Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on April 2, 2022

A Christian radio broadcaster piqued my interest with something he said recently while sharing a list of reasons why we ought to make church attendance a priority.

Topping his list was the biblical mandate (Hebrews 10:25) that Christians ought not neglect meeting together for worship, prayer, discipleship, and community (italics mine for emphasis). But further down his list was one particular reason that caught my eye, or rather, my ear: our church attendance is an encouragement to the pastor.

Church attendance in America had already been in decline prior to COVID-19, according to Carey Nieuwhofs Eight Disruptive Church Trends that will Rule 2021, and COVID has only exacerbated that decline.

For many, virtual church is the new norm, offering the convenience of watching church from their couch a now-entrenched habit from which they still wont break, even after COVID. The average church has seen its re-opened attendance come in at around 36% of previous levels, with almost no expectation of it ever jumping back to pre-COVID levels for a while, Nieuwhof writes.

How, then, do we regain the habit, discipline, rhythm, and priority of Sunday morning church attendance? All habits begin in the mind. We think and, therefore, we act. We must, then, retrain our minds to prioritize church attendance. Why not calendar it weekly, as a way of jogging our memory?

How about intentionally getting to bed by 11 p.m. on a Saturday, so that we can have at least seven or eight hours of sleep? Before going to bed, can we set the alarm for 7 or 7:30 a.m. so that oversleeping is not an issue? And how about refusing to hit the snooze button, but instead, stretching and getting out of bed to thank God for the blessing of another day; to shower, dress, have breakfast, and then head out on time to a 9 a.m., 10 a.m., or 11 a.m. service, or a discipleship program prior to the service? We must command our bodies into doing. That is what leads to the discipline of habit and rhythm.

Regaining the habit, discipline, rhythm, and priority of Sunday morning church attendance has nothing to do with a legalistic, perfunctory, or obligatory giving to God of one solitary hour each week before rushing on with the rest of our lives. It has everything to do, as the Bible project video Image of God points out, with a group of Jesus-followers calling out the best in each other, striving for the ideal of Jesus-centered community as a form of witness to our neighborhood.

Christian community is best depicted by the organic connectedness of a cluster of grapes, which all share the same source. From that idea, we get the word congregation, which emanates from the Greek word for synagogue or place of worship. Jesus command to abide in me envisioned our continuation in the habits that allow for Christian community rooted in him as the Source.

We share his life whenever we meet together in his name. Our connection to Jesus is personal, but never private. Whatever happens to one affects all because we are all connected to the same Source.

According to the Hebrews passage alluded to earlier, Christian community is marked by these four practices: intentional attentiveness to one another; stirring up one another; encouraging one another; and serving through love and good works, all of which we need to be doing in light of the fast-approaching Day of the Lord.

Isnt it time you went back to church? We hope to see you next Sunday. Your attendance will be a real encouragement to us, to say nothing of the pleasure it will bring to our Lord Jesus. See you then.

Theo Griffin is lead pastor of Browns Chapel Wesleyan Church. This weekly column is written by local clergy members.

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Hope for Living: Isn't it time you went back to church? - Greenfield Daily Reporter

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Posted By admin on April 2, 2022

Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker was held hostage inside Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, Jan. 15, 2022.

The rabbi taken hostage in his Texas synagogue in January will be the guest speaker next week at a Ramadan celebration hosted by a nonprofit that aims to strengthen Jewish-Muslim relations.

Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker will address the guests on April 7 at a virtual iftar, or meal to end the daily fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, on the commonalities between the Muslim observance and Passover. This year marks the rare occasion on which both holidays overlap, as well as with Easter.

We were so moved to see the strength of the interfaith networks during the incident at his synagogue, and are grateful that Rabbi Charlie is making the time to join a piece of his network to ours, read an announcement from Los Angeles-based NewGround: A Muslim-Jewish Partnership for Change. He will talk on themes of iconoclasm and change, according to the group.

Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker will be the guest speaker at a virtual iftar, the meal that breaks the daily fast in the holy Muslim month of Ramadan. (Screenshot from Facebook)

Cytron-Walker and three other member of Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, were taken hostage for nearly 11 hours by a British gunman who spouted antisemitic tropes about Jews controlling the government, and insisted that they help him free a Muslim woman incarcerated at a Texas prison for attacking American troops.

Cytron-Walker ended the standoff by throwing a chair at the gunman, allowing himself and the other hostages to escape. The gunman was then shot and killed by FBI agents.

The rabbi has long cultivated warm relations with the Muslims near his synagogue. As Jawad Alaim, the president of the Islamic Center of Southlake told the Texas Star-Telegram after the standoff, He and his family are considered part of the Muslim community, and he considers us part of the Jewish community.

Cytron-Walker decided to leave Beth Israel months before the hostage-taking, but to stay in the pulpit through the spring. He was hired in February to be the next rabbi at Temple Emanuel, a Reform synagogue in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

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Rabbi who foiled hostage-taking will be guest speaker at Ramadan celebration - Forward

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Posted By admin on April 2, 2022

A prominent leader of the Jewish community in the United States, Rabbi Marc Schneier, commenting on the developing relations between Turkey and Israel, said that it also marks strong Washington-Ankara ties.

Rabbi Schneier, the head of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, is also former schoolmate of Israeli President Isaac Herzog and assisted him on his two-day official visit on March 9 with President Recep Tayyip Erdoan in Turkey.

He gave an interview to Anadolu Agency (AA) in New York on Thursday on Turkey-Israel and Turkey-U.S. relations.

Rabbi Schneier and Herzog have known each other since their school days, when the president's father was posted as Israel's ambassador to the U.S.

Noting that he developed good relations with Murat Mercan, the Turkish ambassador to the U.S., and that their efforts paved the way for the Turkish and Israeli presidents' meeting in Ankara, he said the summit's main achievement was stronger relations between Turkey and the U.S.

Fixing bilateral ties with Israel will significantly contribute to reestablishing relations with the Jewish community in the U.S. and the American administration, according to Schneier.

In Ankara, the rabbi was in contact with U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Jeff Flake, who said that Washington was closely monitoring the Turkish-Israeli meeting as well as the peace process between Turkey and Armenia and Ankara's mediation efforts to end Russia's war in Ukraine.

The meeting with his Turkish counterpart left the Israeli president deeply impressed, he remarked.

In terms of future political developments, he indicated that the foreign ministers of the two countries intended to meet in Israel after the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan to discuss a myriad of subjects, including the natural gas pipeline project.

According to the rabbi, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett may pay a visit to Turkey following Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu's visit to Israel.

He believed that the improvement in Turkish-Israeli relations will have an impact on Ankara's relations with Washington and that President Joe Biden may invite Erdoan to the U.S. in the near future as a tangible indicator of how relations are developing and an important first step toward better ties.

Normalization of Israeli-Turkish relations would benefit the Palestinian issue as well, he asserted, emphasizing that he believed in a two-state solution to the conflict and that Turkey could play a role in this context.

Turkey wields enormous power over the Palestinians and Hamas, he added.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog last month visited Turkey and met with President Erdoan. Describing Herzog's visit as a "new turning point" in relations, Erdoan said: "Our common goal with Israel is to revive the political dialogue between our countries based on common interests, respect for mutual sensitivities."

Herzog, for his part, said the aim is to lay foundations for the development of friendly relations between Turkey, Israel and the peoples of the two countries.

"Israel and Turkey can and should engage in a cooperation that will impact this region we all call home," Herzog said.

The two countries also plan to cooperate in the field of energy in the Eastern Mediterranean.

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Posted By admin on April 2, 2022

YU has stood at the heart of American Orthodoxy for over a century. What started as a small yeshiva has grown into a renowned institution with numerous undergraduate and graduate programs and thousands of students. While many educators have come and gone throughout YUs years, Rabbi Yosef Blau has been, and continues to be, a beloved member of YU for over 70 years. Not only has Rabbi Blau witnessed YUs development in the last decades, he has also actively and generously nourished its growth.

In 1951, Rabbi Blau entered YU as a freshman in the boys high school, and, with a 12-year exception when he served in out-of-town schools, has been in YU ever since. Following high school, he earned a bachelors degree from Yeshiva College, a masters from the Belfer Graduate School of Science and received semicha (rabbinic ordination) from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) in 1961.

The YU that Rabbi Blau entered as a student is immensely different from the YU we know today. Its hard to imagine yeshiva completely conducted in Yiddish with just one rosh yeshiva, but this is the YU that Rabbi Blau started out in. Influenced by its European rebbeim, the yeshiva portion of YU resembled that of a traditional European yeshiva. With the destruction of European Judaism by the Holocaust, there were no longer European rebbeim to teach at YU, which caused YU to shift and Americanize. Part of this transformation was to hire a mashgiach ruchani (spiritual guidance counselor) who could help YU segue into a yeshiva model that better fit this new wave of American students. In 1977, Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik ztl and Rabbi Norman Lamm ztl, the heads of YU at the time, felt that Rabbi Blau was the perfect figure for this role, and Rabbi Blau has held the position ever since.

When asked about assuming the position, Rabbi Blau mentioned that he couldnt imagine taking a role in yeshiva as an American. He was tasked with creating a new model for this position since the previous model of Rabbi Yaakov Moshe HaCohen Lessin ztl, his predecessor, was so different and no longer befitting in the new model of YU. The job was never very clearly defined, not from day one until today, it was very much what I made of it, Rabbi Blau remarked. As one of the only American rebbeim in YU at the time, students were more comfortable with him and felt that he was relatable, which Rabbi Blau believes is a crucial element to being a mashgiach ruchani. Rabbi Blau feels that the most important part of his job is to be available for students on both campuses. Rabbi Blau is known to go up to every student in the beit midrash to strike up conversation; this is Rabbi Blaus method of forming relationships with students. Ive focused very much, from the outset, in not so much the formal talks, but on being available Id be [in yeshiva] all the time, he commented.

Rabbi Blaus influence on the mens campus is undeniable; however, he felt that it was important to extend his role to the womens campus as well. He expressed that [he] always felt that the women in Stern werent getting things that are available to the men in yeshiva, and decided to start commuting to Beren to sit in the beit midrash and be available to the women there. Rabbi Blau believes it is important to support the womens beit midrash on Beren Campus, and many students, like Noa Berkowitz (SCW 23), feel that his presence greatly enhances its atmosphere as a Torah environment. Having someone like Rav Blau in the beit midrash on a consistent basis greatly contributes to the Torah atmosphere at Stern, she said.

Rabbi Blau has dedicated his life not only to chinuch, but also to activism and chesed in many shapes and forms within the Orthodox world. In his youth, Rabbi Blau served as the president of Yavneh, an organization founded to help make Orthodox life sustainable on secular college campuses, along with his wife who was one of its founders. Although this issue isnt as prevalent today, in this time, it was extremely difficult to be an observant Jew on a secular college campus. Rabbi Blau and his fellow Yavneh members would travel around the country to different colleges to assist Orthodox Jews with any issues they had with observing halacha on campus. He was also involved in chesed missions on a global scale. Rabbi Blau led YU student aid groups to countries in Central America and taught a number of times in Australia with Counterpoint, in Canada and in Poland.

As a member of the rabbinate, Rabbi Blau has been involved in various religious organizations, using his knowledge of Torah and halacha to enact change in the Orthodox community. He served as the president of the Religious Zionists of America for twelve years. Rabbi Blau is heavily dedicated to working with organizations for victims of sexual abuse in the Jewish community in both Israel and America. He is an executive board member of Magen, an organization in Israel committed to developing and implementing programs and services that create a culture of transparency that prioritizes the well-being of victims, holds predators accountable, and eliminates the stigma surrounding sexual abuse, according to their website. Additionally, he serves as the halachic posek for Zaakah, an American organization whose website claims is at the forefront of the fight against child sexual abuse in the Orthodox Jewish Community. In his work with Zaakah, Rabbi Blau was instrumental in the formation of the organization's Shabbos & Yom Tov Peer Support Hotline, the first and only Jewish support hotline available on Shabbat and the holidays. His work with victims of sexual abuse is just one example of how Rabbi Blau uses his rabbinic title to be a moral voice in the Orthodox world. Recently, Rabbi Blau spoke at the YU Stands with Uighurs event, proving once more that he is a moral beacon in our community.

If you ever have a conversation with Rabbi Blau, you are sure to hear about his children and grandchildren. He and his wife, Dr. Rivkah Blau, have three sons who are all rabbis and involved in chinuch all over the world. Their oldest, Rabbi Binyamin Blau, is the rabbi of the Green Road Synagogue in Beachwood, OH, rosh yeshiva of the Fuchs Mizrachi School in Cleveland and serves as the president of the Rabbinical Council of America. Their second son, Rabbi Yitzchak Blau, is the rosh yeshiva of Yeshivat Orayta and a teacher at Midreshet Lindenbaum in Israel. Finally, their youngest, Rabbi Yaakov Blau, is a teacher at The Frisch School in New Jersey. Dr. Rivkah Blau, like her husband, has been involved in different religious organizations and has been an educator for many years. She is now an English professor at Stern College. Its clear that Rabbi and Dr. Blau set a great example to their sons as they follow their footsteps in education and religious outreach.

It is quite evident that Rabbi Blau has a tremendous impact in the orthodox community, whether thats through his quiet influence in YU or his active involvement in various organizations. Rabbi Blau was asked out of all the work he does, which is the most important to him, and his answer is a true testament to his care for those around him. I would like to think my concern for the people in need, for those vulnerable, is most important, he said.

Its difficult to fully capture the impact that Rabbi Blau has had on the Orthodox world and do justice to all he has done. What is certain is that YU, and the Orthodox community at large, will forever be indebted to Rabbi Blau for all he has done and continues to do for our community with his morals, wisdom and tremendous kindness.

Editor's Note: This article was updated on March 28 to correct several minor errors regarding Rabbi Blau's professional career, among other slight changes.

Photo Caption: Rabbi Yosef Blau serves as mashgiach ruchani at YU.

Photo Credit: YUTorah

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Overseeing Generations of Growth: Rabbi Yosef Blau's Historic Career at YU - The Commentator - The Commentator

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Posted By admin on April 2, 2022

Passover is a Jewish holiday commemorating the Hebrews liberation from slavery in Egypt. Because all leaven, whether in bread or other mixtures, is prohibited, Passover is also sometimes called the Festival of Unleavened Bread. This year, Passover is celebrated April 16-23. The following are a few ways we found to celebrate Passover in the Tampa Bay area.

Model Matzah Bakery: Children ages 2 to 12 can enjoy a kosher lunch and snow cones before sifting flour, rolling dough and making their own matzah. Also, learn about the holiday of Pesach, play Passover bingo and make your own matzah bag. $10, Chabad of Clearwater Hebrew School students free. 11 a.m. April 3. The Tabacinic Chabad Center, 2280 Belleair Road, Clearwater. 727-265-2770.

Chocolate Seder: Learn about the Seder in a fun, tasty way. $12, $5 children, 4 and younger free. 3 p.m. April 3. Temple Beth David, 13158 Antelope St., Spring Hill. 352-686-7034.

A Plague Passover Party: A hands-on experience including Passover plague stations and story time. Free. 10-11 a.m. April 10. JCC on the Cohn Campus, 13009 Community Campus Drive, Tampa. 813-264-9000.

Interfaith Dinner: Join hundreds of other people in the community at this dinner with guest speakers and a program celebrating St. Petersburg as a community of love and compassion. Free. 6-9 p.m. April 14. Coliseum, 535 Fourth Ave. N, St. Petersburg. 727-892-5202.

Passover Seder: Enjoy a meal and a spiritual Haggadah to celebrate freedom with Rabbi Emanuel Ben-David. $36, $25 members, $5 ages 5-13, 4 and younger free. 5:30 p.m. April 15. Temple Beth David, 13158 Antelope St., Spring Hill. 352-686-7034.

Passover Seder: Join Rabbi Michael Stepakoff for a four-course kosher meal, reading of the Haggadah, remembering the 10 plagues, the Exodus from Egypt, music, teaching and Davidic dancing. Buy tickets at templenj.org/seder. $40-$50, $20-$30 ages 4-12, 3 and younger free. 6-9 p.m. April 15. East Lake Woodlands Country Club, 1055 East Lake Woodlands Parkway, Oldsmar. 727-784-8576.

Pesach Family Seder: Experience a Seder journey to freedom at this five-course dinner paired with award-winning wines. Hosted by Rabbi Alter and Chaya. $60, $20 children. 7:30 p.m. April 15. Chabad Jewish Center of Greater St. Petersburg, 4010 Park St. N. 727-344-4900.

Community Passover Seder: Children can enjoy activities as they join Rabbi Mendy on a journey to freedom. Executive chef Kenny Mendoza prepares a five-course dinner paired with Israeli and European wines. $40, $35 young professionals, $25 children. 7:30 p.m. April 15. Bryan Glazer Family JCC, 522 N Howard Ave., Tampa. 813-575-5900.

Passover Seder: Join Rabbi Adler for a holiday dinner by Sylvia and Shani. RSVP required at YIChabad.com/Seder. $60, $25 children. 7:30 p.m. April 15. Chabad of Pinellas County, 3696 Fisher Road, Palm Harbor. 727-789-0408.

Passover Celebration: Join the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This years theme is Our Redeemer, Our Avenger, and Returning to Our First Love. Call for reservations. 11 a.m. April 16. Beit Tehila Congregation, 1705 Lithia Pinecrest Road, Brandon. 813-654-2222.

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Greater Seder: Youll say Leapin Lambshanks when Greater Seder presents Its Little Moses Mannie. Dinner includes Passover wine, matzo ball soup, chicken breast, dessert and drink. $65. 7 p.m. April 16. Bryan Glazer Family JCC, 522 N Howard Ave., Tampa. 813-500-0621.

Community Passover Seder: Celebrate the Feast of Passover with the reading of the Haggadah, music, dance and your choice of beef brisket or grilled chicken. $30, $10 ages 10 and younger. 4-7 p.m. April 17. Tampa Garden Club, 2629 Bayshore Blvd., Tampa. 813-251-5059.

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12 ways to celebrate Passover in the Tampa Bay area - Tampa Bay Times

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Posted By admin on April 2, 2022

[Click here to binge read this weeks featured couples.]

Four days after meeting on the dating app J-Swipe in October 2020, Sharon Leona Poczter and Rabbi Michael Geoffrey Cohen told their parents that they were going to get married.

They had not yet met in person, as there were hundreds of miles between them.

Dr. Poczter, 42, an associate professor at Yeshiva University and the chair of its strategy and entrepreneurship department, was living in Brooklyn. Rabbi Cohen, 37, was a chaplain in the U.S. Army stationed in Savannah, Ga.

My parents, to some extent, were shocked, said Dr. Poczter, who holds a Ph.D. in business economics from the University of California, Berkeley, and bachelors and masters degrees from Cornell University. But they were also happy for me, and totally trusted my judgment.

Dr. Poczter, who had dated a lot by then, added that after days of talking on FaceTime and the phone with Rabbi Cohen nonstop, something about him gave her a sense of safety.

Rabbi Cohen, whose previous marriage of three years ended in divorce in 2017, said Dr. Poczters education and profession had impressed him when he read her dating profile, along with the fact that she seemed very transparent, like, This is who I am.

Inspired to be equally forthright, I told her just that how very impressed I was, said Rabbi Cohen. From Nashville, Tenn., he is a graduate of Brandeis University and earned a masters degree in Hebrew letters and a certificate in Jewish nonprofit management at Hebrew Union College, where he was ordained.

Dr. Poczter, who grew up on Long Island, said Rabbi Cohen is multilayered in so many surprising ways, citing his work as a rabbi and time in the Army, which included a psychological operations course at Fort Braggs John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School.

Those two jobs do not normally go together, she said.

[Click here to binge read this weeks featured couples.]

Their first date, in November 2020, lasted 10 days, Dr. Poczter said. They met in Longboat Key, Fla., where they stayed in a condo owned by her parents, who were not there, and celebrated Thanksgiving together.

From Florida, Rabbi Cohen went back to Brooklyn with Dr. Poczter. He never exactly left, because from then he lived between her place and his apartment in Savannah until he finished his military contract. In August 2021, he was honorably discharged from the Army, and officially moved in with Dr. Poczter.

After 14 years as a military chaplain, transitioning to civilian life at first felt different and difficult, said Rabbi Cohen, who is now the rabbi of Central Synagogue Beth Emeth in Rockville Centre, N.Y. I was used to a regimen, he added.

Earlier that year, in March, he and Dr. Poczter became engaged in the backyard of their home in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn. Also there were Lobo, their 5-year-old German shepherd, and Smokey, their 8-year-old terrier mix, who had the engagement ring tied to his collar.

Rabbi Cohen said that the ring went flying when Dr. Poczter removed it, causing him to spring to action. I left my feet and made a dive for it and caught it before it got lost in the grass.

They were married on March 6, exactly one year after becoming engaged, at The Resort at Longboat Key Club in Longboat Key. Rabbi Philip Rice, a friend of the couple, officiated before 60 vaccinated guests, including Dr. Poczters parents and Rabbi Cohens mother and her partner; his father is deceased.

We were meant for each other, the bride said. When you know, you just know.

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Even the Army Couldnt Keep Them Apart - The New York Times

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Posted By admin on March 29, 2022

The Canary Mission watchdog released a new report on March 28 detailing antisemitic social posts from various supporters of USC Viterbi School of Engineerings Viterbi Graduate Student Association Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Student Senator Yasmeen Mashayekh, who had previously been under fire for past social media posts.

As the Journal has previously reported, Mashayekhs social media posts have included I want to kill every motherfing Zionist, Curse the Jews [in Arabic], Zionists are going to fing pay, LONG LIVE THE INTIFADA and I fing love [H]amas. The university responded by saying that the antisemitic behavior we are witnessing is deeply troubling and announced a series of measures to combat antisemitism on campus; however, they said they couldnt remove her from her position as DEI senator because its a student-elected position and her tweets are protected speech under the First Amendment.

The Canary Mission report states the watchdog conducted an investigation into the social media posts of supporters of Mashayekh and found that 35 Mashayekh supporters had more than 1000 posts calling for death and violence, spreading classic antisemitism, declaring support for terrorism, hatred of Israel, Zionists, America and Canada and promoting [the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement]. Some of these posts included:

Overall, Canary Mission found that Mashayekh supporters had 290 posts promoting hatred of Israel & Zionism, 181 supporting terrorism, 170 promoting hatred of Israelis & Zionists and 137 calls for death and violence. Additionally, 57% of Mashayekhs supporters were affiliated with Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP).

The report concluded by criticizing USC for failing to take appropriate and timely action against Mashayekh. The supporters of Yasmeen Mashayekh who are pressuring USC to protect her are equally as antisemitic and hate-filled as she is, the report stated. There can be no balancing act, no moral equivalency between those protesting hatred and those that peddle it.

Mashayekh has told The Los Angeles Times that she doesnt feel safe on campus, claiming that she is being subjected to targeted harassment and that the university has not adequately responded to her concerns. She also said she was removed from Virterbis website and is concerned about future employment opportunities and her loan payments. I just really wish I didnt have to think about what I would change. I wish people didnt expect Palestinians to be the perfect victims. Mashayekh has also claimed that her posts need to be viewed under the context of Palestinians having a right to resist occupation under international law.

You'll love our roundtable.

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Canary Mission Report Highlights Antisemitism Among Supporters of USC Student Senator Who Tweeted I Want to Kill Every Motherf---ing Zionist - Jewish...

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Posted By admin on March 29, 2022

Cincinnati is the birthplace of Reform Judaism in North America. That's in no small part because of the founding of Hebrew Union College in 1875 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise. It trains rabbis how to teach Reform Judaism using the vernacular and modernizing education practices. Its future is unclear as the school's Board of Governors considers whether to stop ordaining rabbis at the institution.

The schools leadership is suggesting the end of the residential rabbinical program in Cincinnati after consulting with more than 350 stakeholders during two years of strategic planning, some of whom opposed the proposal.

Professor Emeritus Mark Washofsky is one of many people who are against the change, saying it overlooks Jewish people in the Midwest and may not necessarily be a huge cost-saving measure.

"Is it a complete surprise? No, I mean, if anybody was paying attention, it's not a surprise. We've known this could be coming for some time," he said.

Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion has three campuses in the United States. The other two are in Los Angeles and New York. One is located in Jerusalem. Washofsky says the school, while founded in Cincinnati, has often considered whether to continue fully operating the Midwest institution.

"One of the issues that's brought up to justify a big change like this is that we don't need three campuses. So, there are financial claims being made, and there's also this idea that the classes are too small on any one of the campuses," Washofsky said.

According to the college, there's been a nearly 60% decline in the size of the rabbinical student body in Cincinnati from 2006 to this year, from 66 to 27. It also says, in documents online, that HUC-JIR has seen structural deficits of $1.5 million per year, on average, since at least 2010. That's caused the institution to face "a projected record $8.8 million deficit in fiscal year 2022."

Washofsky and other alumni recognize the financial problems the college is facing, but they said in a public letter to the institution that the school has not done its due diligence of considering other cost-cutting measures that could be taken instead.

The letter is signed by almost 300 alumni and says, in part, "Faculty and rabbis in the field, who have thought long and hard about options for the College Institute, have been sidelined without serious consideration when they offer alternative approaches to the current proposal."

It says the recommendation to no longer ordain rabbis does not have a serious viability study, jeopardizes the future of the Pines School of Graduate Studies, and threatens the future of the integrity of Klau Library, the American Jewish Archives, and the Skirball Collection.

The institution currently has the second largest Jewish library in the world.

Hebrew Union College declined an interview about the possible changes, but released a brief statement by President Andrew Rehfeld.

It says the university spent two years on its strategic plan, researching and meeting with hundreds of stakeholders about the challenges the school is facing.

"It is very important to note that our recommendations do not contemplate closing any campus. We envision our Cincinnati campus continuing to be a vital center of learning and scholarship that leverages our precious resources, including the Klau Library, American Jewish Archives, and Skirball Museum, and offers meaningful educational experiences for our students, nationally and throughout the Midwest," the statement says.

It goes on to say the board has not made a decision about the changes and plans to keep engaging with the community.

The Jewish Federation of Cincinnati also declined to be interviewed about the changes. The organization released a brief statement lamenting the potential loss of the residential rabbinical student program at HUC.

It says, in part:

The Federation, countless other organizations, both locally and around the world, and the Cincinnati community have benefited from the knowledge, passion and wisdom of rabbis educated at the home of Reform Judaism. We are saddened by the potential loss of future volunteers, teachers, scholars, and friends people who enrich the lives of so many in Cincinnati while calling HUC their home. Being immersed in our collaborative community equally enhances the students learning and experience. We hope the HUC Board considers this impact when voting about the future of our campus.

If HUC moves forward with the change, the school may be used as a research center or to house rabbis doing weeks-long studies in-person.

But Washofsky says, "All of these other plans are extremely vague because they don't know what to do with the physical campus just yet."

The Board of Governors is scheduled to vote on the issue in April.

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Cincinnati's Hebrew Union College could stop ordaining rabbis, blurring the future of the institution - WVXU

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Posted By admin on March 29, 2022

By Kate Patterson

Paula Vogels Indecent: The story of a little Jewish play, artfully navigates the nuances of Queerness and Judaismhistory and the present. The play follows the true story of Sholem Asch, a Polish-Jewish novelist, and playwright, as he pitches, produces, and performs his controversial play God of Vengeance. In 1923, it presented the first kiss between two women on a Broadway stage. Indecent presents the duplicitous scorn and adoration which God of Vengeance incited.

Puget Sound theater departments Jess K Smith directed the University production of Indecent, with performances March 3-6. Many people contributed to the vibrant performance including the cast, crew, director, dialect coach, and an on-stage band. Praise and support for the play poured throughout campus.

Indecent presents intersectionality between religion and countercultural relationships. Zoe Levine Sporer, Jewish Cultural Consultant and Dramaturg for the production finds meaning in this space. As a 2015 Puget Sound graduate, she currently works as an administrator at a synagogue in Maine. Sporer first saw Indecent in 2017 and has loved it ever since, particularly the element of historical enlightenment. As someone whos queer and Jewish, to realize that this is part of my cultural history, was pretty eye-opening, she said.

Performing this Jewish story with a mostly non-Jewish cast presented an ethical challenge. Smith, the director, expected and saw intentionality from the cast in understanding the characters and stories they embodied. According to Smith, the company had many conversations about the ethics of telling these stories throughout the production process. She emphasized the integrity and rigor she saw in these conversations.

Cast member Sam Webb, third-year, explained, Something that I wanted to do and felt challenged to do was to portray a Jewish person to the best of my ability, knowing that I possess neither the first-hand experience nor the generational trauma of the Holocaust, or of Jewish culture in general. The play was powerful, and effectively told this beautiful story, but concerns may remain about the performance of a Jewish play with mostly non-Jewish actors. Telling the stories of marginalized communities is important and it is equally important to simultaneously uplift the voices of Jewish people.

One scene thats an audience favorite referred to as the rain scene, shows Rifkele and Manke frolicking and feeling the cleansing effect of the rain. It is continuously referenced throughout the show and shown fully at the end. Allison Turek, third year, playing Rifkele said, It is one of the focal points of the show and to be able to embody these women and their pure joy and love for each other is so rewarding. The rain scene, a moment of pure joy and emotional expression, is the heart of the play.

The rain scene is important to the whole troupe. Webb explains: At one point in the show, Lemml says, every night during the rain scene, the entire troupe lines up in the wings to watch. Well, every night during the final rain scene, as our company waited to make their entrances for the final tableau, we all watched the rain scene from offstage. It was a beautiful, metatheatrical moment of love and awe, Webb said.

Unfortunately, hate and oppression are still forces at large in our world and on the Puget Sound campus. On Sunday, March 6, the last day of the play, in an act of antisemitic graffiti, a Swastika was drawn in the breezeway between Howarth and Jones hall, where the play was performed. In response, students drew flowers at a table in the Wheelock Student Center, creating a garden of support for the Jewish community on campus. The artistic act of building a garden cant erase the pain caused by symbols of hate, but it is a step in the right direction, towards community and love. Additionally, the University Chaplaincy, Jewish Student Union, and Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity hosted an event on March 11 in responsefor a blessing and call to action.

Indecent starts in 1906 and concludes in 1952. The audience watches as the play is performed all around the world. Near the end, the troupe performs God of Vengeance from an attic in a ghetto during the Holocaust. Amidst inconceivable horrors, the group continues to turn to art and storytelling to find meaning. They perform God of Vengeance with the same heart but under very different circumstances, conveying contrasting tones. They only perform one act of the play at a time, asking for donations of food from the audience before continuing to tell the story.

Smith offers a powerful insight regarding the plays focus: Paula Vogel chose, instead of centering the kind of hateful context that this play is happening in, she really places at the center this troupe of artists who choose to keep on telling this story, and fighting for it to be told in all of its complexity and all of its messiness, rather than to allow it to be censored over and over and over again. In its essence, the play confronts forces of oppression and hate through a lens focused on love.

The Puget Sound production of Indecent was touching, intimate, and deeply human. Sporer explained, Indecent bears witness to the joys of the Jewish people and memorializes a world that could have been. It is a play that left its mark on my heart from the first moment I saw it, and I hope it does the same for you.

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Indecent: The Intersection of Queerness and Judaism on Stage - The Trail - The Puget Sound Trail

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Posted By admin on March 29, 2022

Ive never really been an angry person per se. In general, Im more of a bottle-up-your-issues kind of a person (yes, Im working on it). I have an incredibly long fuse and its hard to make me truly angry. This applies even to those days when my child vomits on the carpet while Im running late to a Zoom meeting (during which I know my child will come in multiple times to tell me hes bored, because he somehow thinks its my job to entertain him 24/7), my car is in the shop, my living room looks like a tornado made of food crumbs just swept through, and Im scrambling to find substitute teachers for my Jewish Sunday program because I cant lead programming if my kid has potential COVID-19 symptoms (even if its the holiday programming Ive been working on tirelessly for a month).

It takes a lot of built-up aggressors before I finally explode into a fire-sign worthy inferno of rage and say exactly what Im thinking and then it quickly burns out and I am left feeling exhausted and embarrassed. Generally, this isnt directed at my child, but more likely toward a teacher who treated him unfairly, a kid who bullied him at school, or even a collaborative oversight at work that made my job as a full-time working single parent that much harder on any given week. Again, all the same, this has never been a significantly chronic emotion for me.

Lately, however, Ive found myself feeling angry not just once in a while, but almost all the time. Its not a raging hellfire that burns itself out, though; its a different kind of anger that seems to have spawned from living two plus years in a global pandemic, at the mercy of endless headlines on political insanity, a crumbling economy, and (more recently) the threat of another world war. This anger is like a smoldering lump of charcoal that Im always carrying with me, deep in my gut. Its not directed toward anyone in particular, and I can mask it by pushing it out of the forefront of my mind as I carry on day to day.

But the weight is always there, underneath everything else and every other emotion. Its a strange sensation that isnt torturous, but also makes me never feel like quite fully myself.

Often, society lists anger under the bad column of emotions. Sometimes, its even categorized as one of the roots of evil (drama!). But despite not being religious, I cant help but see anger through Judaisms perspective on the difficult feeling.

Mussar, an ancient Jewish movement of self-enlightenment, teaches that there are no good or bad feelings there are only feelings that are balanced or unbalanced. If you think of old-fashioned scales, the scales are balanced when each side bears an equal weight and they are an even height; if theres too much of something on one side (or conversely, not enough), then they are no longer in balance. Feelings are the same, and anger is no exception. On the contrary, anger is as important as more lauded values like patience, kindness and truth.

Anger, in the appropriate balance, translates to passionate indignation the kind of indignation that makes us want to march for reproductive rights, call our state senators over repressive anti-trans rights bills that collectively hurt our children, send money to Ukrainian AirBnB owners, organize meal trains for Afghan refugees and call out police violence against people of color. When theres an attack on a synagogue, you know that surge of rebellious pride for your Jewish identity that materializes from deep inside your chest? That sense of fuck-Nazis pride and solidarity stems from anger. On a smaller scale (because not every battle is a huge splashy headline), anger helps us advocate for our children in regard to their schools, pediatricians and even sometimes family members who lack boundaries.

We have been angry without a break for so long now. Weve been angry for so long that our anger itself is exhausted, having dimmed from a blaze to smoldering embers that keep us constantly uncomfortably warm. Our anger shares our sense of anguish and yet, its still there. While its not ideal to carry anger around for this long, its a sign of something important: It means that even through years of political, societal, public health and economic turmoil, we somehow, miraculously, still care. Because when the scale goes the opposite direction and you have too little anger, it doesnt lead to peacefulness it leads to apathy. At a certain point in the pandemic, I didnt think I had the capacity to care anymore. I felt like the part of me that could care was so burnt out that it was just ashes. Sitting with my anger, though, showed me that I still can care and I still do.

Even though its still there and I have no idea when it will leave, I feel better knowing that my anger is not my enemy, its not evil, and theres nothing wrong with my feeling that emotion. Its OK if youre angry, too. Be angry. Sit with it. Give yourself a break and rest when you can so your anger doesnt burn you out. Then channel your anger into making a difference in this world of injustices that infuriate you. Despite feeling powerless, anger is our gateway into the contrary: When we channel our anger against injustice, we change the world a little ember at a time.

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It's Okay to Be Angry. Judaism Says So. Kveller - Kveller.com

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