians. Tensions between Palestinian and Israeli groups and individuals persist and the complex humanitarian situation of Palestinian communities has deteriorated considerably over the last couple of years owing to a worsening overall economy, rising socio-economic insecurity especially for youth, an unstable political situation in the fragmented Palestinian territories, regular violent confrontations between Israeli forces and Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza and more recently the impact of the Covid health pandemic and the adverse effects of the Ukraine war. Responding to protracted crises and areas of fragility is a key priority in the Danish Red Cross International strategy 2022-25, while mobilizing communities resources and coping mechanisms to cope with the combined impact of political-, humanitarian and protection crises and disasters, as well as their ability to access essential services are core priorities of DRCs Country Strategy for Palestine.

As Danish Red Cross Country Manager you will be overall responsible for overseeing and developing our portfolio and partnership with Palestinian Red Crescent Society in line with the existing country strategy. To that end, you will also work in close coordination with Movement and external partners to identify effective and broader modalities of support to secure best impact. With the support of the DRC MENA regional office, global delegates and advisors at DRC headquarter, you are expected to contribute to solid resource mobilization for the DRC and PRCS partnership moving forward. Your team will initially consist of 1 other international delegate plus a resident project officer staff.

The partnership between Palestinian Red Crescent Society and Danish Red Cross dates to 2002 and comprises significant shared development and collaboration on Psychosocial programming and non-formal education initiatives (with a focus on protection of children in war). Furthermore, the partnership includes support to emergency medical services along with disaster risk reduction and preparedness activities. Beyond that, the partnership focuses on building Community Resilience, with a particular emphasis on Women and Youth. More recently, Danish Red Cross has supported feasibility studies for cash as well as anticipatory disaster risk reduction. Danish Red Cross also remains a go-to partner for emergency response.

Across its engagement in Palestine, Danish Red Cross adopts a triple nexus approach to ensure that people affected by conflict, disasters and complex crises live safe and dignified lives in inclusive communities. The current portfolio targets Palestinian vulnerable communities, youth, local stakeholders, and institutions. Danish Red Cross also supports the branches of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society in Syria (PRCS-S) and Lebanon (PRCS-L), where areas of support comprise Health Care, Psychosocial Support and Youth / Livelihood activities. Danish Red Cross funding comes from donors and partners such as DANIDA, ECHO and private donors. The total budget is approximately 18 million DKK.

A vital part of our support is in capacity development, and we see beneficiary accountability, partnership transparency, integrated systems, and organized volunteer structures as main conditions for building a sustainable operational capacity and being a strong civil society actor in the country. To that end, Danish Red Cross provides dedicated support to the technical capacities of the local partner; promotes drive and alignment of wider Red Cross Red Crescent initiatives and pays strong attention to strengthening of beneficiary accountability, localization as well as National Society Development and Humanitarian Diplomacy.

Responsibilities

The Country Manager is centrally responsible for ensuring that our country programme and partnership in Palestine are implemented in pursuit of Danish Red Cross International Strategy and Palestine Country Strategy, in accordance with Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), and in compliance with donor intentions and formal regulations.

The Country Manager reports to the Middle East and North Africa Head of Region (HoR) and is working closely with the regional team in Beirut, global delegates and headquarter staff in Copenhagen. He/she will be accountable for the following key areas:

This position requires strong leadership, strategic management, strong communication, and representation skills, as well as proven positive experience with resource mobilization and a good sector understanding of the areas of intervention, DRC works with in country. The ideal candidate has a strong experience constructively supporting national society development of the local partner through positive dialogue and exploration of partner and Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement priorities. The position prioritizes strategic development and formulation of new partnership possibilities, as well as an overall solid supervision, monitoring, and evaluation of the country programme.

Experience

You have a minimum of 10 years of solid experience in development and/or humanitarian project management, with at least 5 years of relevant field experience in the implementation of emergency and recovery programming, and proven ability to live and work under stressful conditions. You have proven excellent diplomatic and team management skills. Experience with various donors like ECHO, EU, and national ministries of foreign affairs, particularly of their grant application, proposal writing and reporting procedures, is also essential.

You have a relevant educational background, and we expect that you have good analytical skills, good cultural understanding, and the ability to work in a challenging multicultural environment. Project cycle, financial management skills and experience are essential, as well as excellent English speaking and writing capability.

Above all you need to be a strategic leader and have political acumen, conviction in yourself and Danish Red Cross, excellent powers of persuasion and negotiation to win the confidence of partners. Proven successful experience in implementing and strengthening the capacity-building of local partners, ideally of Red Cross / Red Crescent National Societies and local branches, and in the Middle East, are strong advantages for this position.

Employment Conditions

The starting date is no later than 1st of August 2022 and the length of the contract is 24 months with the possibility of extension. The salary including all allowances and pension payment will be between DKK 46,200 and 49,600 per month, depending on qualifications and experience. An individual apartment is provided, free of charge.

Further information

If you have questions about the position, please write to MENA Head of Region, Charlotte Kjoerup, at chkjo@rodekors.dk. Or read more about the job in the job describtion.

The deadline for applications is the 20th of June, 14 pm. Interviews and tests are expected to take place immediately thereafter.

Apply for the job via our website.

Original post:

Country Manager in the occupied Palestinian Territories - ReliefWeb

Category: Palestine | Comments Off on Country Manager in the occupied Palestinian Territories – ReliefWeb
Tags:

Posted By admin on May 29, 2022

A photo illustration of Veyoel Moshe Gardens in Kiryas Joel (LoopNet, iStock)

Developers are responding to the explosive growth in Hudson Valley suburb Kiryas Joel, setting the local Hasidic community up for a slew of new housing projects.

The latest one in the Orange County municipality is Veyoel Moshe Gardens. The Times Herald-Record reported the 1,600-unit development recently opened and could ultimately house as many as 9,000 people across its 70 acres.

About 500 homes have been built at the complex so far and at least 300 have been sold. Many of the buyers have come from either Kiryas Joel or Brooklyn; several buyers have purchased more than one unit, likely indicating investors looking to rent.

The development has become its own metropolis, with the developer switching out three residential buildings in favor of a commercial portion. The building will likely include a supermarket and other stores, cutting residents need to cross a busy road to go shopping.

The complex is separated from the rest of the village by County Route 105, dividing the Satmar Hasidic sect from the rest of the community. The sect is known for having large families, which may only increase the need for housing as the community grows.

The uptick in development activity comes after Kiryas Joel grew by 63 percent in the last decade to 33,000 people, marking Orange Countys most populous area.

Akiva Klein, the developer behind Veyoel Moshe Gardens, is also developing Acres Enclave, expected to house about 3,000 people across 543 condos. There are also projects underway that will include 482, 457, 250 and 191 units, respectively.

The developmental boom has been aided by neighboring Woodbury, which approved the use of a well that will boost Kiryas Joels water supply.

Kiryas Joel residents have not always gotten along with their neighbors. Tensions between the Satmars and other locals stem from cultural differences, the communitys use of Yiddish, its effect on local resources, and anti-Semitism, according to the Forward. After the towns growth spurt and a 2015 proposal to annex 507 acres of new land, the Town of Monroe voted in 2017 to pull away and create the new town of Palm Tree.

[Times-Herald Record] Holden Walter-Warner

Contact Holden Walter-Warner

View post:

Developers seizing on Hasidic suburbs explosive growth - The Real Deal

Category: Hasidic | Comments Off on Developers seizing on Hasidic suburbs explosive growth – The Real Deal
Tags:

Posted By admin on May 29, 2022

A tiny Borscht Belt town that beckons Orthodox Jewish vacationers in the summer staged a pivotal election this spring that was anything but kosher, according to an explosive lawsuit that has triggered a state investigation into alleged voter fraud.

Fleischmanns a leafy hamlet at the foot of the Belleayre ski resort in the Catskills has been thrown into chaos after two losing candidates for village trustee accused a pair of deep-pocketed Hasidic property owners of rigging the ballot box to install officials to rubber-stamp their development plans, according to the lawsuit obtained by The Post.

Businesses along the tree-lined Main Street and its 300 year-round locals are taking sides over the election held in March for two of the four trustee seats a year after the other two seats were won by candidates backed by the same Hasidic residents, Josef Horowitz and Wigdor Mendlovic.

Voters in the historic village, named for the Fleischmann family that built the baking yeast empire, are hurling insults and accusing each other of bullying, anti-Semitism and fraud at public meetings, with some fretting over the future use of municipal facilities including the recently renovated town pool.

I believe the end game is to turn this into a religious community where the [Hasidic] lifestyle prevails, Vicky Szerko, who owns a second home in Fleischmanns, told The Post.

In a March 15 election for two seats on the villages four-seat Board of Trustees, Yesmin Serabia and Aaron Goldring won convincingly, with 135 votes and 123 votes, respectively. Their rivals, Elizabeth Hughes and Dan Halpren, garnered 54 and 39 votes, respectively.

Both winners, however, each received 120 votes from absentee ballots. Thats versus past elections that have been won with just 30 votes cast in total. The number of registered voters on Feb. 1 was 201. Just five weeks later it grew to 268, according to Hughes.

Hughes and Halpern filed a lawsuit days later, claiming that the votes were at the behest of Horowitz and Mendlovic, who owns large swaths of property catering to Hasidic renters in Fleischmanns. The duo recruited summer renters from New Jersey and New York City to illegally vote via absentee ballots, listing vacant motel rooms among other improbable addresses as their primary residences, the suit claims.

We think we have uncovered voter fraud, said Hughes, who moved to Fleischmanns from Brooklyn during the pandemic. In a small community like this, its obvious.

The whole thing is so blatant with the absentee ballots, added Halpren, who notes that the winning candidates never campaigned or offered any public explanation about why they became candidates.

The only ones who campaigned were Elizabeth and myself, Halpren said. We went door to door, put posters up in the village, ads in the paper and sent mailings.

Goldring himself lives in Lakewood, NJ, where he is registered to vote. He even handwrote N.J. where the ballot application requested information about his residence, the lawsuit claims. But he also provided a Fleischmanns address a motel-like structure that is used seasonally for a few weeks in the summer by the Hasidic community, according to the suit.

Goldring did not respond to several emails and phone calls seeking comment.

Sarabia resides in Fleischmanns and works in a local convenience store owned by another Mendlovic-backed trustee Sam Gil who along with Stewart Cohen was elected trustee in March 2021. Sarabia also did not return calls for comment.

The trustees attorney James Curran filed a motion for summary judgment on May 16, arguing that the petition failed to comply with certain filing deadlines. He also argued that many people have more than one property or residence in New York and that there is nothing inherently unscrupulous or dubious about this practice, noting that the law allows for people to choose from which location they vote.

The suit by Hughes and Halpren, filed in March in New York Supreme Court in Delaware County, names their rival candidates, the county board of elections and the village clerk, alleging that a religious sect is trying take control of the village of Fleischmanns government by fraud.

In an interview with The Post, Mendlovic called the lawsuit baloney and said there was no organized effort to recruit voters. They are making up stories, he said.

Horowitz declined to comment for this story.

The mayor of Fleischmanns, Winifred Zubin, also declined to weigh in on the controversy.

Im trying to protect the integrity of village election, Zubin told The Post I dont have a position on the [election].

It wouldnt be the first upstate hamlet to confront voter fraud.In 2016, the FBI arrested three men in Bloomingburg, NY who were later found guilty and did prison time for trying to corrupt a local election by bribing non-residents to register and vote in Sullivan County. Their plan was to ram through a townhouse development to accommodate Hasidic families.

The three men Shalom Lamm, Kenneth Nakdimen and Volvy Smilowitz concocted a scheme to falsely register voters who did not live in Bloomingburg, including some who had never even set foot there, former Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement revealing the indictment at the time.

Bharara added that the trio allegedly back-dated fake leases and even placed toothpaste and toothbrushes in empty apartments to make them appear occupied by the falsely registered voters.

In the Fleischmanns case, the suit alleges that four voters listed vacant motel rooms as their primary residences. It also claims 24 voters listed the same a tax-exempt religious property as their primary residence.

The modest single-family home at 540 Main St. could not possibly accommodate this number of adults and their children as their permanent home within the meaning of the election law, the lawsuit states. The home is listed as a Spinka Shul, or synagogue, according to Google maps and the filing.

Another 39 absentee voters listed similarly sized homes in the village that are all owned by the same person and are tax-exempt shuls according to the lawsuit. All of the voters listed Horowitz as the agent to pick up the ballots from the same PO Box address in town, according to court papers.

Mendlovic said he has no connection to the voters who listed these addresses on their ballots, and offered that people who come to Fleischmanns in the summer have shares in the homes.

He owns about 17 properties in Fleischmanns, including summer rental homes, a motel, a seasonal kosher restaurant and a hotel called The Palace. The hotel is located in a residential neighborhood and had been abandoned for about a decade before Mendlovic purchased it in 2018.

According to court documents, Mendlovic sued to reopen The Palace after village had ruled that the property had lost its zoning status as a hotel, saying it didnt meet current building codes and would need special permits to reopen in a residential area.

Hughes and Halprens lawsuit claims the matter got settled shortly after Gil and Cohen won the 2021 election for village trustees. According to court papers, at least 45 absentee voters emerged in that election to support the two men, who immediately introduced and passed a new village zoning law favorable to a single property: The Palace Hotel, which although styled as a hotel primarily caters to members of the said religious sect, according to the lawsuit.

The Palace hotel does not have a listed telephone number or website.

Mendlovic acknowledged that hes had issues getting projects approved in the village, including a food market.

They have tried to block me over the years, he said. He denied, however, that there was a connection between the 2021 election and his Palace hotel being approved.

The suit also alleges that Mendlovic and Goldring are blood relatives a point that Mendlovic disputes.

Everyone is laughing about that, Mendlovic said.

Court papers allege its the second time in two years that Fleischmanns elections allegedly have been tampered with. Last year, however, when Gil and Cohen won with the help of dozens of absentee ballots, there was no formal challenge to the results.

Christine Panas, a Fleischmanns resident who opened Village East Cafe in town last September, complained that Mendlovic has appeared to get special treatment from town authorities.

I was put through a blender to get a permit for my store and now these other people are coming in and getting what they want without following building codes and rules, Panas told The Post.

The frustration, villagers told The Post, is that they are left guessing about Medlovics and Horowitzs motives. An April 11 village board meeting, however, gave them a glimpse. The newly renovated community pool, slated to reopen this summer, was a topic of discussion when Goldring suggested there be segregated swimming times for men and women, according to several villagers who attended the meeting.

One villager who did not want to be identified said that comment struck a lot of people who made a mental note of it.

The ballot fracas has caught the eye of authorities. Delaware County District Attorney John Hubbard told The Post, there were a number of votes that appear to be invalid, citing a recently completed county sheriffs investigation. He declined to give details but confirmed as stated in the court papers the probe centered on whether 67 people 44 of whom registered to vote just weeks before the election and cast absentee ballots qualify to vote in Fleischmanns.

Court papers alleged that as many as 120 ballots may have been cast fraudulently.

Hubbard added, Im not sure whether there are consequences for the individuals who cast the ballots.

The New York Attorney Generals office, whose Public Integrity Bureau focuses on government corruption, confirmed to The Post that it is looking into the matter, spokesperson Morgan Rubin said in an email.

The next step is for the New York Supreme Court to make a determination regarding the ballots that were cast and whether they should be counted, D. Jeremy Rase, an assistant county attorney in Delaware County, told The Post. The court began looking at the evidence on May 20, when all the affidavits were due.

Its possible that [the courts ruling] changes the outcome of the election, Rase said.

Read more:

Voter fraud accusations rock 'Borscht Belt' resort in the Catskills - New York Post

Category: Hasidic | Comments Off on Voter fraud accusations rock ‘Borscht Belt’ resort in the Catskills – New York Post
Tags:

Posted By admin on May 29, 2022

If you want to encounter God, you need to experience silence.

The Jewish holiday of Shavuot commemorates the giving of the Torah to the Jewish people at Mount Sinai. To celebrate, many stay up the entire night studying the Torah, and as part of the morning services, the portion of the Ten Commandments is read from a Torah Scroll.

The Ten Commandments continue to occupy a prominent place in American culture. They are a keystone document of Jewish and Western morality.

How were they given at Sinai?

The Bible records that immediately before God uttered the Ten Commandments, there was thunder, lightning, and the increasingly loud sound of a shofar. But at the moment that the Torah was given, the world was silent. "The birds did not chirp, the angels stopped their song, the waves of the sea did not crash upon the shore, and no one spoke." (Midrash Rabbah Shemos 39:9)

The Ten Commandments were uttered with a background of absolute silence.

This experience of silence appeared again in the Bible when Elijah the Prophet had a spiritual revelation of God. He stood at that same Mount Sinai where the Torah had been given. He first experienced a whirlwind, followed by an earthquake and then a fire. However, God informed Elijah that none of those tempests represented the actual revelations of God. Instead, God was to be found in the thin still voice that followed, the sound of silence (Kings I 19:11-12).

This concept is emphasized further by the fact that the Ten Commandments were given in the Sinai Desert. A desert is a place of silence and where there is nothing visually to distract you.

If you want to encounter God, you need to experience silence.

"All of humanity's problems stem from a person's inability to sit quietly in a room alone." Blaise Pascal

Silencing the background din of life is a tremendous challenge. Our society is inundated and driven by distraction. The world is filled with flashing colors and a cacophony of noises. Silence is absent. Weve banished it from every area. We have speakers in subway cars and buses, music playing in grocery stores, and podcasts to listen to as we drive. Auditory stimulation is so needed that we use white noise to sleep and musical alarm clocks to wake us up.

French philosopher Blaise Pascal wrote, "All of humanity's problems stem from a person's inability to sit quietly in a room alone." Taking time for silence provides insights and clarity.

As a child, the Seer of Lublin (a famous 18th Century Hasidic master) would go off into the woods by himself. When his concerned father asked him why, he responded, I go there to find God. His father said, But, my son, don't you know that God is the same everywhere?

God is the same, the boy said, but I'm not. It was in solitude that he was able to connect spiritually.

A recent YouGov poll measuring the impact of the Ten Commandments on American values showed that more than 90 percent of Americans agree that the commandments regarding murder, stealing, and lying remain fundamental societal behavior standards. Other commandments that enjoy strong support include not coveting, not committing adultery, and honoring parents. But less than half of Americans (47 percent) say keeping the Sabbath holy is still important the lowest level of support for any commandment.

Yet, this concept of Sabbath observance provides that very opportunity to achieve internal focus. To experience the Sabbath, we shut out all the distractions of the world. We turn off our devices, set aside our work, and spend the day experiencing that which is most valuable our lives, our families, our connection to God.

Making the time to experience silence, whether through observing a Sabbath or taking a device-free walk or drive of quiet, uninterrupted thought, gives us the gift of Sinai. In silencing the noise of life, one can hear the messages that emanate from within our hearts and minds.

See the article here:

Listen to the Silence - aish.com - Aish

Category: Hasidic | Comments Off on Listen to the Silence – aish.com – Aish
Tags:

Posted By admin on May 29, 2022

How to read the Torah section of the tochacha, the curses, in the synagogue, has always been a delicate matter. The Torah discusses the consequences of Gods covenant with the Jews twice; there are blessings for fulfilling the covenant, and curses for violating it. The Mishnah rules that the tochacha is meant to be read as a single unit, during one aliyah; why is a matter of debate. Rav Asis opinion is that dividing the tochacha would show a lack of respect. He bases his view on the verse in Mishlei, Do not reject the discipline of the Lord, my son, and do not abhor His rebuke. The curses offer a rebuke and a lesson of personal change, and we read this section uninterrupted in respect for its important message.

A very different view of the Mishnahs rule is offered by Resih Lakish. He says we dont divide the tochachainto two aliyot because it would be inappropriate to make a blessing on the Torah in middle of the curses. He explains one doesnt make a blessing on calamities. We dont welcome curses and bless their arrival; curses are meant to be avoided like the plagues they enumerate.

This view became particularly influential in the medieval period, and the tochacha aliyah is actually treated as being cursedso much so, that some communities skipped the Torah reading for this parsha! In most communities, the custom is to read this section quickly, and in a low voice; this is based on a passage in the Talmud that talks about mumbling while reading the tochacha.

There are many other customs regarding this aliyah. In some places they called an ignorant, undistinguished person for the curses, because their Torah blessing was less likely to influence the divine realm, while in other places they specifically called the rabbi, who would be unafraid to read this section. But in many locales, this section was avoided by the entire community. Rabbi Moshe Isserles records that the custom of Ashkenazi communities was to call out in synagogue before the tochacha aliyah, Anyone who wants can read. This created a problem, because no one wanted to take the aliyah; and in responsa literature, there are reports of communities waiting for hours for someone to approach for the aliyah.

Some enterprising communities dealt with this problem by hiring a poor person to take this aliyah. (The 14th century Rabbi Yaakov ben Moshe Levi Moelin so disliked this custom, he once remarked angrily to a poor man who took this aliyah, Why do you need more pain?) Some individuals became specialists who would be paid to take the tochacha aliyah in several synagogues. There is a joke about the time when the man employed to take the tochacha aliyah came exceptionally late. Annoyed with the delay, the head of the synagogue asked him why he didnt come on time. The man explained he was late because he had taken the tochacha aliya at several other synagogues as well, because you cant make a living from just one set of curses.

For hundreds of years, Jewish communities have embraced Reish Lakishs view: We do not want to listen to these curses, or be entangled in them. Perhaps the fire and brimstone of the tochacha might motivate people to improve themselves; but even so, we would prefer to accept neither its honey nor its sting, and avoid it entirely.

For hundreds of years, Jewish communities have embraced Reish Lakishs view: We do not want to listen to these curses, or be entangled in them.

On a Shabbat morning in 1952, one rabbi went a step further, and completely ignored the tochacha. The Klausenberger Rebbe, Rabbi Yekusiel Yehudah Halberstam, was a Holocaust survivor, whose wife and 11 children had been murdered by the Nazis. After the war, he had relocated to Brooklyn. On that Shabbat morning, Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, then a 12-year-old, had come to visit the Rebbes synagogue, and this is how Rabbi Riskin describes that remarkable Torah reading:

In accordance with the custom, the Torah reader began to chant the Tochacha in a whisper. And unexpectedly, almost inaudibly but unmistakably, the Yiddish word hecher (louder) came from the direction of the lectern upon which the rebbe was leaning at the eastern wall of the shul.

The Torah reader stopped reading for a few moments; the congregants looked up from their Bibles in questioning silence. Could they have heard their rebbe correctly? Was he ordering the Torah reader to go against time-honored custom and chant the Tochacha out loud? The Torah reader continued to read in a whisper, apparently concluding that he had not heard what he thought he heard. And then the rebbe banged on his lectern, turned to face the stunned congregation and cried out in Yiddish, with a pained expression on his face, and fire blazing in his eyes: I said louder! Read these verses out loud! We have nothing to fear. Weve already experienced the curses. Let the Master of the Universe hear them. Let Him know that the curses have already befallen us, and let Him know that its time for Him to send the blessings!

The Klausenberger Rebbe was a man who had seen all these curses, and worse, up close; and that Shabbat morning he was demanding from God that there be no more curses. In doing so, the Rebbe redefined what these curses mean. But at the same time, he also redefined what blessings are as well. At the end of services the Rebbe rose to speak. Rabbi Riskin writes: His words were again short and to the point, but this time his eyes were warm with love, leaving an indelible expression on my mind and soul. My beloved brothers and sisters, he said, Pack up your belongings. We must make one more move. God promises that the blessings which must follow the curses will now come. They will come but not from America. The blessings will only come from Israel. It is time for us to go home.

The Rebbes words are profoundly inspiring. But they are actually a great deal more than that; they represent a dramatic shift in the Rebbes philosophy. Before the war, he was an anti-Zionist. He felt that a Jewish State could only be created by the Messiah, and a state built by secular Zionists would fall very short of the authentic Messianic utopia. But after the war, he became far more pragmatic. He explained his change of heart by referencing a debate between two Hasidic rabbis during the Napoleonic wars, as the invasion of Russia had aroused speculation that the Messiah might be coming. The Klausenberger Rebbe wrote:

The Rabbi (Menachem Mendel) of Rimanov declared that he would agree to them proceeding from Lviv to Rawa, ankle-deep in Jewish blood, so long as the Messiah would come, while the Rabbi of Ropshitz insisted that we will not hear of a third or a quarteri.e., if even a third or a quarter of a Jew would be missing, we do not want to hear of redemption. When I was a child, I asked my revered father and teacher, may his memory protect us: Was Rabbi Menachem Mendel not correct?

When the Klausenberger Rebbe got older, he came to the opinion that protecting people from suffering was more important than building a messianic utopia. When you have seen the worst the world has to offer, what matters are small blessings, not grand visions. And the Klausenberger Rebbe saw Israel as a blessing one must grab hold of. After that Shabbat morning, he began building a neighborhood in Netanya, and in December 1959, moved to Israel with 51 of his followers.

The Klausenberger Rebbe consistently searched for a way to improve the lives of his fellow Jews. In response to his own wartime experiences of suffering, he built the Laniado Hospital in Netanya, a rather unusual undertaking for a Hasidic Rebbe. And he appreciated the State of Israel for the safety and protection that it brought to so many Jews. The Klausenberger Rebbe met and maintained a regular correspondence with Prime Minister David Ben Gurion, and was vilified by many of his colleagues for doing so. For him, this represented a profound shift, not just away from anti-Zionism. It was a change of perspective, recognizing that even if it isnt a utopia, the State of Israel was a blessing that made the lives of Jews better.

When they met, Ben Gurion asked the Klausenberger Rebbe for his expectations for a Jewish state. The rabbi answered he has maximum and minimum expectations. What are they? The minimum is that I will be able to go out on a Shabbos morning wearing my shtreimel and bekeshe and no one will bother me, he said. And the maximum? You, (Ben Gurion), will wear a shtreimel as well.

The Rebbe still savored the utopian vision of a State of Torah; but he now embraced the minimum expectation as an incredible blessing as well.

I am currently in Israel with nearly 500 Ramaz students and teachers. It is truly inspiring to be a part of this mission, and to tour Israel with the students. Israel is not a utopia; but at a minimum, it is a miracle of which previous generations could only dream. And at a time when too many American Jews mumble their support for Israel, it means a great deal that our school and our community is ready to offer its support for Israel, louder and louder.

Read the original post:

After the Curses: Bechukotai 2022 - Jewish Journal

Category: Hasidic | Comments Off on After the Curses: Bechukotai 2022 – Jewish Journal
Tags:

Posted By admin on May 29, 2022

Payton Gendron, a white 18-year-old wearing military gear and livestreaming on the video platform Twitch, opened fire with an AR-15 at a supermarket in Buffalo on Saturday, May 15, killing 10 people and injuring two others in what authorities are describing as "racially motivated violent extremism."

Gendron, who drove into the predominantly Black community from a neighboring New York town about 500 miles away, shot 13 peopleboth in the parking lot and inside a Tops Friendly Market. He fatally shot several people before aiming at a white man hiding in a check out line. Gendron said "Sorry!" to the man before he retreated away from him.

A half hour prior to the start of Gendron's livestream, several users on chat-based social media platform Discord received invitations to view an online diary allegedly authored by the gunman. In it, he detailed a months-long plan to livestream a violent attack on Black people.

The Buffalo mass shooting is the focus of a probe being conducted by New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin, who released details of the upcoming investigation into both Twitch and Discord to determine whether the developers are violating consumer protection laws by failing to enforce policies against racist content and violent extremism.

"These social media platforms have enormous reach, especially with young people, and have shown themselves to be staging grounds for hateful and extremist content that may radicalize children and others," said Platkin. "New Jersey has a substantial interest in investigating how these companies moderate and prohibit content that may harm consumers. Under New Jersey law companies must deliver on their promises, and the persistence of violent extremism and hateful conduct on these platforms casts doubt on their purported content moderation and enforcement policies and practices."

In particular, the probe seeks to determine how content moderation on these sites are applied to minors under 13 years old who frequent the social media platforms. The state wants to determine whether Discord and Twitch's moderation policies allow for children and young adults to form entryways into radicalized, extremist belief systems.

Twitch said that the company removed the gunman's videowithin two minutes of it being uploaded. However, it was preserved and shared millions of times in the days following the attack, largely because of how easy it is to host video content on multiple platforms.

Twitch was popularized for video game livestreams, but has previously been used to broadcast violent extremism.In 2021, a series of "hate raids" on Twitch streams targeting Black and LGBTQ+ streamers caused an uproar among content creators who frequently use the platform.

Hate raids in which some Black and LGBTQ+ Twitch streams were inundated with hateful comments from bot accounts became the basis for a one-day boycott from some major content creators. Black streamers urged Twitch to do something to protect them. In response, the company added chat filters, requiring viewers to have a verified phone number before being allowed to leave a comment.

Rather than adding new content moderation policies, Twitch streamers told Allure in 2021 that they believed developers were attempting to repackage existing policies that werent doing enough to combat hatred on the platform.

Twitch has previously come under fire from Black creators, many of whom report consistent racist and abusive attacks from users. Twitch released a video in 2020 following the summers uprisings against systemic racism, but the one-minute clip mostly highlighted white creators and only had one line spoken by a Black streamer.

Discord said itremoved Gendron's online diary upon discovery, and 15 users clicked on the invitation they received to join his private server.

Though Discord began as a platform for gamers to chat with one another while playing, it became a hub for white supremacists who used it to organize the 2017 "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The gathering resulted in the injury of 34 people and the death of one woman, who was killed after being deliberately hit by a car.

Following the attacks in Charlottesville, Discord increased its content moderation in an effort to expand its business and attract more users. After Minneapolis resident George Floyd was killed by a now-convicted cop in May 2020, Discord developers detailed ways that the platform could work to combat hate and ensure the social media site was not used to spread violent extremism.

In 2021, it was discovered that Geoff Frazier, a former employee of video game company Blizzard, had spent months posting bigoted and hateful messages against women, disabled people and the LGBTQ+ community on "The Right Wing of Gaming" Discord server, which included details about how workers particularly women at Blizzard are "ruining the company."

A 180-page manifesto allegedly authored by the Buffalo gunman was circulated on 4chan and 8chan, two social media forums with lax content moderation. Both sites have become hubs of racist, misogynistic and hateful rhetoric, and have previously housed violent proclamations of other mass shooters.

The use of forums like 4chan and 8chan to spread harmful conspiracy theories and extremist ideologies is not new.A manifesto for the Christchurch, New Zealand mosque shooting in 2019 has become the basis for similar documents spread on social media in advance of mass violence.A gunman who shot 23 people in El Paso, Texas, also posted a document describing his radicalized belief system ahead of the shooting.

Since these social platforms are easy to access and do not have strict content moderation policies, they are often some of the first places that radicalized far-right Gen-Z teens and young adults go to find people who share their ideologies. Though many of Discord's servers are invitation-only, others are accessible through a searchable database, allowing people to connect with users around the world and build virtual camaraderie.

The Institute for Strategic Dialogue an anti-extremism think tank sought to discern how the far-right has become entrenched on the outskirts of social media platforms like Twitch and Discord. In its research, the ISD found that many of the far-right spaces on these platforms are publicly available.

The ISD also discovered thatwhite supremacists would often livestream"Omegle Redpilling" on Twitch, where they would dress up in military gear or as characters like "Racist Super Mario" and search video chat forums for people to racially abuse. The streams wouldincorporategory images or hateful messages about "out" groups, like ethnic minorities or the LGBTQ+ community, WIRED reported.

Gendron explicitly mentioned three Hasidic Jewish communities in New Jersey in his manifesto. Lakewood, Tom's River and Jersey City's growing Jewish communities were specifically discussed in the gunman's writings on anti-semitism. The portions were part of a larger document that explained the alleged racial motivations of the massacre.

The document which was widely circulated in the days following the attack goes into detail about how he was driven to 4chan in March 2020, eventually becoming a daily user.

Much of the document includes racist memes and other diatribes taken directly from 4chan, and paints a picture of the radicalization which led to Gendron becoming a proponent of The Great Replacement Theory. The conspiracy theory is based on the belief that demographic shifts are wiping out the white population with a deliberate intention to "replace" them with ethnic minorities and immigrants.

Prior to the New Jersey Attorney General's Office announcing the probe into Twitch and Discord, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced the state's own investigation into the "gamification" of the social media platforms and how they have contributed to an influx of violent extremism.

Follow this link:

New Jersey to investigate Twitch and Discord content policies in wake of Buffalo shooting - PhillyVoice.com

Category: Hasidic | Comments Off on New Jersey to investigate Twitch and Discord content policies in wake of Buffalo shooting – PhillyVoice.com
Tags: