Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on May 18, 2022

We are living through an extraordinary moment of Jewish communal realignment; everything is in play. These shifting waters are significant and profound, impacting all sectors of our community. External elements, involving generational behaviors, cultural motifs, and technological innovations, are being simultaneously unleashed. The impulses here are global, yet most of the outcomes we experience are being locally driven. This survey article seeks to incorporate earlier work reflective of these core issues, while referencing new data and identifying emerging trends.

Contemporary change theory seeks to explain such transformational patterns. What we are learning is that when institutions are simultaneously overwhelmed by internal challenges and external realities, the change process is no longer systematized. Disruptive change alters the ability of organizations to effectively manage the process. At times, institutions lead from behind, seeking to regain coherence, while on other occasions they operate ahead of the change curve, resetting the stage in an attempt to be proactive.

Extrapolating this theoretical notion to the broader communal system allows us to examine the outcomes we are experiencing within the American Jewish marketplace. This state of disruption is contributing to a fundamental operational realignment. Within the Jewish ecosystem, we are simultaneously encountering the re-engineering of legacy institutions, the emergence of new organizations and startup programs, and the intervention of social media platforms and alternative delivery systems, all designed to be reactive to the changing dimensions of Jewish life.

The causes associated with this rapid, disruptive change environment are essential to understand within the context of the Jewish communal sector:

The national discussion and debate around diversity and inclusion, encompassing sexual orientation, racism, cancel culture and more is profoundly reshaping Jewish life, institutional practice and communal policy.

In this third decade of the 21st century, generational and demographic behaviors are driving the scope and pace of change. The national discussion and debate around diversity and inclusion, encompassing sexual orientation, racism, cancel culture, and more is profoundly reshaping Jewish life, institutional practice and communal policy.

The economic order is undergoing a significant recalibration. The impact of inflation, the shifting character of work, transformative financial resources, new entrepreneurial business models, the rise of social media and e-commerce, among other forces, are contributing to the reshaping institutional performance and practice.

American Jewish assimilation is being reframed. Social mores and cultural norms are altering how Jews understand and embrace their Jewish identity in the context of their Americanism.

American Jewish assimilation is being reframed. Social mores and cultural norms are altering how Jews understand and embrace their Jewish identity in the context of their Americanism. Contemporary antisemitism and the disruptive state of American politics must be seen as transformative factors.

The decline of trust in established institutions and the loss of confidence in key leaders, evident in the civic culture, represents a phenomenon also present within the religious sector, as symbolized by the rise of the Religious Nones, further minimizing the impact and credibility of our communal and religious infrastructures.

The idea of community and the value of the collective have been replaced by an overarching attention to individualism. The primacy of the sovereign self remains a core challenge.

The impact of technology is rapidly and radically transforming communal behavior as we monitor the rise of virtual Judaism.

Each of these trend lines is contributing to the reshaping of the 21st-century American Jewish community. Introduced below are a number of particular characteristics that serve to describe the state of the Jewish communal order:

Increasingly, Jewish seekers are turning to websites and learning platforms studying Jewish texts, experimenting with spirituality, and framing new forms of Jewish cultural expression.

Personalized, Privatized Judaism: This age is distinctively marked by the blossoming of personalized expressions that define the character and content of how Judaism is being reconstructed. The primacy of the individual is now driving Jewish economic and lifestyle choices, but it is also contributing to a distinctive set of religious expressions and cultural choices, as Jewish pride and curiosity are driving this inquiry. This focus on individualism correlates with the broader cultural emphasis on the primacy of self. Increasingly, Jewish seekers are turning to websites and learning platforms studying Jewish texts, experimenting with spirituality, and framing new forms of Jewish cultural expression. Diversity and choice are redefining the Jewish marketplace with much of this new energy being delivered virtually.

The Rise of Entrepreneurial Judaism: A major economic shift is now underway, as we monitor the rise and growth of various forms of for-profit Jewish initiatives. We are seeing new economic models taking hold. The historic disconnect between the for-profit sector and the Jewish institutional marketplace is beginning to erode, as we note the rise of entrepreneurial Jewish business models. The creation of programs, services and products delivered through a business format will fundamentally reshape how we understand and define the communal enterprise. Even as some parts of this sector opt for a for-profit incentive model, much of the existing nonprofit market space is being impacted by platform branding, social media advertising, and the introduction of e-commerce offerings. The delivery of American Judaism to consumers is fundamentally changing!

Virtual Judaism: One of the primary outcomes of this new emergent communal model has been the growing impact of on-line Jewish cultural and religious offerings. This revolution encompasses all aspects of learning and praying, just as it is reshaping patterns of engagement and connection. The phenomenon of the virtual national synagogue with its global membership represents a post-COVID reality.

The New Voices: Increasingly one finds multiple influencers who are seizing this moment, operating through independent leadership pods across the Jewish ecosystem.

As the community transitions, the idea of a holistic, integrated communal model has given way to this new constellation of distributed power. The traditional organizing principles are being challenged and, in some instances, discarded; among these are the concept of membership, the idea of affiliation, and loyalty to denomination and agency. Emergent boutique models are being introduced framed around alternative organizing principles and delivery models.

The continuous internal institutional wars over policy and personalities add to the state of division and discord that today defines the communal order. The external political environment represents another contributing factor to the unraveling of the idea and value of a single integrated Jewish community; in its place we are seeing the framing of multiple Jewish communal responses around such core ideas as Israel, managing the fight against antisemitism and anti-Israel expression, and giving space to the emergence of differing and competing political and cultural perspectives.

We will not be able to fully appreciate for years the structural, social and cultural effects of the pandemic on our community. External influences have and will continue to profoundly drive communal behaviors.

Impact Studies: We will not be able to fully appreciate for years the structural, social and cultural effects of the pandemic on our community. External influences have and will continue to profoundly drive communal behaviors. Elsewhere, this writer and others have addressed the broader social and structural impact of COVID on the communal landscape. We only need reference the 2008 economic crisis to appreciate such external markers.

One critical outcome involves the mental health and physical wellness of our constituencies. No longer dismissed as individual considerations, these issues occupy the attention and responsiveness of a consortium of religious and social service organizations. In this new moment, the welfare of the individual has become a defining and essential priority.

Emergent Conservative Voices: In the midst of these predominantly liberal Jewish expressions of activism, one finds a series of countervailing forces, including the rise of a vibrant, triumphal American Jewish Orthodoxy, the burgeoning of a vigorous Jewish conservative cultural and literary presence, and a growing conservative political focus, challenging the communitys traditional liberal anchor.

Shared Threats: Even as communal interests are increasingly minimized, there remains a shared concern in connection with institutional and personal security. The presence of antisemitism and anti-Israel activism has been one of the few unifying factors in driving a collective response. We might consider how such external threats transform identity and engagement.

Geography Matters: Beyond the great workplace resignation, we are in the midst of a great population transfer. We see a significant population shift under way, with pockets of middle-class families and singles opting out of our large traditional population centers. This phenomenon is also present among Jewish households. This exodus will likely produce new Jewish urban centers of influence, among them communities in the South, Southwest, and Northwest.

The Bottom Line: At one moment we are experiencing the blossoming of vibrant innovation, while documenting parts of the communal order moving through difficult transitions. We are experiencing the graying of Americas legacy Jewish institutions, just as we observe the presence of a new creative robustness as personalized, individuated Jewish initiatives emerge to fill the market space, led by a mix of generational actors and innovative organizing models. This new presence is comprised of broad set of single-issue institutional expressions, with particular attention directed to specific sectors of our community, among these operational voices are activists giving specific attention to the broader social issues of race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, and generational preferences.

The continuous rise of new Jewish institutional models reminds us of the creative energies present within our community, and the growing focus to serve niche markets remains a powerful option. Since the mid-1980s, Jews have been reinventing the communal marketspace, constructing along the way an institutional and cultural revolution. Experimentation is a primary marker in understanding the contemporary Jewish marketplace. What we are identifying is a series of energy pockets, the spaces where transformation is fully unfolding. The state of the community is marked by these shades of unevenness, pockets of innovation offset by institutional paralysis and dysfunctionality.

The revolution is upon us. We are facing a set of unknown and complex challenges that will fundamentally redefine our institutions and recalibrate our community as we move forward.

In this condition of chaos and change, as we transition by generation, as we encounter shifting institutional models and absorb the waves of cultural and social influences, the Jewish communal enterprise is experiencing a major reset. The outcomes here remain uncertain, just as we identify in some sectors a renaissance of engagement and activism. The revolution is upon us. We are facing a set of unknown and complex challenges that will fundamentally redefine our institutions and recalibrate our community as we move forward.

Steven Windmueller, Ph.D. is Emeritus Professor of Jewish Communal Studies and Interim Director of the Zelikow School of Jewish Nonprofit Management, Jack H. Skirball Campus, HUC-JIR, Los Angeles.

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Rethinking the Jewish Communal Enterprise - Jewish Journal

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Posted By admin on May 18, 2022

As a supporter of the Jewish Federation of Southern New Jersey and its family of agencies, you undoubtedly know the Federations positive impact on the lives of so many in our community each and every day. Many of these stories are covered in this and every issue of the Voice.

For the past 15 years, I have had the opportunity to work hand-in-hand with so many incredible lay and professional leaders to ensure that our Jewish communitys needs are met. My roles have included, and continue to include, leading the Jewish Community Relations Council as executive director and more recently expanding my role to oversee the Federations Funds Development department.

Adding to this, effective back on April 15, I am excited and honored to be named as director of the JCF, which serves the Federation and the broader Jewish community as a resource for managing endowment funds and donor advised funds.

The JCF is a small but mighty team with a combined 40+ years of professional experience, and they excel at their roles. Controller Stephen Kofsky oversees the JCFs finances, including our budget, audit, and more. Janet Santo, JCFs donor services coordinator, is one of Federations longest-tenured employees and works closely with donors to manage their funds. Mike Staff, who was recently promoted to JCF assistant director, manages such initiatives as JCF Grants, JCF Scholarship Awards, marketing, and donor stewardship. And, last but not least, Jennifer Dubrow Weiss, CEO of the Federation, has added CEO of the JCF to her responsibilities. These personnel changes were duly approved by the JCFs Board of Trustees and the Federations Board of Directors, reflecting the collaborative spirit that has made this community so successful for so many decades. As for our volunteer leadership, I will need a calculator to total the incredible depth and breadth of our dedicated board members led by current President Robert Elias.

Together, we have a strong team in place for the JCF as we look to set this community up for a bright future for countless generations. In the shorter term, over the next six months to one year, we anticipate implementing some additional new changes to benefit our donors and our community as we review our agency from top to bottom and incorporate innovative synergies with the Federation. Stay tuned for more information as we roll out these improvements.

During my brief few weeks as director thus far, I have enjoyed being a part of two JCF initiatives in particularthe Spring JCF Grants Cycle to benefit local nonprofits, and the JCF Scholarship Awards, to support deserving scholars pursuing post-high school education. The committee members who volunteer their time to make these efforts successful each year deserve a hearty thanks, and I look forward to continuing to build these two vital programs.

I have also enjoyed meeting with JCF Board members, collaborating with JCF staff, and beginning to work with JCF donors, many of whom I know through my portfolio with Federation. The JCFs bar of success is high, but all of us at the JCF are excited to raise it even higher.

The future of the South Jersey Jewish community lies in the hands of donors like you, and I appreciate everyone who has made a commitment to benefit many generations. I look forward to helping anybody who wishes to leave a legacy and encourage you to please contact me or any of us at the JCF to ensure your philanthropic wishes are met.

From all of us at the JCF, Chag Shavuot Sameach!

dsnyder@jfedsnj.org

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New director looks forward to leading JCF into the future - Jewish Community Voice

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Posted By admin on May 18, 2022

The Tikvah Fund, a conservative Jewish organization, was all set to host a conference in June at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York, when months of planning were suddenly derailed by its last-minute addition of a speaker who might have once been uncontroversial: the Republican governor of Florida.

The fund had invited Gov. Ron DeSantis to discuss the vibrancy of Jewish life in Florida, a topic the fund wrote about in the April issue of its magazine, one month after Mr. DeSantis had signed legislation that prohibits classroom instruction and discussion about sexual orientation and gender identity in elementary schools. Opponents have called the law Dont Say Gay.

Tikvah signed a contract and sent it to the museum before Mr. DeSantis was added to the lineup, and the trouble began once the group updated its program to include the governor.

Thanks for sharing this with me, read an email to the fund from Trudy Chan, an official with the museum. Ms. Chan noted that providing security for the governor would not be a problem, but she added: We would need to ascertain if there are any potential conflicts with your invited speakers. Please stand by.

The next day, Ms. Chan asked the fund to pause its $11,500 deposit payment and requested a conversation with its leaders, according to emails. In subsequent phone calls, Eric Cohen, the chief executive of Tikvah, was informed that an event with Mr. DeSantis could not be held at the museum, which describes itself as a living memorial to the Holocaust, because the Dont Say Gay bill does not align with its values of inclusivity, Mr. Cohen told The Times.

The museum did not allow political speakers or events at its museum, Mr. Cohen said he was told, despite recent events featuring Democratic politicians like Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

The museum has implied that Tikvah wanted to host a partisan political event, Mr. Cohen said. Our event endorses no candidates and serves no political party. It is all about ideas, just like every prior conference we have held at the museum.

The museums chief executive, Jack Kliger, declined several requests to be interviewed for this article, but the museum has explained its actions in a series of public statements that expressed its concern with the political nature of the event and the amount of security the governor might need. A spokesman for the Museum of Jewish Heritage emphasized that the museum had nothing to do with the event outside of discussing the rental of its space to the Tikvah Fund.

Politics have become increasingly challenging for Jewish institutions in recent years, as Americans become divided over issues like L.G.B.T.Q. policies and the results of the 2020 presidential election. New York City is no exception. Neighborhoods with a large population of Reform Jews voted decisively for President Biden in the 2020 election, while those with many ultra-Orthodox Jews overwhelmingly voted for Donald J. Trump.

That has put institutions like the Museum of Jewish Heritage in a very difficult position.

As American domestic politics has become more and more ferociously polarized, and increasingly as people see conservatives not just as different but fundamentally anti-democratic or illiberal or authoritarian or racist, holding together this big tent is really, really difficult, said Peter Beinart, a writer and editor-at-large for Jewish Currents, a progressive magazine, who also writes for The New York Times.

Any institution that is built today on the need to serve both conservatives and progressives, whether it is the N.F.L. or a Jewish museum or anything else, is finding that work harder and harder to do, Mr. Beinart said.

The Tikvah Fund first made its complaints against the museum in an opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal, written by Mr. Cohen and Elliott Abrams, a national security official in several Republican presidential administrations and a special representative in the Trump administration.

In it, they accused the museum of engaging in cancel culture and speculated that its leaders may have been afraid of protests because a lot of people dislike Mr. DeSantis.

In the name of inclusivity, a Jewish museum sent us a clear message: Some people are to be excluded, they wrote. In the name of fighting hate, the museum decided that the millions of Floridians who support Governor DeSantis including many Jews are so hateful that they dont even merit a voice in the great American conversation. A museum of tolerance has become intolerant.

After the opinion piece was published, the museum issued a public statement, saying that the article contains many factual inaccuracies, and described the decision as simply a contractual and logistical decision.

It invited Mr. DeSantis to visit the museum as a tourist and accused Tikvah of trying to create a fight where none exists.

No one was banned or canceled, the statement said. The fact is that no contract with the Tikvah Fund was ever signed for this rental event to be held at the museum, and no deposit was ever made.

The museum had never signed the contract, but a negotiation between the two parties had been underway, according to the Tikvah Fund, which said that there had been a series of emails discussing the event and the museums $23,000 rental fee before it was announced that Mr. DeSantis would be joining the lineup.

In a letter to The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Kliger accused Tikvah of political bullying and duplicity, saying it signed the contract just so it could accuse the museum of canceling it.

He wrote that the situation arose in part because the fund had not promptly provided the museum with details about the conference, which seemed to have a political nature that violated the museum charter.

When we declined to host the event, Tikvah resorted to threats, saying we had created an enemy, Mr. Kliger wrote. Tikvah knew that this was not about banning anyone from speaking but decided to make the false claim anyway.

In a subsequent statement to The Times, Mr. Kliger emphasized yet another reason. Late in discussions with Tikvah, the museum realized the event warranted significant additional security, he wrote. The intensity of those security requirements clearly implied a potential level of activity around the conference that was not standard practice for the museum.

Mr. Kliger emphasized this point in his letter to The Wall Street Journal. This was not about banning or canceling Governor DeSantis, he wrote. The museum must consider the safety of visitors and staff.

Governor DeSantis declined to comment, although a statement from his office chastised the museum for what it described as the politicization of a sacred space. A Holocaust memorial should never be politicized, it said, adding that the governor was committed to keeping Florida a safe and welcoming home for the Jewish people.

The Tikvah Fund will still present the 2022 Jewish Leadership Conference. Appearing at Pier 60 in Manhattan this June alongside Governor DeSantis will be a number of prominent speakers, including Mike Pompeo, secretary of state under President Trump, and John Podhoretz, the editor of Commentary magazine.

Topics will include How to Fight Back Against Wokeness: A Jewish View a conversation between Mr. Podhoretz and Bari Weiss, a former Times opinion writer and On Jewish Exceptionalism.

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What Happened When a Conservative Jewish Group Invited DeSantis to Speak - The New York Times

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Posted By admin on May 18, 2022

My teacher, colleague and friend, Rachel Brodie (zl) died recently. As I tended to my sadness and showed up to support her family at the funeral and shiva, I reflected on how she helped me become a better Jewish educator, including on my latest project: Divorce & Discovery: A Jewish Healing Retreat. It will run for the first time this fall at Camp Tawonga.

Rachel kept binders of articles and ideas on a huge number of Jewish education topics she was, after all, the Jewish educators premier educator. She generously shared her learning and resources with all of us.

Over lunch at her house in December, she opened the binder she had compiled on Jewish divorce and let me scan every article and program in it.

She and her husband emerita, as she called Adam Weisberg, the executive director at Urban Adamah, wrote an amazing decoupling letter. It was a sweet and informative letter to their community, describing the change in their relationship in the context of other pivotal life changes like the birth of two children, the death of two mothers, the move to the Bay Area. They sought to continue as family and friends, though not as a married couple.

My ex-wife and I could not have written such a letter at the time of our separation.

We did not come to a mutual decision to end our marriage, and though we were lesbians on the cutting edge of LGBTQ leadership in our Jewish community (as the first out resident Jewish summer camp director in the country and the first openly lesbian clergy hired at Congregation Emanu-El in San Francisco), our good intentions and our marriage failed.

I was sad for a year. Over time, my ex and I have untangled our feelings. Today we are good friends, consider each other family and have always been excellent cooperative co-parents of our two sons. I introduce her as my starter wife.

A year after that marriage ended, I met and began dating my current wife, which helped tremendously with my healing. And if numbers matter to you as they matter to me, come August, I will have been with my new wife for 15 years, the same number of years I spent dating and married to my starter wife.

Since my starter wife is a rabbi, I knew lots of rabbis at the time of our separation. They came to our house for dinner. We went skiing and camping and hiking together.

I reached out to no fewer than five of them asking for help in navigating my divorce grief through a Jewish lens, and strangely, they had nothing to offer. They said, You can get a get. (A get is a Jewish legal divorce document).

Where was the Divorce Mikvah or the Divorce Havdalah at the synagogue? What about the community Divorce Tashlich? Where were the prayers (later written by Rabbi Naomi Levy) asking God for help to heal from anger and hurt at the end of a marriage? Or Rabbi Laura Gellers idea of changing out the mezuzah into the bedroom, maybe even writing your own klaf (the interior parchment of a mezuzah containing prayers like the Shema and Vahavta)?

These ideas were nowhere to be found. I was on my own. I had to turn to the secular world for support and comfort.

Turns out, disappointment in Jewish rituals and response to divorce from our synagogues and schools has been the case for most divorced/divorcing Jews, including Jewish clergy.

In a survey I created last year to better understand how to fulfill the needs of folks going through divorce in the Jewish community, I asked about satisfaction with Jewish paths to healing from divorce and I discovered not one respondent was satisfied. Like me, they looked for therapy and grief retreats outside of the Jewish community.

It became clear to me that Jewish folks facing divorce today seek a community of people going through the same thing, and are hungry for Jewish ritual and wisdom texts about divorce.

So as a capstone project for my rabbinical school requirement in innovation, I created Divorce & Discovery: A Jewish Healing Retreat. As far as I can tell, there isnt a program like it anywhere in the world.

The purpose of the retreat later this year is to help people who feel broken or in pain from the ending of long-term relationships find their way back to wholeness guided by Jewish healing rituals, communal support and professional expertise.

Rabbi Akiva, one of our Talmudic rabbis, taught us that divorce is not a tragedy but a remedy for a marriage fractured beyond repair.

Thanks to Rachel Brodies binder, I found all kinds of Jewish divorce rituals innovated by some of our local clergy, including Maggid Jhos Singer and Rabbi Menachem Creditor, along with a wonderful thought piece by Rabbi Alan Lew of blessed memory. And though Rachel was not up for working the retreat in the rustic wilderness of Camp Tawonga (she called herself the great indoors woman), her enthusiasm for the idea was all I needed to know that there is a real need for this offering in our community.

At the retreat, well use prayer, Jewish text, rituals and communal practices to support participants on their journey to feeling whole again.

In Pirkei Avot, the teachings of the ancestors, Rabbi Tarfon said: It is not up to you to finish the task, but you are not free to avoid it.

We hope that those who are struggling in their divorce process find some healing in our offering and that Divorce & Discovery is just the beginning of a helpful Jewish response to divorce.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of J.

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How the Jewish community can do divorce better J. - The Jewish News of Northern California

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Posted By admin on May 18, 2022

In the spring of 2021, the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Phoenix and the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix announced plans to integrate the two organizations into a single operating entity, now called the Center for Jewish Philanthropy of Greater Phoenix (CJP).

There was much work going on behind the scenes prior to, and since, that announcement in 2021. After multiple conversations among the Federation and Foundation boards, we formed a working committee of members from both boards and a few community lay leaders, said Jonathan Hoffer, who led the task force on the project and has served on the two organizations boards. At the conclusion of the process, there was unanimous support to bring both organizations together.

The organizations then consulted with communities across the country where the Foundation and Federation had integrated. The CJP most closely modeled themselves after JewishColumbus in Columbus, Ohio. The CJP hired the same consultant, David Kaplan, used in Ohio and implemented the same legal structure. While the Federation and Foundation will still exist for legal purposes, the CJP was created as a management organization to support the work on behalf of these two legacy organizations.

I dont want this new organization to be completely unrecognizable from what weve been in the past because both organizations have made significant, valuable contributions to this community, said Richard Kasper, interim CEO of the Center for Jewish Philanthropy of Greater Phoenix. But I do want to see it evolve into something that is more dynamic, more engaging and more open to the community. For too long, both organizations have suffered from the perception that they were only for insiders and that is not who we intend to be. We want this to be an organization that serves the entire Jewish community.

By consolidating, CJP has access to valuable resources, not just from a fiscal standpoint, but also in regard to increased knowledge, community relationships and experience, which creates a stronger infrastructure and allows CJP to serve the community in new and meaningful ways, stated Kasper.

Their [the Federation and Foundation] business models are different but very complementary and they really do belong together under one roof, said Hoffer. A lot of energy was going into the same process for two different organizations. By bringing those resources together, we can cut that work in half and redeploy those resources of people and money to make a larger impact in the community. The reality is we feel like one plus one will equal three.

Kasper agrees that the two Jewish philanthropic organizations were serving the same Jewish community in different ways. It bothered him that the community perceived both as financial institutions.

Our value has always been measured too much in terms of dollars and cents I cannot overstate the importance of the dollars and cents, it is critical to what we do but the money is not what we do; it is a tool that facilitates what we do, said Kasper. We support a Jewish community. Both its existing infrastructure and we help it make plans to grow to be a thriving community where Jewish people want to live and want to engage with one another and have those opportunities. By coming together, we believe that we will be better able to focus on those things and get those things done.

In addition to the new name, the CJP also has a new logo. The three letters, CJP, are included within the abstract curves and meant to resemble a menorah and the flame. Kasper said that they have committed to doing things differently and wanted a logo to represent that.

To contribute to the community, CJP plans to identify and implement pathways for people to get engaged in the Jewish community as individuals depending on where they are in their life cycle. CJP is also creating opportunities for leadership development, not just within CJP, but for the entire Jewish community identifying and developing the people who will become future leaders of the community.

I am honored to be chosen to lead the initial effort to bring these two important organizations and two boards together, said Bob Silver, board chair. One of the founding tenets of the CJP is to create a new organization that can deliver better outcomes for all aspects of the greater Phoenix Jewish community. In order to do that, we need to recruit new board members that reflect the diversity of Jewish life in our community. We need fresh voices and perspectives that have a passion and desire to help the CJP create a vision and mission that resonates with all parts of Jewish life in Phoenix and beyond.

Another aspiration of the new entity is to make the community more cohesive by reaching out to and including people who identify as Jewish, but arent engaged with any official Jewish organization, synagogue or service. According to Arizona State Universitys 2019 population study, that could be as many as 80% of Jews in the Greater Phoenix area.

CJP is also uniquely positioned to assist the community in the department of Jewish communal security. We can bring resources to the table that most smaller organizations whether its a social services agency, an educational institution, synagogue, day school are not going to have access to in the same way, said Kasper. And thats both a service to the organization and a service to donors in the community so that their contributions can be utilized in ways that are most meaningful.

Donors will now be able to go to one organization that will offer a full menu of options that best fit their goals in serving the community. Whether that donor wants to open a donor advised fund or if theyre interested solely in making an annual campaign gift to the Federation side. We can listen to them and accommodate and assist them in finding the right fit to have an impact on the community, said Hoffer. Whatever the donors interests are, we can serve them within the new entity.

Kasper admitted that one of the things he found most enjoyable when he was only leading the Foundation was the opportunity to sit down with a donor who said, I have X amount of dollars and these are the things I care about; how do I do it? Being able to make that connection for that donor so that they can experience the joy of making something happen that wasnt happening before is phenomenal, said Kasper. Alternatively, there are times when someone has an idea for something but cant find the funds. Being able to connect that idea or that person to the resources they need to move forward. I love that, said Kasper. To me, thats where the fun is in this work.

What it always comes back to is that we exist to serve the community. JN

For more information, visit phoenixcjp.org.

Jewish News is owned by the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Phoenix.

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Foundation and Federation now known as the Center for Jewish Philanthropy of Greater Phoenix - Jewish News of Greater Phoenix

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Posted By admin on May 18, 2022

The Jewish Plays Project is proud to announce its first-ever podcast series, inviting national participation in the 11th Annual Jewish Playwriting Contest. Available today at jewishplaysproject.org/podcast, audiences can listen to short audio plays excerpted from the seven finalist plays and vote for their favorites.

The votes in the national Contest add to those cast after regional performances in cities including Houston, Charlotte, Chicago, Fairfax, Hartford, Silicon Valley, New York City and Tel Aviv. Over 1,500 people are expected to vote, with the Contest culminating in a live national celebration on Thursday, June 23rd, at 7 pm EST, hosted by virtualjcc.org.

"The JPP believes in democracy, so we are doing everything we can to expand participation in our national voting," said Artistic Director David Winitsky. "This stellar series of 15-minute episodes is a great way for theater lovers all over the world to have their voices heard in creating a new generation of Jewish theater content. Sign-up, listen, vote - it's so easy."

JPP Artistic Producer William Steinberger produced the audio plays; with sound designed, edited, and mastered by Multiband Studios (Chris Lane, Rashaad Pierre). Casting is by Judy Bowman, CSA; the contest dramaturg is Heather Helinsky.

The finalist plays, announced in January, come from writers who span the country, and who represent a diverse range of communities and experience, including current students and award-winning writers. The selected plays and their casts are:

I WAS A STRANGER TOO by Cynthia L. Cooper, directed by Carolyn Levy: The stories of today's asylum seekers resonate with the Jewish past, and collide in shelters in Minnesota.

The cast features Kate Fuglei, Katya Stepanova, Purva Bedi, Debbie Bernstein, Abigail Ramsay, and Paula Pizzi.

LILY INEFFABLE by Audrey Lang, directed by Sara Rodriguez: When child performer Lily hesitates to tell her family about a trauma, she is visited by Lilith, a Judaic demon with very strong opinions.

The cast features Maeve Press, Celia Mei Rubin, Laura Helm, Elsa Dees, Erika Wasko, and Molly Richardson.

MADELEINES by Bess Welden, directed by Annette Jolles: Spiced with poetry, Yiddish, and Spanish, Madeleines is about a family of Jewish women grappling with how to love each other through shared grief and the solace of baking.

SAY GOODBYE by A.R. Cohen/Corwin, directed by William Steinberger: "He's alive, Mordie! He's alive!" In a European basement lab in 1956, Esthie has discovered something amazing. But will she use it to find peace... or feed her desire for revenge?

STRAWBERRIES AT THE DATCHA by Gena Treyvus, directed by Illana Stein: Yelena's family immigrates from Belarus to a Russian-Jewish neighborhood in NYC. A play about assimilation and the things we gain and lose when leaving home.

The cast features Masha King, Artem Kreimer, Rachel Botchan, Ross Kramer, and Adrienne Nelson.

TO REACH ACROSS A RIVER by Marshall Botvinick, directed by Ariella Wolfe: Yehudis and her husband spend years struggling with infertility. After her marriage falls apart, she adopts a biracial girl, forever altering her relationship with her ultra-Orthodox community.

TREE OF LIFE by Victor Wishna, directed by Joshua Silverstein: A declining, small-town Iowa synagogue welcomes a surprising visitor, as the tale of its origins-and its Torah's mysterious past-unfolds contiguously, a century before.

The cast features Alexandra Metz, Jeffrey Dorchen, Heidi Harrison Mendez, AJ Meijer, Jasmine Curry, and Leta Rene-Alan.

The acting company includes Alexandra Metz (Magnum P.I.), Celia Mei Rubin (Matilda, A Christmas Carol on Broadway), Jeremy Rishe (Invasion, Madame Secretary), Kate Levy (Bernhardt/Hamlet on Broadway, Succession), Laura Esterman (The Blacklist, Mildred Pierce), Liba Vaynberg (The Plot Against America, New Amsterdam), Maeve Press (Everything's Gonna Be Okay), Purva Bedi (Dance Nation, India Pale Ale), and Steven Hauck (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt).

Find full information about all the plays, including playwright contact information, at the JPP's website, http://www.jewishplaysproject.org. Interested producers, agents, and literary managers can email plays@jewishplaysproject.org.

"The Jewish Playwriting Contest offers something more powerful than exposure: it offers Jewish playwrights a spiritual community, where they can share work and exchange ideas," said Adi Eshman, playwright and writer's assistant for HBO's Mosaic.

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The Jewish Plays Project Extends National Jewish Playwriting Contest With Its First-ever Podcast Series - Broadway World

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I sit and finish up work on my own pitches while my son M works on Yom HaAtzmaut sheets, after doing a page in his Hebrew workbook. Were listening to Debbie Friedman, and M occasionally gets up to dance, then sits back down to work. Were exhausted after having spent the morning at a local wildlife refuge.

This is our homeschool.

I went to Jewish day schools for nine years, until high school, and part of me always assumed that my child would too. The truth is, I had never really thought about the education system because I never had to. I excelled at it with minimal effort, even in grad school. The system worked for me.

But after I had my son, everything changed. My son was diagnosed with childhood apraxia of speech and didnt talk until he was almost 3. Many preschools secular and Jewish refused to admit him. When I tried the local public schools half-day inclusion program, I ended up pulling him out after two months. I began to realize how prevalent the push was for early academics in many schools, and especially in my town. (I was told by the public school social worker that I was in the minority for wanting a play-based preschool curriculum and no formal academics.) As we continued to look at options, I started to see how the system wasnt made for kids who are deemed atypical in any way.

This is when I started to learn about unschooling and homeschooling, and while I was intrigued, I didnt see how I could homeschool while being a single parent and working full-time (remotely, but still). Eventually we found a Jewish preschool, and my son happily attended until the pandemic struck.

COVID-19, in essence, forced my hand. We gave up on remote schooling pretty quickly, and did our own thing, which was much less stressful. Suddenly, I had to figure out how to make working full-time and homeschooling work. And I did. Now, more than two years later, we are still happily homeschooling and finishing up kindergarten.

While our school subjects are all completely secular, and I dont see that changing at all, I had not anticipated the ways in which Judaism would also become part of our homeschooling, and how wonderful it would be for our Jewish lives and education.

Although my son goes to Hebrew school on Sundays, we also learn at home about the Jewish holidays, Jewish music, and Shabbat. While much of this is what my son would get from any Jewish kindergarten or day school, homeschool lets me do it a little differently.

For my son, consistent repetition, especially at his own pace, is the way to go. Homeschooling means we can take our time with the alef-bet and go over it as many times as necessary. My son works with a Hebrew moveable alphabet (we are Montessori homeschoolers, so this was a natural extension), and he can verbalize the letters without being nervous about saying it wrong because of his apraxia, and we can also incorporate sticker work from LeeLaaLou for the tactile/kinesthetic learning that works so well for him. We have multiple workbooks and I know that over the summer, well review the alef-bet repeatedly so that hes got it down for the fall. We can read Sammy Spider books and watch Rechov Sumsum or Shaboom on his iPad. When we need a movement break, we can turn on some Jewish music and dance for a few minutes. For inspiration, I look at With Love, Imas website or Instagram, and always come away with ideas for books, homeschool activities, or lessons.

I can also guide the curriculum to reflect our Jewish values. The Jewish books we read include books like Sarah Aroestes Buen Shabat, Shabbat Shalom, Aviva Browns Ezras Big Shabbat Question, and Ruth Behars Ta Fortunas New Home: A Jewish Cuban Journey. I want him to see that Judaism is diverse, and that our diversity makes it that much richer. During Passover, I explicitly told him that Moses had a little trouble talking sometimes, just like him. We read books about social justice and community action, because thats part of tikkun olam, or repairing the world. I know that that diversity and inclusion is a goal of many Jewish preschools and day schools, but it doesnt always actually make it into the classroom here, it does.

Homeschooling also means Judaism is an integrated part of our lives, not something that happens for an hour or two somewhere else, once or twice a week. We can make holiday sensory bins, fun sticker collages of Jewish food (my son loves to cook and bake), and if the mood strikes, decide to take a field trip to a local falafel place and incorporate it into our lessons. With this fluidity, I hope my son sees that Judaism is a lived part of our lives in every way, not just something he learns about. The two cannot be separated, in the same way that homeschooling is just an extension of our lives, which is a sentiment expressed by many homeschoolers.

The downside? Jewish homeschoolers still feel conspicuously absent. Homeschooling has the stereotype of being a fundamentalist Christian thing, mainly, and while there is more than a grain of truth to that (see: the plethora of Christian curricula, and the number of local homeschool co-ops that require a statement of faith, as well as the complete lack of secular co-ops near me), it is also way more diverse than many realize. Jewish, Muslim, and atheist families are choosing to homeschool, and while our voices may not be as represented, were here. Having a more robust, and more visible, community of Jewish homeschoolers would help round out the experience for Jewish families like mine who would really benefit from this educational model.

When I first chose to homeschool my son, I didnt think about how it would impact our Judaism. But the more we homeschool, and the more I learn and the more I see how my son learns, the more Ive realized how much it makes sense for us. My own day school education was fantastic, but there were gaps (particularly with diversity and inclusion) and it wasnt right for every learner. With homeschooling, I can not only ensure that my son retains his love of learning, but also enrich his knowledge of Judaism in a way that reflects our larger community and world. I wish more people realized they had this option, too.

While homeschooling may not be accessible or right for everyone, my hope is that more people who are curious about it take the leap, even if only for a year. I know there are other Jewish homeschoolers out there I see yall on Instagram so lets start conversations in our communities. If this is your world, think about starting a Facebook group for your community, or a local co-op, especially if your homeschooling is secular. (Secular co-ops are much needed!) Ive seen the occasional Jewish homeschool group but the one I was in was very religious maybe some secular homeschooling Jewish ones are needed, too. If theres anything weve seen in the last few years, its that education is more fluid than some of us might have thought, and we can do more to help create the educational environments we dream of for our children.

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Homeschooling Helped Me Create the Perfect Jewish Education for My Son Kveller - Kveller.com

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Judaism was the oldest Abrahamic religion, and one of the earliest religions originating abroad, to arrive in India. However few Indians are even aware of its presence, due to the miniscule numbers of Jews living there.

According to the 2011 census, there were about 5000 Indian Jews out of a total Indian population of 1.2 billion. They are not even counted as a separate religion, but conflated alongside other micro-minorities in the Others column.

In todays India, Jews are mostly concentrated in and around Mumbai (former Bombay), Manipur, Mizoram, the Guntur district in Andhra Pradesh, and the Erode district in Tamil Nadu. The Indian Jewish population in Israel is estimated to be in the range of 80-90,000.

The homogenous endogamous caste system among Hindus (which also left an impact on the other religions that came to be practiced in India, including the Abrahamic religions) allowed for the peaceful existence of Jews in a multicultural setting in India whereby any new community was accepted as a caste-like group.

Within Hindu society, the upper castes discriminated against the lower castes and those located outside the fourfold varna classification (Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, and Shudra in descending order) the Dalits, who came to be treated as "untouchables."

Ironically, this systematic prejudice acted as a blessing in disguise for Indian Jews, as it enabled, if not forced, them to maintain their separate identity in India by marrying within their community. In contrast, in China, despite the absence of persecution, the ancient Jewish community of Kaifeng gradually assimilated into the majority Han population and ceased to exist as a community due to intermarriage.

But even among the Jews, the impact of the caste system was evident. The Bene Israel of western India, a community that numbered 20,000 at its peak in the early 1950s, came to be divided into two sections (Kala or black and Gora or white) and the Cochini Jews, a community of several thousand based in Kerala, came to be divided into three sections (black, brown, and white).

The high value placed on tradition and tight family structures means most of the marriages in all religious communities in India were arranged by family, friends, or matchmakers, and this continues today. Most marriages occur within the same caste, community, or religion, with inter-caste, and interreligious marriages being uncommon (despite the passing of the 1954 Special Marriage Act which provided for civil marriage between Indian citizens of different faiths).

In fact, it is the lack of marriage partners within their religious community in India which emerged as one of the reasons for the exodus of Jews from India. Better matrimonial prospects were one of the reasons that attracted them to emigrate to the State of Israel from 1948 on.

Imagine my surprise, then, when browsing matrimonial websites, a relatively new but already wildly popular entrant to the field of Indian matchmaking, to find not only separate sections for "Jewish matrimony" but to see that theyre populated with millions of profiles.

The shaadi.com (shaadi, meaning marriage, is a generic term for wedding in South Asian languages like Hindi and Urdu) site has a total of 35 million profiles. The section on Jewish matrimony claims to have more than 3.5 million "Jewish" matrimony profiles, and claims that more than 350,000 "Jews" have found their partners through their channel. Both these figures are astonishingly, if not unbelievably, high.

The website claims that most of the owners of the "Jewish" matrimonial profiles are based in Mumbai, Bangalore, and Delhi with Marathi, Hindi, Kannada, or English, as their mother tongue. They are employed in diverse fields. The website even claims to be the "Worlds No. 1 Jewish Matrimonial Service" alongside its claim to be the "Worlds No. 1 Matchmaking Service."

Shaadi.com is probably the oldest matrimonial website in India, founded in 1996-1997. But even with the benefit of being a pioneer in the online market, these lofty claims are more marketing than statistical statements.

As the subsection "Jewish" exists under the "religion" tab, it could refer either to the religious identity of the prospective brides and grooms, or the partners whom they seek. The profiles of the brides and grooms in the "Jewish" subsection of Shaadi.com are diverse in every aspect.

In the case of brides: there is a great variation in terms of age, mother-tongue, location (most of them are from India and a few from other countries, such as Israel, Canada, South Africa), and their profession. Likewise, the profiles of the "Jewish" grooms refer to many hailing from outside India, with a few even from Pakistan and Kuwait.

Shaadi.com specifically mentions three successful Jewish marriages where it played the matchmaker Reuben and Nancy (married on March 9, 2010), Joel and Sunita (married on June 9, 2009), and Eliot and Gudiya (married on October 19, 2007).

Lets look more closely at these Jewish matches that the website claims as its handiwork. Reuben and Nancy met each other through the website, it states, in December 2008, and started dating, finally tying the knot in March. However, their families were already acquainted, both being resident of Ashdod, Israel. They claim to be the first Jewish couple in Israel to have met and married through the Shaadi.com website. The couple were so gratified by their experience that they declared they "would surely recommend Shaadi.com to our Jewish friends & family in Israel."

Joel, who says he is "basically Jewish by religion," claims that he was unable to find "an allianz [sic] which is Hindu" on other sites and hence invested in Shaadi.coms platinum membership level. Within a month he found his life-partner Sunita.

This appears to be problematic on various grounds. Despite his self-identification, Joel says he wasnt actually looking for a Jewish partner. Is it really probable that he couldnt find a Hindu partner elsewhere online in a country that is 80 percent Hindu? The detail-poor story looks more like an advertisement for the websites premium membership level.

The instance of Eliot and Gudiya appears the most generic of the three, although ironically it seems genuine. The narrative just mentions that they met at the Forum Mall, a week after contacting each other on Shaadi.com. They immediately liked each other, and decided to marry after a week.

The Bharatmatrimony.com website, which had 39.8 million profiles, irrespective of religious affiliation, registered with it in 2020, is even more strange in terms of its "Jewish" clientele.

Some of the profiles of the prospective brides and grooms use the term "Jewish" as an adjective to describe themselves in addition to their other qualifications, religion, and professional background; for instance, a 27-year-old Marwari man uses "Jewish" as an adjective to refer to himself and does not state his religion. The Marwaris are primarily Hindu with only a few Muslims among them.

A 24-year-old Bengali woman does exactly the same. The Bengalis are primarily Hindu and Muslim, with only a few among them who are Christian or Buddhist.

The few Baghdadi Jews domiciled in West Bengal never identify themselves as Bengali (Mordechai Cohen was the only Baghdadi Jew to fully embrace the Bengali language, literature, and culture. His epitaph at the Jewish cemetery of Kolkata is the sole tombstone to be engraved in Bengali, besides Hebrew and English). Hence, in both cases, the owners of the profiles just cannot be Jewish.

Another major matchmaking website, Jeevansathi.com (jeevansathi means life partner in many Indian languages, including Hindi and Bengali) does not have a column for Jews the way it has for other religious communities, such as Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, and Bahais. But this is actually a more rational business decision, given the actual numerical insignificance of Jews in India.

It should be noted as general context that some of Indias now proliferating matchmaking sites have been accused of less than authentic practices. Review sites are full of complaints about how most of the profiles on websites like shaadi.com are fake. Other reviews further mention that representatives from matchmaking sites constantly ring them to coerce them into purchasing premium membership.

How, then, are we to understand the incredible demographic inflation of "Jews" seeking marriage on these Indian websites? There are a number of ways to parse this, beyond the mundane possibilities that many are simply fake profiles, engineered to boost a websites online heft, or that their websites are built on an off-the-shelf generic menu in which "Jewish" is just one more built-in category.

These more substantial potential explanations are a fascinating window into the question of who is a Jew but not from the standpoint of Jews themselves, but rather in terms of how many Indians understand what "Jewish" means.

It seems likely that the vast majority of profiles claiming to be Jews on these matchmaking sites have been posted by people from other religions who dont want to be bound by the overwhelming binary of identifying as Hindu or Muslim.

Although Shaadi.com provides the categories of "Other" and "No Religion," Bharatmatrimony.com and Jeevansathi.com do not do so. No site offers the category of "Atheism." Some people not wishing to identify with the religious community they were born in may be registering as Jews, on the basis that the term "Jew" could be used for someone who is neither Hindu (the majority religious community in India), nor Muslim (the largest religious minority in India, about 15 percent of its total population).

"Jewish" becomes a way-out clause from the increasingly polarized and politicized field of religious identity in India. It may also be the case that some clients mistakenly equate Judaism with atheism or see it as a "neutral" option in the absence of an atheism category.

It may also be the case that some matchmaking sites offer the category of "Jewish" in the interests of appearing inclusive, with Shaadi.com even offering category of "NRI" (Non-Resident Indian).

That "Jewish" works like this is helped by the widespread ignorance of Jews in general and in India in particular because of their small local numbers. Their proportion in the Indian population is, after all, less than 0.0004 percent. Hence, most Indians have next to no chance of ever coming into direct contact with anyone Jewish.

This adoption of "Jewish" by non-Jewish Indians as a descriptor is a phenomenon yet to be studied by scholars, but Dr. Navras J. Aafreedi, Assistant Professor of History at Presidency University, Kolkata, who teaches a course in Global Jewish History, speculates that the desire "to identify as/with Jews can be attributed to a certain degree of philosemitism" in parts of Asia, particularly China, Taiwan and South Korea, but also including India, because of the many positive stereotypes of Jews not uncommon in these parts of the world.

This philosemitic admiration, sometimes called "imagined Judaism," is predicated on well-trodden, if often well-meaning, stereotypes, as Dr Aafreedi notes: "The belief that Jews are better than anyone else in making money and that the Jews are perhaps the smartest people around given the high number of Nobel Prize winners they have produced, disproportionate to their miniscule share in the global population."

In fact, this framing of Jews as exceptional may have turned "Jewish" into an aspirational adjective for some Indians, who use the term for themselves, or as "justified and legitimate" ways to describe anyone possessing "Jewish" qualities. Its easier to understand in this context why so many Indians would want to associate with the "Jewish" category of matchmaking websites, either to bolster their self-marketing or to signal the kind of partner they seek.

The lack of familiarity with actual Jews, and with the long Western history of how these "positive" stereotypes have been co-opted by antisemites, mean that this appropriation of both the descriptor "Jewish" and of antisemitic stereotypes should be considered nave rather than malign.

Ironically, the case for "Jewish" being used as a positive stereotype in Indian popular culture, without much understanding of Jews, is strengthened by that same popular cultures use of a term as oppositional as anyone brought up in the West could imagine: "Hitler."

"Hitler," Aafreedi says, has become a common term in India to describe "anyone perceived to be dictatorial and authoritative." A number of films named after Hitler have been produced in Indias various languages. None of the films, except the controversial and widely-panned "Gandhi to Hitler" (2011), are biopics on Hitler nor even depict Hitler as a character. So why use the name? Because "the lovable protagonist, because of his authoritarian nature, is called Hitler."

Aafreedi argues that what seems like the appallingly casual use of a demagogue of hate is a function of ignorance: If youre too bossy, youre Hitler. He offers a mainstream example: the popular Hindi daily soap opera called "Hitler Didi." "Didi" in Hindi is a respectful form of address for an elder sister or, more idiomatically, "Auntie." The show (which was also dubbed into Arabic and broadcast around the Arab world) casts the eponymous protagonist as a disciplinarian with a warm heart.

Aafreedi comments that Facebook is replete with Indians and Pakistanis who carry the first name "Hitler" less a decision of their parents and more a conscious choice to adopt a "masculine" name and who see the aggression of the names infamous forbear "as a virtue." That segues into a darker side of the Hitler phenomenon in India: the adulation for Hitler, his "race pride" ideology and his "purging" of unwanted minorities by the founders of Indias pre-state far-right Hindu nationalist movements and by their successors.

One Indian Jew whom I contacted suggested that some claimants of Jewish identity on matrimonial websites may be Christians. He knows many such Christians who observe Jewish religious observances like circumcision, keeping kosher, avoiding the idol worship of Jesus and so on.

According to him, the identification with Judaism is due to the fact that those (perhaps evangelical or Pentecostal) Christians believe the Jews to be the "chosen people." This can be equated with the Judaizing movement of Bene Menashe among the predominant Christian tribes of the North-East Indian States of Manipur and Mizoram.

The imagined identification of so many Indians without any Jewish connection as "Jewish" on matrimonial websites and the adoption of "Hitler" as an alias on social media profiles both emanate out of ignorance, but also function as a point of access to what their adoptees consider as positive stereotypes. The only way to combat this ignorance of Jewish history (including that of the Holocaust), religion and culture is education.

One place to start is higher education: There are only a pioneering handful of universities in India which offer JewishUndergraduate and Postgraduateor Israel studies. It is high time other institutions of higher learning follow suit with the hope that graduates more grounded in understanding the Jewish experience will foster a greater grassroots understanding of, and sensitivity towards, Jewish identity in India.

Sayan Lodh is an MA (History) student at Presidency University, Kolkata, India where he is currently writing his MA dissertation on the Jews of Kolkata (formerly Calcutta)

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Why are there millions of 'Jews' on Indian matchmaking websites? - Haaretz

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Posted By admin on May 18, 2022

This Jewish Heritage Month, wed like to recognize businesses that are making classic Jewish dishes and baked goods vegan. Heres a list of vegan Jewish delis and bakeries across the US!

Chef Megan Tucker is making waves in LAs food scene with her vegan Jewish deli pop-up. Mort & Bettys veganizes classic Jewish dishes like pastrami, whitefish salad, challah, babka, and more. Stop by Smorgasburg LA on Sundays to nosh on a house-made bagel breakfast sandwich!

Allie Mitchell

From Lox Bagels and Egg Salad Sandwiches to Matzo Ball Soup and Challah, this vegan Jewish deli serves the greatest hits! Dig into Ben & Esthers pre-made sandwiches or order sides and proteins by the pound to make your own creation at home.

Jo Frontino

Lil Yentas brings on the nostalgia with their New York-style vegan Jewish comfort food. Were talking about challah, potato knishes, chopped liver, black & white cookies, and hamantaschen, among others. Find Lil Yentas at Biedermans Specialty Foods, V Marks the Shop, and select pop-up events in the Philadelphia area.

Lil Yentas

This vegan Jewish deli and butcher shop makes mind-blowing kosher, plant-based meats. With options like bacon, roast beef, steak, brisket, and mushroom pt, Grass Fed is winning over meat-eaters left and right!

Grass Fed

Unreal Deli recently launched a vegan ghost kitchen venture! The menu showcases a variety of sandwiches featuring Unreal Delis iconic Roasted Turky, Cornd Beef, and Steak Slices. Current ghost kitchen locations include Newark, NJ; Manhattan & Brooklyn, NY; Denver, CO; and Lawndale & Anaheim, CA; with more on the way!

Unreal Deli

Named after Jewish immigrants Sam and Gertrude Stuart, this new vegan deli is a must-try in Chicago! The offerings at Sam & Gerties range from toasted breakfast bagels and deli sandwiches to potato knishes, latkes, and baked goods. The Smiley Face Cookies are too cute not to order.

Sam & Gerties

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Vegan Jewish Delis and Bakeries Across the US - VegOut Magazine

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A senior aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says that there are dozens of Jewish soldiers fighting in the besieged Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol.

There are about 40 Jewish heroes protecting Azovstal now, David Arakhamia, the adviser in charge of Ukraines negotiating delegation, told The Times of Israel on Friday.

Arakhamia also heads Zelenskys ruling Servant of the People party in parliament.

One of the Ukrainian units still holding out in the steel plant is the Azov Regiment, a formation that has been accused since its formation in 2014 of associations with neo-Nazi ideology. These claims have been central to Russian President Vladimir Putins justification for the invasion of Ukraine, having said at the outset of the war that Russias goal was to demilitarize and de-Nazify the country.

The unit was absorbed into the National Guard in September 2014, and Ukrainian officials are adamant that the regiment has been thoroughly professionalized and politicized.

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Arakhamia forcefully denied the Russian allegations of neo-Nazism in the Azov Regiment. Those accusations are absurd by default, he declared. Many people know these soldiers and find these accusations offensive.

Head of Ukraines negotiating team and close Volodymyr Zelensky advisor David Arakhamia (Vadym Sarakhan/Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 4.0)

The massive Azovstal steel complex is the last bastion of Ukrainian resistance in Mariupol. The plant, with its network of tunnels and bunkers, has sheltered hundreds of Ukrainian troops and civilians during a weeks-long siege. Scores of civilians were evacuated recently, but Ukrainian officials said some may still be trapped there.

One of the Jewish soldiers the Zelensky adviser referenced released a video last week calling on Israel to rescue the besieged Azovstal garrison.

In a message posted by Kyiv-based entrepreneur and activist Ilgam Gasanov, Vitaliy Barabash said in Ukrainian, Its hard for me to speak, so my speech for me will be said by my brother, on behalf of all Ukrainian Jews who are together with me here.

Barabash, also known as Benya, held a Ukrainian flag up to the camera as his friend read his statement, a Star of David tattoo clearly visible on Barabashs hand.

Addressing Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, the Knesset, the public of Israel, and prominent Ukrainian Jews, Barabashs statement announced that in the rubble left from Azovstal, there are Jews like me, like you.

Earlier this month in a call with the Kremlin, Bennett requested that Putin examine humanitarian options for evacuating Mariupol.

The Azov Regiment published photos on its Telegram channel last Wednesday showing wounded soldiers in squalid conditions, many missing limbs.

Ukraine has never turned its back on Jews, so we believe Israel may not turn its back on the Ukrainian people either, but stand side-by-side against Russian invaders who brought a new tragedy, read Barabashs statement.

Now we, being here, need Israels help in withdrawing the entire military garrison of Mariupol and call for rescue.

Gasanov told The Times of Israel that he has never met Barabash in person, and is doing what he can to help the besieged Azovstal garrison after his friends wives reached out to him.

I know many Jews who are currently at war, and not only in Mariupol, he said.

Ukraines forces were fighting off a fierce Russian onslaught on the east of the country Sunday, after a Eurovision victory gave the country a much-needed boost of morale.

Zelensky warned on Saturday that the war in his country risked triggering global food shortages, adding that the situation in Ukraines Donbas is very difficult.

Russia, which invaded Ukraine on February 24, has increasingly turned its attention to the countrys east since the end of March, after failing to take the capital Kyiv.

People queue at a food distribution centre for internally displaced people and others in need in Zaporizhzhia on April 27, 2022, as Ukraine said that Russian forces have captured several eastern villages as part of Moscows offensive to take control of the Donbas region, which Russia has vowed to liberate. (Ed JONES / AFP)

Western analysts believe Putin has set his sights on annexing southern and eastern Ukraine in the months ahead but his troops have appeared to be encountering stiff resistance.

Russias war in Ukraine is increasingly shifting the balance of power in Europe, with Finland and Sweden poised to jettison decades of military non-alignment to join NATO as a defense against feared further aggression from Moscow.

Helsinki formally announced its bid for membership on Sunday.

But as a conflict that has displaced millions neared the three-month mark, Ukrainians were offered a much-needed boost of optimism as a rap lullaby combining folk and modern hip-hop rhythms won the Eurovision song contest.

Members of the band Kalush Orchestra celebrate onstage with Ukraines flags after winning on behalf of Ukraine the Eurovision Song contest 2022 on May 14, 2022 at the Pala Alpitour venue in Turin. (Marco BERTORELLO / AFP)

Stefania, which beat out a host of over-the-top acts at the quirky annual musical event, was written by frontman Oleh Psiuk as a tribute to his mother before the war but its nostalgic lyrics have taken on outsized meaning because of the conflict.

Please help Ukraine andMariupol! Help Azvstal right now, Psiuk said in English from the stage, referring to the port citys underground steelworks where Ukrainian soldiers are surrounded by Russian forces.

There was also optimism from Kyivs head of military intelligence, who told the UKs Sky News on Saturday that the war could reach a breaking point by August and end in defeat for Russia before the end of the year.

Major General Kyrylo Budanov told the news network that he was optimistic about the current trajectory of the conflict.

AFP contributed to this report.

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Senior Zelensky adviser: 40 Jewish heroes fighting in Mariupol steel plant - The Times of Israel

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