Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on March 8, 2022

Broken Box Mime will present the World Premiere of their newly devised physical theatre piece Take Shape at the Jeffrey and Paula Gural Theatre at A.R.T./New York Theatres (502 West 53rd Street New York, NY 10019), April 1-May 1.

The show will run for a total of 21 performances on Friday, April 1 at 7:30pm, Saturday, April 2 at 7:30pm, Sunday, April 3 at 2pm, Monday, April 4 at 7:30pm, Thursday, April 7 at 7:30pm, Friday, April 8 at 7:30pm, Saturday, April 9 at 7:30pm, Sunday, April 10 at 2pm, Monday, April 11 at 7:30pm, Thursday, April 14 at 7:30pm, Friday, April 15 at 7:30pm, Saturday, April 16 at 7:30pm, Sunday, April 17 at 2pm, Monday, April 18 at 7:30pm, Thursday, April 21 at 7:30pm, Friday, April 22 at 7:30pm, Saturday, April 23 at 7:30pm, Sunday, April 24 at 2pm, Friday, April 29 at 7:30pm, Saturday, April 30 at 7:30pm, and Sunday, May 1 at 2pm. Tickets ($25 advance; $30 door) are available for advance purchase at http://www.brokenboxmime.com. The performance will run approximately 80 minutes, with no intermission.

In Take Shape a clandestine plot between friends becomes a high-stakes heist, a night with a YouTube cooking show goes awry, a relationship outgrows its shell like a hermit crab, and an astronaut learns to move again after years of being alone. Join BKBX as they explore ten stories of emergence and transformation, apocalyptic farce, metaphorical image collage, and grounded naturalistic drama. In each narrative piece, the modern mimes of BKBX illustrate how the shapes of our worlds, bodies, and ideas can shift and reshift around and within us.

Take Shape is an invitation to a shared imaginative experience. Join in the process of theater again in a way that is only possible when many individuals are present together, experiencing the same human exchange. Let BKBX activate your imagination as they contemporize the art of mime and bring these nonverbal stories to life, reminding us all of the power of live storytelling.

All performances welcome people with disabilities and non-English speakers. Specific affinity nights will be offered including relaxed performances on April 10, 17 & 21 with slightly adjusted sound and lights. All audience members will be required to show proof of vaccination and to remain masked during the performance.

Take Shape was devised by the cast which includes Nick Abeel (This is Not J.A.W.S on Trapeze at Dixon Place), Becky Baumwoll (Succession on HBO), Ismael Castillo (Hands Up! with Black Spectrum Theater), Julia Cavagna (Solitary with Dutch Kills/Edinburgh Fringe), Graldine Dulex (Big Apple Circus), Blake Habermann (Cirque du Soleil's float in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade), David Jenkins (AMiOS NYC), Tasha Milkman (Henry IV at Shakespeare's Globe), Marissa Molnar (Helen Hayes Award for A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Kennedy Center), Kristin McCarthy Parker (director, Monsoon Season at Rattlestick), Regan Sims (The Beyonce at ART/NY), and Jae Woo (The Talmud with Target Margin) who will accompanied live by resident music collaborator Jack McGuire (Solitary with Dutch Kills/Edinburgh Fringe).

Additional collaborators on Take Shape included Dinah Berkeley, Duane Cooper, Jol Prez, Leah Wagner, Joshua Wynter, and Matt Zambrano. The creative team includes Lighting Design by Jamie Roderick (The Woodsman at New World Stages). BKBX's Resident Stage Manager is Esti Bernstein (Rebel Verses with Vineyard Theatre).

Broken Box Mime Theater (BKBX) is a collaborative theater company that performs original, contemporary short plays entirely through movement. Based in NYC and founded in 2011, we reimagine French pantomime through the lens of contemporary US American theater. The diverse group of artists who call BKBX their artistic home believe in making innovative, provocative theater that erases the spoken language barrier and champions the power of simplicity in performance. Our short plays range from realistic to metaphorical, heart-wrenching to hilarious, and cinematic to intimate. Winners of New York Innovative Theatre Awards for Outstanding Movement/Choreography, Performance Art, and Ensemble.

Past collaborations include Williamstown Theatre Festival, The Alliance Francaise, New York Deaf Theater, Viceland, The Tonight Show with Stephen Colbert, MTV, Manhattan Mini Storage, First Responders Children's Foundation, ASTEP, Madison Square Park Conservancy, Saratoga Arts, Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado, Bennington Center for the Arts, University of Cambridge, BMCC, CUNY, The New School, Tufts University, Bowdoin College, Actors Gymnasium, Indy Fringe, Minnesota Fringe, Frieze Art Fair, MAC, People's Improv Theater, BRIC, the Korean Ministry of Food and Agriculture, The Gathering Place (Tulsa), PACE University Department of Psychology. http://www.brokenboxmime.com

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Broken Box Mime Theater to Present World Premiere of TAKE SHAPE - Broadway World

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Posted By admin on March 8, 2022

Joshua Shanes, associate professor of Jewish studies and the director of the Arnold Center for Israel Studies at the College of Charleston, argued that Zionism is both ancient and modern in a lecture Thursday evening.

On Thursday night, College of Charleston professor Joshua Shanes spoke about Zionism as part of the Karen and Pace Robinson Lecture on Modern Israel series through the department of religious studies. Shanes is an associate professor of Jewish studies and the director of the Arnold Center for Israel Studies at the College of Charleston.

Shanes lecture was entitled Zionism: Ancient Dream or Modern Revolution and discussed the history of the movement and where it stands today.

Zionism is deeply rooted in Judaism, a religion that is over three thousand years old, but it is also a modern form of Jewish nationalism that arose in the 19th century. As Shanes put it later on in the lecture when speaking about identity, thats what Zionism is. Its a way of being Jewish without being religious in the traditional sense.

For many Jewish people, according to Shanes, their religion has more to do with the area they are from and the rituals they observe rather than going back to a homeland that they might have been generations before.

Zionism was officially established as a movement in 1897 when Theodor Herzl thought that there was a need for the Jewish community to have a nation, like Israel or Palestine. He created the first Zionist Congress as well as the World Zionist Organization, where he served as the first president.

Shanes spoke on the topic of nationalism which claims to express spontaneous and primordial sentiments of national community. The roots of nationalism can be found in the American and French Revolutions to Zionism itself.

Something that Zionists have believed in since that time is the notion of self-help, or essentially taking care of themselves and whatever they may be facing rather than allowing for others, including the Messiah, to offer a hand.

Shanes displayed this self-determination with flyers and propaganda that were made through the 20th century, which show Zionists as strong and faithful characters that dont need to rely on others outside of the movement or outside of Judaism.

With Zionism, there has been a retelling of Jewish traditions and practices so that it is more modern and appeals to the ideologies of self-help and of forming their own nation. This has led to Zionists claiming that this is the most authentic form of Judaism, but according to Shanes, it is one form of Judaism among many.

Zionism is a modern form of Judaism. Like all modern forms of Judaism Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, et cetera Zionism is a modern ideology that appropriates pre-modern symbols in constructing its own worldview, Shanes said.

Pace Robinson, who endows the lecture series with his wife Karen, is the retired CEO of Modern Supply Co. and is a third generation Tennessean who is passionate about giving back to his community.

Robinson is on UTs Board of Visitors and is a frequent contributor to the Fern and Manfred Steinfeld program in Judaic Studies. He was in attendance and asked about some of the rhetoric used when talking about Zionists.

I dont know if its historically, but how did the you hear the quote today, the Arabs used the term hate the Zionist pig or the Zionist entity or whatever, Robinson said. How did they seize on this term or rhetoric, hatred?

Shanes responded with an answer that was historical as well as ideological.

From a Palestinian perspective, Zionism is not a national liberation movement. Its a colonization movement, Shanes said. Jews coming from all over the world saying but we used to live here two thousand years ago. Maybe they did and maybe theres a way to share the land, but from their perspective Zionism is a movement of occupation.

To show how there are many forms of Zionism, Shanes spoke about the overlapping national identities of many European Jews. He shared an anecdote of former prime minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu telling a Jewish audience in France that they should come to Israel. They responded by singing the French national anthem, showing that while they were Jewish, they were also French, and that both identities were important to them.

On March 8, the lecture series will continue with the theme of Zionism, but from a World War I perspective. This lecture will be held virtually and the speaker will be Jan Rybak from the University of London.

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Judaic Studies begins Zionism lecture series with guest ...

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Posted By admin on March 8, 2022

Editors Note: America has rediscovered its right-wing extremism problem in recent years, recognizing the danger this movement poses to the lives of Americans and to democracy itself. The United States, unfortunately, is not alone. KristyCampion, a lecturer at Charles Sturt University in Australia and author ofChasing Shadows: The Untold and Deadly History of Terrorism in Australia,describes some of the long history of right-wing extremism in her country and details its many connections to the United States.

Daniel Byman

***

The United States is not alone in its problem with right-wing extremism. When Americas attention to this issue looks abroad, it is usually to Europe. One of the most instructive places to look, however, is Australia. As established in my recently published book, Australia has long had a problem with right-wing extremist movements with many transnational connections.

The Australian extreme right seldom operate in a vacuumthey commonly seek connections with fellow travelers in other white-majority countries, including the United States. These connections, in turn, inform and reinforce their beliefs and operations. These operations include traveling to foreign countries to fighta legacy that goes back 60 years.

Deep Connections

There are significant histories on the extreme right in the United States, but the same cannot be said for Australia. The 1901 White Australian policy and other systems encouraged white nationalism to thrive, which meant that rising European fascism found fertile lands in Australia early, starting in 1920. Nazi stormfronts were established as early as 1930, and over the following decades extreme right-wing organizations rose and fell.

Some of those organizations developed strong transnational connections with like-minded people in other white-majority nations. One such example is the Ustaa, a fascist organization that ruled Croatia on behalf of the Nazi Party during World War II. After the war, the Ustaa went underground and overseas, becoming one of the many organizations monitored by the CIA.

The Ustaa developed a strong foothold in Australia. Australian members kept the international network afloat financially and undertook violent missions. Arguably, its operatives became the first foreign terrorist fighters from Australia. In 1963, Australian Ustaa operatives traveled to Trieste, Italy, and then mounted an incursion into Yugoslavia. Armed with 30 pounds of explosives and 100 detonators, the group sought to incite an insurrection, to be followed by a fascist revolution. They were captured on arrival.

The Ustaa tried this strategy again in 1972, when Australians were part of a 19-person cadre that entered Yugoslavia near Bugojno. They attempted to rouse the citizenry to revolt, but local citizens immediately called the authorities. Yugoslav security forces engaged in a gun battle with the group, leaving 13 dead. As a result, the U.S. FBI told the Australian government that they regarded Australia as the hotbed of Ustaa terrorism in 1973.

Broad Networks

The Australian extreme right wing, however, regarded the white citizens of the United States as their allies and fellow travelers. Throughout the 1960s, various Australian groups followed the campaigns of George Lincoln Rockwell, an American neo-Nazi and politician. Australian Customs intercepted parcels of propaganda, including stickers emblazoned with Hitler was Right, from U.S. senders suspected of involvement with Rockwell. The two milieus also paid each other visits, or at least triedRockwell attempted to visit Australia but abandoned his plans after the media suggested his visa would be rejected.

Jack van Tongeren, the leader of a right-wing extremist group called the Australian Nationalist Movement, traveled to the United States in 1983. There, he met with a representative of the neo-Nazi American Workers Party. Van Tongeren described the United States as Zionist dominated and sick and saw vice, degeneration and perversion seemingly everywhere. He later obtained the bible of the American extreme right, the novel The Turner Diaries, and distributed thousands of copies in Australia.

When Van Tongeren returned home to Western Australia, his organization initiated its own Kristallnacht. From 1989 to 1990, they conducted a firebombing campaign against the businesses of Australians of Asian descent as part of a strategy to force them to leave Australia. Members openly stated that they had hoped to cause terror in the Asian community. They further justified the violence as self-defense, arguing they were imperiled by Asian immigration and Zionism, which they saw as evidence of white replacement.

Although extreme-right organizations in the United States and Australia could (and commonly did) operate independently, a few organizations managed to establish chapters in both nations. The Hammerskin Nation, established in Dallas in the late 1980s, had two separate and rival chapters in Australia: the Southern Cross Hammerskins and the Australian Hammerskin Nation. Another import was Aryan Nations, which had an active Australian chapter. These organizations kept the exchange of ideas alive. Blood & Honour, an organization based in the United Kingdom, also established a beachhead in both Australia and the United States.

Shared Beliefs

Groups like these, including Aryan Nations, peddled conspiracy theories that remain prevalent today, including ideas about white genocide, which is also sometimes described as replacement theory. This conspiracy theory argues that the white population is being threatened as a result of immigration and multiculturalist policies that are shifting national demographics. In Australia, this conspiracy theory received public attention after the March 2019 terrorist attack in Christchurch, New Zealand. The terrorist, an Australian citizen, attacked two mosques with firearms and was arrested en route to a third, leaving 51 people dead and 49 injured. The attacker was found to have both domestic and international connections and was inspired by demographic conspiracy theories.

Transnational networks, like those that link Australian white supremacists with others abroad, serve to buttress the belief systems of extremists by reinforcing shared ideological positions and introducing new and complementary ideas. Personal visits also contribute to this connectedness. This could partly explain why extreme-right violence around the world comes in waves.

These networks between transnational extreme-right communities persist. The Base, a neo-Nazi cell established in the United States that openly celebrates terrorism, sought to recruit Australians in 2021. The Order of Nine Angles, a Satanic neo-Nazi cult that originated in the United Kingdom and has been influential in the United States, also expanded its operations to Australia through a local affiliate organization, the Temple of THEM. Numerous encrypted social media channels exist between other Australian groups and U.S. accounts.

Beyond the U.S. connection, Australians have traveled to Ukraine to fight with right-wing nationalist organizations, donated to European organizations and consolidated their networks in New Zealand. Fighting in foreign lands is perhaps the strongest indication of this transnational connectivity.

A Common Enemy

This review illuminates a very simple fact: Transnational connections between the extreme right in Australia and the United States have a long history and continue to the current day. FBI and CIA officials recognized decades ago that the extreme-right threat in Australia could have an impact on U.S. national security.

As the Christchurch attack demonstrates, the transnational connections of the extreme right must be understood in order to effectively counter this threat.

As policymakers in Australia, the United States and elsewhere consider new policies and efforts to counter the extreme right, they must conceptualize it as a transnationally entrenched threat. Because of this, policies should involve greater multilateral collaboration, particularly with respect to transnational extremist networks, and facilitate the sharing of databases of the broad array of signs, symbols, tattoos, slogans and literature that help identify extremists.

More than 20 years after countries worldwide formed a coalition to combat transnational Salafi jihadism, it is worth reflecting on the benefits of joint initiatives in counterterrorism. The strong partnerships formed against one threat could assist with countering another: the transnational extreme right.

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Foreign Fighters and Fellow Travelers: Right-Wing Extremism in Australia and the United States - Lawfare

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Posted By admin on March 8, 2022

Rare and decorated artifacts, including ancient bowls dating back some 1,500 years and bearing what appears to be magic spells in Hebrew, were uncovered at a residential home in Jerusalem, authorities said Monday.

Hundreds of antique coins, glassware, and weapons were also discovered during a cooperative search by the Israel Antiquities Authority's Robbery Prevention Unit and detectives from Lev HaBira police station.

Israel Antiquities Authority said the items appear to be made out of bone and ivory, with some dating to the biblical period. They were seized from the resident of the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood in the capital, suspected of illegally trading in antiquities.

The incantation bowls, known as the swearing bowls, were used as an amulet in the ancient times, and date back to the 8th-4th centuries CE. It was common practice to bury them under the house floor for protection. Inside the bowls, inscriptions were written in the Babylonian-Aramaic language, signaling magic spells meant to fight curses, demons, diseases, and pests.

According to Amir Ganor, head of the Antiquities Authority's Robbery Prevention Unit, the bowls appear to have originated in Mesopotamia, or present-day Iraq.

"The text was written by artists for a specific client, according to their personal needs," he said. "Occasionally, as can be seen in one of the bowls, a figure of the 'night' demon, was painted in the center of the bowl, representing the individual that the bowl was meant to ward off. In 2003, following the war in Iraq, thousands of stolen 'incantation bowls' began to enter international trade markets.

The Israel Antiquities Authority believes that the suspect restored the bowls in order to put them up for sale. Besides the antiquities, various chemicals were seized in his house, which were allegedly intended for the restoration of the pottery, as well as for cleaning ancient metals and coins.

In addition to hundreds of coins, rare items from the biblical period were discovered in the suspect's house - bone and ivory objects decorated in Phoenician style, with Egyptian motifs, that included scenes from the animal world, alongside geometric ornaments. On one of the objects appear two griffons - winged lions whose face is human, facing each other. The second artifact included a description of a convoy of four-winged lions marching one after the other.

4

Some of the coins that were found in the suspect's house

(Photo: Yoli Schwartz, Antiquities Authority)

Similar ivory objects have been discovered in past excavations in an antiquity site in Samaria, where a large collection of ivory - known as "Samaria Ivories" was discovered as well as at other antiquity sites such as Tel Megiddo. These are decorative items that were attached to wooden furniture by nails in the 9th and 8th centuries BC.

Finding decorated artifacts made of ivory from this period is extremely rare, and the assessment at the Antiquities Authority's Robbery Prevention Unit is that the artifacts were excavated illegally in one of the biblical mounds in Samaria, or in northern Israel.

"Antiquities belong to all of us, they are our heritage," said Eli Eskosido, director of the Israel Antiquities Authority. "Unauthorized antiquities dealers encourage looters to go out and destroy ancient sites in search of finds for sale on the antiquities market. In the name of greed, they plunder antiquity sites, removing the finds from their historical context, thus obscuring parts of human history".

Documents were seized in the suspect's home that may shed light about his connections with antiquities' robbers and unauthorized dealers. Following the investigation of the suspect, the Antiquities Authority inspectors arrived at an auction house in central Israel, where they seized additional artifacts that had been put up for sale by the suspect in violation of the law.

Among the finds were also ancient weapons, glassware and bronze and silver coins.

At the end of the investigation, the case file will be transferred to the Antiquities Authority Legal Bureau to examine the filing of an indictment concerning the attempted trade in antiquities without a permit, failure to report the discovery of an antique, failure to register a collection and possession of property suspected of being stolen - criminal offenses, for which the statutory penalty is up to three years in prison.

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Ancient bowls with Hebrew magic spells uncovered in a Jerusalem home - Ynetnews

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Posted By admin on March 8, 2022

(STACKER) Every new parent faces the difficult decision of choosing the perfect name for a newborn. First names rarely get changed after being assigned and carry with them a wide range of meanings and associations. This creates a lot of pressure on expectant parents to pick the perfect moniker for their little ones.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, many parents end up choosing the same names over and over.Research suggeststhat we pick specific names implying desired characteristics about our children, selecting names for boys and girls intended to shape them. Male monikers are commonly inspired by political, cultural, and personal influences that suggest good, masculine, and well-rounded people.

The 1960s are commonly associated with tie-dye-clad hippies, psychedelic experimentation, and rock n roll icons like the Beatles and Jimi Hendrix. But underneath the flower power, free love exterior, the 60s were a period of radical social and political changenot only in the United States but around the world. The decade was one characterized by a host of juxtapositions; anger and fear over injustice and uneasy political conditions lived alongside notions of musical awakening and pacifist harmony.

Stackercompiled a list of the most popular baby names for boys in the 60s in Alabama using data from theSocial Security Administration. Names are ranked by number of babies born. The names in this list represent the distinct intersection of Baby Boomer and Gen X and are a reflection of some of the most well-known celebrities, musicians, and trends of the time. Keep reading to see if your name was among the most popular in the 60s in your home state.

1 / 50Oksana Kuzmina // Shutterstock

Patrick is a name of Latin origin meaning nobleman.

Alabama Number of babies from 1960 to 1969: 1,585 Number of babies from 2010 to 2019: 336 (#169 most common name, -78.8% compared to the 60s)

National Rank: #32 Number of babies from 1960 to 1969: 122,772

2 / 50Canva

Douglas is a name of Scottish origin meaning black water.

Alabama Number of babies from 1960 to 1969: 1,590 Number of babies from 2010 to 2019: 67 (#557 (tie) most common name, -95.8% compared to the 60s)

National Rank: #30 Number of babies from 1960 to 1969: 135,047

3 / 50Yulia Sribna // Shutterstock

Roger is a name of German origin meaning famous spearman.

Alabama Number of babies from 1960 to 1969: 1,615 Number of babies from 2010 to 2019: 51 (#638 (tie) most common name, -96.8% compared to the 60s)

National Rank: #49 Number of babies from 1960 to 1969: 71,449

4 / 50Fotonium // Shutterstock

Scott is a name of Scotland origin meaning a Scotsman.

Alabama Number of babies from 1960 to 1969: 1,754 Number of babies from 2010 to 2019: 47 (#657 most common name, -97.3% compared to the 60s)

National Rank: #15 Number of babies from 1960 to 1969: 266,936

5 / 50Samuel Borges Photography // Shutterstock

Daniel is a name of Hebrew origin meaning God is my judge.

Alabama Number of babies from 1960 to 1969: 1,757 Number of babies from 2010 to 2019: 1,297 (#35 most common name, -26.2% compared to the 60s)

National Rank: #19 Number of babies from 1960 to 1969: 242,161

6 / 50yifanjrb // Shutterstock

Keith is a name of Celtic origin meaning wood, forest.

Alabama Number of babies from 1960 to 1969: 1,846 Number of babies from 2010 to 2019: 122 (#369 (tie) most common name, -93.4% compared to the 60s)

National Rank: #34 Number of babies from 1960 to 1969: 112,619

7 / 50Tomsickova Tatyana // Shutterstock

Eric is a name of Norse origin meaning sole ruler.

Alabama Number of babies from 1960 to 1969: 1,881 Number of babies from 2010 to 2019: 435 (#126 most common name, -76.9% compared to the 60s)

National Rank: #28 Number of babies from 1960 to 1969: 152,262

8 / 50Canva

Danny is a name of Hebrew origin meaning God is my judge.

Alabama Number of babies from 1960 to 1969: 1,893 Number of babies from 2010 to 2019: 109 (#403 most common name, -94.2% compared to the 60s)

National Rank: #58 Number of babies from 1960 to 1969: 60,698

9 / 50Tatiana Chekryzhova // Shutterstock

Barry is a name of Irish origin meaning fair-haired.

Alabama Number of babies from 1960 to 1969: 1,939 Number of babies from 2010 to 2019: 5 (#1321 most common name, -99.7% compared to the 60s)

National Rank: #79 Number of babies from 1960 to 1969: 47,206

10 / 50Vasilyev Alexandr // Shutterstock

Edward is a name of English origin meaning prosperous.

Alabama Number of babies from 1960 to 1969: 2,009 Number of babies from 2010 to 2019: 310 (#183 (tie) most common name, -84.6% compared to the 60s)

National Rank: #29 Number of babies from 1960 to 1969: 144,022

11 / 50Mallmo // Shutterstock

Randy is a name of Norse origin meaning shield-wolf.

Alabama Number of babies from 1960 to 1969: 2,027 Number of babies from 2010 to 2019: 83 (#494 most common name, -95.9% compared to the 60s)

National Rank: #40 Number of babies from 1960 to 1969: 93,889

12 / 50Canva

Ricky is a name of German origin meaning powerful leader.

Alabama Number of babies from 1960 to 1969: 2,055 Number of babies from 2010 to 2019: 71 (#539 (tie) most common name, -96.5% compared to the 60s)

National Rank: #52 Number of babies from 1960 to 1969: 66,342

13 / 50Negative Space

Brian is a name of Irish origin meaning noble.

Alabama Number of babies from 1960 to 1969: 2,078 Number of babies from 2010 to 2019: 300 (#190 (tie) most common name, -85.6% compared to the 60s)

National Rank: #16 Number of babies from 1960 to 1969: 258,277

14 / 50Andy Dean Photography // Shutterstock

Kevin is a name of Irish origin meaning noble.

Alabama Number of babies from 1960 to 1969: 2,153 Number of babies from 2010 to 2019: 514 (#104 most common name, -76.1% compared to the 60s)

National Rank: #14 Number of babies from 1960 to 1969: 271,514

15 / 50Canva

Stephen is a name of Greek origin meaning wreath, crown.

Alabama Number of babies from 1960 to 1969: 2,157 Number of babies from 2010 to 2019: 291 (#194 (tie) most common name, -86.5% compared to the 60s)

National Rank: #27 Number of babies from 1960 to 1969: 152,285

16 / 50wavebreakmedia // Shutterstock

Phillip is a name of Greek origin meaning fond of horses.

Alabama Number of babies from 1960 to 1969: 2,172 Number of babies from 2010 to 2019: 208 (#255 most common name, -90.4% compared to the 60s)

National Rank: #68 Number of babies from 1960 to 1969: 50,364

17 / 50Flashon // Shutterstock

Rodney is a name of English origin meaning island near the clearing.

Alabama Number of babies from 1960 to 1969: 2,200 Number of babies from 2010 to 2019: 113 (#390 most common name, -94.9% compared to the 60s)

National Rank: #48 Number of babies from 1960 to 1969: 72,173

18 / 50Canva

Tony is a name of Latin origin meaning priceless one.

Alabama Number of babies from 1960 to 1969: 2,259 Number of babies from 2010 to 2019: 103 (#426 (tie) most common name, -95.4% compared to the 60s)

National Rank: #51 Number of babies from 1960 to 1969: 70,539

19 / 50Canva

Billy is a name of English origin meaning resolute protection.

Alabama Number of babies from 1960 to 1969: 2,267 Number of babies from 2010 to 2019: 90 (#474 most common name, -96.0% compared to the 60s)

National Rank: #73 Number of babies from 1960 to 1969: 48,334

20 / 50Canva

George is a name of Greek origin meaning farmer.

Alabama Number of babies from 1960 to 1969: 2,329 Number of babies from 2010 to 2019: 379 (#147 most common name, -83.7% compared to the 60s)

National Rank: #33 Number of babies from 1960 to 1969: 113,063

21 / 50Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock

Bobby is a name of German origin meaning bright fame.

Alabama Number of babies from 1960 to 1969: 2,409 Number of babies from 2010 to 2019: 72 (#536 most common name, -97.0% compared to the 60s)

National Rank: #80 Number of babies from 1960 to 1969: 46,257

22 / 50Roman Sorkin // Shutterstock

Paul is a name of Latin origin meaning humble.

Alabama Number of babies from 1960 to 1969: 2,535 Number of babies from 2010 to 2019: 255 (#217 most common name, -89.9% compared to the 60s)

National Rank: #18 Number of babies from 1960 to 1969: 242,587

23 / 50Africa Studio // Shutterstock

Jimmy is a name of English origin meaning supplanter.

Alabama Number of babies from 1960 to 1969: 2,599 Number of babies from 2010 to 2019: 109 (#403 most common name, -95.8% compared to the 60s)

National Rank: #77 Number of babies from 1960 to 1969: 47,234

24 / 50My Good Images // Shutterstock

Johnny is a name of Hebrew origin meaning God is gracious.

Alabama Number of babies from 1960 to 1969: 2,750 Number of babies from 2010 to 2019: 179 (#287 (tie) most common name, -93.5% compared to the 60s)

National Rank: #69 Number of babies from 1960 to 1969: 49,677

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Most popular boy names in the 60s in Alabama - WKRG News 5

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Posted By admin on March 8, 2022

Q: I am an avid reader of your column in Newsday and thank you for the teaching and unbiased clarification on many biblical subjects. My question today is: Is there a word in Hebrew for "race" or equivalent. If yes, is this word used in the Hebrew or Old Testament Bible? Thank you. From L

A: There is no word for race in the Hebrew Bible, however there is a recognition of different races and skin colors.

In Genesis chapter 10 the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham and Japheth, are considered to be the progenitors of the different peoples but not exactly races. The use of race and racism is really a modern invention beginning in the 19th century and taking deep root in the Nazi racist propaganda of the 1930s. However, it is clear people were susceptible to racist prejudice from the beginning of time and there are several examples in the Bible.

We can begin with the creation of Adam. There is a rabbinic teaching that God made just one person, "So that in times to come, nobody would be able to say, 'My ancestor was greater than your ancestor.' "

In Numbers 12:1 Moses' sister Miriam and his brother Aaron speak in a derogatory way about Zipporah, Moses' wife, "And Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married; for he had married a Cushite woman." Cushites were Black Africans. To leave no doubt as to God's attitude toward such racist bigotry, God strikes down Miriam with the plague of leprosy, which ironically turned her skin snow-white with scales.

The prophet Amos wrote this decisive condemnation of racism (Amos 9:7), "Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? saith the Lord. Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt? and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?" What this passage is really saying can be easily missed, but it is a devastating condemnation of racism. What the prophet Amos is saying is that although you may say racist things about the sub-Saharan Black African peoples, the truth of God is that your liberation from Egypt by God is just like their liberation by God from their oppressions.

All people are made in the image of God and so all people are equally holy and freedom is the gift of God to all peoples. Racism in any form is a sin against God's greatest gifts to humankind.

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Q: I go for a run every morning, and during this time on the road I pray. I end my time of prayer with The Lord's Prayer. Not too long ago while saying The Lord's Prayer I thought, Gee, these requests are a bit demanding; "Give us this day our daily bread," "Forgive us our trespasses" and so on. I decided then and there to add thank you to the original prayer. I honestly feel better after I say, "Thank you for giving us this day our daily bread, and thank you for forgiving us our trespasses, and for teaching us how to forgive those who have trespassed against us." After all, my morning prayers are those of gratitude and thanksgiving. And thank you, Rabbi Gellman, for your wonderful weekly column. From M

A: Thank you, dear M, for perfectly integrating my favorite and oft-quoted saying of the medieval mystic Meister Eckhart, "If the only prayer you ever say is, 'Thank You.' It will be enough."

What a wonderful human being. There are so many stories. I first met Father Tom when my then-fiance and I showed up at St. James Church in Seaford to book our wedding. Father Tom was a young parish priest at the time. We took Pre Cana marriage counseling from him. He married us, celebrated renewal of our vows at our 25th anniversary, baptized our children and attended family wakes and my wife's funeral. One occasion stands out for me. When my mother-in-law passed suddenly, the family was really down. Father Tom said the funeral Mass at St. Raphael's in East Meadow. In planning the funeral Mass, he suggested that our (at the time) young children each bring a memory of their grandmother. They presented these items when the gifts were brought up, and he talked with them about what these items meant to them. His homily was especially poignant. It was a very personal, spiritual celebration of her passing to her new life. We entered the church sad and somber and left feeling uplifted and joyous. That was just one small example of the gift to us that was Father Tom. God rest his beautiful soul. From J

SEND QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS to The God Squad at godsquadquestion@aol.com or Rabbi Marc Gellman, Temple Beth Torah, 35 Bagatelle Rd., Melville, NY 11747.

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God Squad: Racism and the Bible - Newsday

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Posted By admin on March 8, 2022

By MICHAEL HINMAN

It might have otherwise seemed like a typical Sunday morning Mass at St. Michaels Ukrainian Catholic Church.

Father Kiril Angelov led the crowded sanctuary through the typical prayers, as well as calls and responses. The choir sang from a balcony in the back of the room, decorated heavily with religious iconography from throughout The Bibles New Testament. People stood up from the pews, and then sat down again over and over, always in unison.

Yet there was nothing typical about this particular Sunday morning in Yonkers. Television news cameras and reporters were impossible to miss. Elected officials, including state senate majority leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Yonkers mayor Mike Spano occupied their own seats in the sanctuary. And many were holding small blue and gold flags, representing what was once home either to them, or to those they loved.

As Angelov made his way through the liturgy, minds certainly wandered to what was happening thousands of miles and an ocean away. Days before, Russia had begun its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Casualties were already tallying into the thousands, as troops continued to push toward the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.

We wanted to be here in prayer, Stewart-Cousins told the St. Michaels congregation, standing near a bulletin board at the altar filled with faces of those already lost.

We wanted to be here to say that every day until this is over, we will find a way on a federal level, on a state level, on local and county levels to bring the pressure to bear on the Russian war. To tell them on every single level that this is not OK. We see whats happening.

At about the same time, just four miles to the south, a number of Bronx synagogues had gathered outside the Russian Mission residential compound on Mosholu Avenue, chanting as loud as they could, hoping anyone on the other side of the heavily fortified fencing might hear them.

Rabbi Avi Weiss, the longtime spiritual leader at Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, wrapped himself in a tallit a prayer shawl defended the decision of his fellow rabbis to gather in front of a compound that serves more of a residential purpose than a political one.

Who would have thought that 30 years after the fall of communism, we would once again be standing here in this place, raising the voice of moral conscience? Weiss told the crowd, remembering past Cold War protests from that very spot.

During those days, we were often asked, Why here? This is not a consulate building. This is not a mission. Why at a residence? Our response was simple. We know that the politicians and Russian diplomat hearts were hardened. But we also knew that by standing here in front of their home, their children would see and hear the protest, and go to their parents and ask with their more innocent hearts: How are you? How dare you?

The New York Police Department had stationed personnel in front of the North Riverdale conflict since hostilities between the Russians and Ukrainians overseas intensified. Yet, at least during Sundays demonstrations, they were loud, but peaceful.

Later in the afternoon, a large contingent of Ukrainian nationals gathered on the same spot in front of the mission, many arriving in a parade of cars that blared their horns as they drove past the 20-story behemoth. The crowd sang patriotic songs well within earshot of the building, and at one point, even emptied bottles of Russian vodka onto the near-frozen ground.

Weiss had returned to share his support with this group, declaring he and everyone within the sound of his voice should all declare themselves as Ukrainians, and stand by the side of a community whose country was being dismantled piece by piece by its aggressive neighbor.

Ukraine seemingly never had a geographic advantage of any kind, said Oksana Kulynych, who shared some of her thoughts with The Riverdale Press ahead of a call for peace event Tuesday at Manhattan College.

My parents fled Ukraine during World War II when the Russian communists were coming into the villages in the middle of the night and people kept disappearing, Kulynych planned to tell the crowd. They were either killed or sent to Siberia to the hard labor camps. My uncle was one of them.

During that war, Ukraine found itself caught between two totalitarian regimes the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany.

That part of Eastern Europe became known as the bloodlands, Kulynych said, and Ukraine suffered more deaths than any other country.

Many of those deaths occurred in Babyn Yar, a ravine in Kyiv where tens of thousands of Jews and other political prisoners were massacred. Ukraines chief rabbi, Moshe Reuven Azman, accused Russian president Vladimir Putin of war crimes on Tuesday after he said military forces shelled the memorial that honored the 200,000 people believed to have been killed in that spot.

Ive kept quiet for a long time, I will not anymore, Azman said in a video statement, according to CNN. I address you, dear Russians, dear Jews, everybody whos not indifferent. Those who silently agree with whats happening, or those who stay indifferent are complicit in this military crime crime against humanity. I am only saying what I see. Im not afraid to die. I could never imagine in my worst nightmare that I could due under Russian shelling.

Some news from the front at the beginning of the week suggested solid resistance from an outgunned Ukrainian army had slowed Russias advance toward Kyiv. While this conflict might feel fresh for many Americans with little to no connection to that part of the world, Kulynych says the hostilities are anything but new.

Ukrainians have been fighting the Russians for the past eight years, and over 14,000 people have died, she said. The world was not paying attention and opted for a policy of appeasement while Russia was building up its defense system.

The United States, Europe and the entire free world cannot stand by idly and watch Putin destroy a sovereign nation. We must impress upon our leaders that they must act much more decisively by isolating Russia economically, politically and financially.

Ukrainians want peace. Not war.

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Peace demanded in face of brutal invasion - The Riverdale Press

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Posted By admin on March 8, 2022

Some 275 million years ago a snail-like marine creature lost its cumbersome shell. In a rapid evolutionary process, it developed systems for propelling itself and, while developing excellent vision and a large brain, it was transformed from an innocent grazing snail into a sophisticated and efficient predator. That is how the octopuses as we know it, one of the most mysterious of beings, came to be one that exhibits impressive cognitive abilities, but is totally different from any creature to which we commonly attribute intelligence.

A group of Israeli scientists, headed by Prof. Benny Hochner of the Department of Neurobiology at the Hebrew University's Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, in cooperation with Dr. Nir Nesher and Dr. Tal Shomrat of the Faculty of Marine Sciences at the Ruppin Academic Center, has been studying the intelligence of octopuses for almost 20 years. Among their most interesting discoveries, according to Hochner, is how these molluscs developed processes of learning and memory.

They separated from us 500 million years ago," he explains. "We examined what happened in terms of evolution asking whether various other species of animals developed the same solutions, or whether octopuses have different ones.

A comprehensive study, published last month in the Journal of Morphology, entitled "Neurotransmission and neuromodulation systems in the learning and memory network of Octopus vulgaris," supports the researchers theory to the effect that the octopus intelligence has evolved in a manner that differs from what we know regarding mammals.

The groups first study, in 2003, found that in the region of the vertical lobe of the octopus brain, which is organized neuroanatomically like the human hippocampus, there is a phenomenon called long-term synaptic potentiation. Its role: to mediate processes of learning and memory. That is, when the organism learns something, synaptic connections between specific neurons are strengthened for long time in its brain, and in that way memory is preserved.

In a series of studies, Hochner and his then-PhD student Dr. Naama Stern-Mentch, along with colleagues from the University of Florida, examined the neurotransmitters and substances called neuromodulators that are involved in the process of converting neural activity into long-term changes in the synaptic connections in octopuses.

It was found that as opposed to mammals, in which the process of associative learning is mediated by a special NMDA receptor, in octopuses it is mediated by a nitric-oxide molecule, which in humans is responsible mainly for the regulation of blood flow. That means that in the course of evolution different solutions were found for coping with the same problem how to mediate long-term synaptic potentiation, Hochner says.

The professor notes that the region of the octopus vertical lobe is organized in a relatively simple manner, but is very large: It has 25 million small nerve cells, compared to 40 million in the human hippocampus. The octopus has a total of 500 million nerve cells, similar to what dogs have, for example, but in the octopus two-thirds of those cells are found in its eight arms.

They have a different and very efficient arrangement of their neural resources, he concludes.

Presuming that processes like learning and memory are less complex in octopus brains than in humans, the researchers believe that if they succeed in understanding them, the information could be used to help design therapeutic and rehabilitation programs for humans with memory or learning issues. Such therapies may help people who have experienced serious cognitive decline do to degenerative conditions or old age for example, through genetic therapies using the gene-editing technology CRISPR. This is theoretically possible, stresses Hochner.

Hochner cites the film My Octopus Teacher which depicts the bond that develops between a diver and a female octopus: We experience the same thing. The octopusescome to us very frightened and withdrawn. It takes time for them to understand that were feeding them, and then they start to come out. They sit by the window and look at us. If theyre upset by something we are doing, they tend to spray water. These are very intelligent animals.

An octopus average lifespan is only about a year. It's another mystery concerning the species: Why did natural selection produce such a short life cycle in these intelligent creatures, and how does it contribute to their survival?

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'Very intelligent animals': Israeli researchers discover octopuses' impressive cognitive abilities - Haaretz

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Posted By admin on March 8, 2022

Why, how, and by whom is development denied in Palestine? Why have over US $ 45 billion in international aid since the 1993 Oslo Accords failed to alter the existing skewed and distorted political and economic frameworks, but instead entrenched them? Why are "economic peace" approaches part of the problem within the current dynamics, as opposed to the solution? These and other questions will be presented and discussed during this MidEast Breakfast seminar.

The event explores the political economy of Palestine through critical, interdisciplinary, and decolonial perspectives. It will underscore that an approach to economics which does not consider the political -ade-politicized economy -isinadequate to understand the situation in occupied Palestine. Co-editor and PRIO Global FellowAlaa Tartirwill introduce some of the main arguments of the recently published edited volume Political Economy of Palestine Critical, Interdisciplinary, and Decolonial Perspectives.

Tartir argues that making sense of the last quarter century, from the Oslo Accords to the Abraham Accords, requires a critical understanding of Palestinian political economy in order to obtain a more robust analysis of settler colonialism, racial capitalism, and neoliberalism in relation to the rapid regional and international changes.

A political economy approach matters when analysing the current situation in Palestine/Israel, as it unveils critical elements of both the material and discursive - visible and invisible - expressions of power.

This seminar is free and open to all. A light breakfast will be served.

Speaker: Alaa Tartir, PRIO Global Fellow

Discussants:

Kjersti G. Berg, Post-Doctoral Researcher, Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI)

Jrgen Jensehaugen, Senior Researcher, Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO)

Moderator: Kristian Berg Harpviken, Director of thePRIO Middle East Centre

Alaa Tartir, Global Fellow at PRIO, Senior Researcher and Academic Coordinator at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID) in Geneva, Switzerland, and a Program and Policy Advisor to Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network.

Kjersti G. Berg, Post-Doctoral Researcher and co-manager of the research project "SuperCamp: Geneaologies of humanitarian containment in the Middle East" at Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI). Berg works on the Palestine-Israel conflict, Palestinian refugees and international aid.

Jrgen Jensehaugen, Senior Researcher at PRIO. His research focuses on the Arab-Israeli conflict, Palestinian politics and US foreign policy. He is the author of Arab-Israeli Diplomacy Under Carter (I.B. Tauris 2018).

Kristian Berg Harpviken, Research Professor at PRIO and Director of the PRIO Middle East Centre.

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Political Economy of Palestine: Critical Perspectives - MidEast Breakfast with Alaa Tartir Peace Research Institute Oslo - Peace Research Institute...

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Posted By admin on March 8, 2022

AUSTIN Texas is on its way down from the omicron surge with cases and hospitalizations nearing pre-variant numbers, according to Texas Department of State Health Services data.

Omicron a highly contagious but less severe variant of COVID-19 hit Texas in late November. It quickly spread throughout the state sending cases and hospitalizations skyrocketing, peaking by mid-January.

The rapid decrease in cases nationwide led the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to update its definitions of community spread and significantly relax its mask guidelines, adding that as of March 3 more than 90% of the U.S. population is in a location with low or medium COVID-19 community spread.

Now, cities and states across the country are relaxing mitigation practices with nearly every state abandoning indoor masking requirements.

We're definitely seeing favorable trends across the state, said Dr. Jennifer Shuford, chief Texas epidemiologist. We're seeing cases decrease and we're seeing fewer people hospitalized with COVID-19, so those are all really good signs.

At the height of the omicron surge, more than one in three molecular COVID tests returned positive, with the state reporting as many as 60,000 new cases per day, a record that more than doubled earlier pandemic numbers. Now, fewer than 5% of tests are returning positive results and the state is reporting fewer than 2,300 new cases per day.

While omicron cases surged and broke records, hospitalizations during the course of the variant reached previous peaks but never surpassed them, according to state data.

As of March 3, Texas reported 3,199 hospitalizations with the University of Texas at Austin COVID-19 Modeling Consortium projecting about 1,000 hospitalizations by the end of the month. Right before the start of the omicron surge, Texas reported about 2,600 hospitalizations in late November.

If the projected trend continues, Texas could report lower covid hospitalizations than last summer, which had the lowest number of hospitalizations since the start of the pandemic.

Dr. Nikhil Bhayani is a Texas Health infection prevention physician. He said hospitals in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, where he is located, are no longer being stretched but that only time will tell on whether any decisions to reduce recommendations were the right ones.

I just hope that these trends continue downwards and people do their part in terms of getting vaccines and being mindful and respectful of others and being vigilant, Bhayani said.

Shuford added that while some areas have emerged from the brunt of the surge, that is not the case everywhere. The current status of hospitalizations is still putting pressure on health care providers across the state, and Shuford warned that Texas has not yet reached the lowest points it has seen during the pandemic.

Our hospitals still have a lot of COVID-19 patients in them and anytime that another cause for hospitalizations might surge, say influenza, then we risk stressing our hospitals, Shuford said. We're hoping that the number of people with COVID-19 in the hospital will decrease even further so that we really have capacity in our hospitals for patients with other conditions.

Texas did hit tragic milestones over the course of the omicron surge adding approximately 13,000 more deaths between mid-November and late-February. The state went from as few as 60 deaths per day to as many as 240 deaths in late January, surpassing 75,000 deaths in early January. As of March 4, the state reported nearly 84,000 total COVID deaths since the start of the pandemic.

Shuford added that while the low number of cases is hopeful, the state is not out of the woods yet as a new sub-variant of omicron, known as BA.2, has overtaken the original omicron variant. It too is highly transmissible, she said.

It is important for us to understand the dynamics of the pandemic and prepare our communities and live in our communities accordingly, Shuford said. We know that a lot of people have already been vaccinated and boosted and a lot of people have already been infected, so there is some level of immunity in many people through our population. We are hopeful that that will protect a large proportion of our population against really severe outcomes from COVID-19 including hospitalization and death.

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Texas makes its way out of the omicron surge - Palestine Herald Press

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