Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on March 8, 2022

HEWLETT, NY A rabbi from Long Island traveled to Ukraine weeks ago for what was meant to be a celebration of happiness in his new wife's hometown of Dnipro. But when Russia invaded on Feb. 24, Menachen Lessoff and Daniela Brez were forced to choose between staying to help the Jewish community and other refugees or fleeing for their own safety, Rabbi Nochem Tenenboim of Chabad of Hewlett told Patch.

Lessoff was the Bar Mitzvah Club leader at Chabad of Hewlett, where the community tried to stay in touch with the newlyweds as the conflict broke out.

"People tried to talk them out of having their wedding there," Rabbi Tenenboim said. "But it was [Brez'] dream to have the wedding in her hometown, where her family was from."

Dnipro is in western Ukraine, and hasn't yet been shelled by the Russians. It has become a de facto staging ground to assist refugees fleeing eastern Ukrainian cities currently under attack. But as Russian forces push westward, the relative safety diminishes by the day.

At first, the Lessoffs wanted to stay and assist others. But ultimately it became too dangerous, and the newlyweds decided they could be of more help to fleeing refugees outside Ukraine. On Thursday night, they escaped via train to Hungary.

The train trip took 22 hours instead of the normal four, Rabbi Tenenboim said.

The Chabad community in Hewlett has tried to help by sending supplies, money and specific Jewish items unavailable in Ukraine. Boys from Lessoff's bar mitzvah group sent videos of support and letters, along with prayers.

"They know they are not alone, that's an important thing," Rabbi Tenenboim said.

The couple now plan to resettle in Vienna, Austria, where there is an active Chabad community. Their story is playing out across Ukraine. Jewish communities that fought hard to rebuild after the Holocaust and Holodomor a Soviet-engineered famine that killed millions are now forced to flee their homes again.

"The rabbis try to stay until the very last moment," Tenenboim said, adding that he's been in contact with Jewish leaders from Chabads across Ukraine. "They were very broken when they needed to leave. But they said it is the right thing to leave, and they will rebuild, and we will help them."

Jews on Long Island "should be very involved" in the tragedy unfolding in Ukraine, he said. Those who want to help can send gestures of support and donate directly to Chabads in Ukraine through Chabad of Hewlett's website.

As it becomes possible to ship donations again, the Chabad plans to coordinate those efforts as well.

"God willing there will be only peace and no more suffering. We are watching the developments to see where we can help," the rabbi said. "We are watching."

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Broken When They Needed To Leave: LI Rabbi, Wife Flee Ukraine - Patch

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Posted By admin on March 8, 2022

A very special edition of the Ben Weider Memorial Lecture Series will take place virtually on Sunday evening, March 6 (7pm) featuring Rabbi Nachum Ehrentreu live from a Ukranian bomb shelter. He is the Chief Rabbi of the city of Zaporizhzhia and has Montreal roots as he attended the Rabbinical College of Canada.

Zaporizhzhia is 100 km from now Russian-occupied Donetsk and home to the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. It is also an important industrial centre producing steel, aluminium, aircraft engines, automobiles, transformers for substations, and other heavy industry goods. During World War II, the Nazis occupied Zaporizhzhia for two years and 10 days.

Rabbi Abraham Cohen, the Director of the Ben Weider Educational Centre, will introduce the panel. Beryl Wajsman, editor of The Suburban, will interview the Chief Rabbi.

Join us and witness firsthand whats going on with the war in Ukraine as well as its effects on the Jewish community, said Rabbi Cohen, who is friends with the Chief Rabbi.

Here is the free Zoom link:

https://us04web.zoom.us/j/4128675701?pwd=NEdjZkZsemxkbjMvelJ4MGs4Z29tZz09

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Chief Rabbi of Ukrainian City to speak on Zoom lecture live from a bomb shelter - The Suburban Newspaper

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Posted By admin on March 8, 2022

LVIV, Ukraine Then Solomon said, The Lord said that He would dwell in the thick darkness.

The darkness over Lviv was indeed thick on the walk to the Beis Aharon VYisroel Synagogue on Friday night.

With the country under invasion by Russia, streetlights were out in Ukraines major western city and the shops were closed.

Even in the shadows, there were signs of war everywhere. Families hurried along the uneven sidewalks, the wheels of their suitcases clacking as the refugees made their way to whatever temporary housing they could find. Sandbags clogged the windows of closed coffee shops.

I was looking forward to the desperately needed respite that Shabbat offers every week the familiar tunes, the detachment from worries to focus on community and God.

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But there would be no songs and no community in Lviv on Friday night.

Known as Lemberg in Yiddish, Lviv, once one-third Jewish, was a major Jewish religious and cultural center.

Until it wasnt. Ukrainian nationalists and Nazi Einsatzgruppen death squads unleashed horrific violence on Lvivs Jews in June and July of 1941, with German propaganda troops filming Jewish women being stripped naked and beaten. Almost all of the citys Jews were murdered in the ensuing three years.

One of Lvivs few Holocaust survivors is the synagogue. Only it and the Jakob Glanzer Shul were left standing after the wartime devastation. Like many survivors, it is faded and worn, but not far beneath its tired surface lie hints of a vigorous past.

Lvivs Beis Aharon VYisrael synagogue (Tomasz Leniowski/Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0)

I knocked on the metal gate before the start of Shabbat, and was greeted by the guard, an elderly but tough-looking non-Jewish Ukrainian.

I signaled to him that I was here for prayers, and though he shook his head and said something that sounded apologetic in Ukrainian, he stepped aside to let me through.

At Rosh Hodesh (new moon) prayers that morning, I had been assured there would be services at 6:00 p.m., but the synagogue was silent and gloomy. Cartons filled with toiletries and dried goods crowded the foyer.

The sanctuary, its lights so low that the intricate murals on the walls and ceiling were barely perceptible in the shadows, was nearly empty.

Two young women sat along the wall on the right side of the room, scrolling intently through their phones. Otherwise, all was still.

Fortunately for me, they both spoke excellent English. The women, Oksana and Nastya, explained that they come from the northeastern city Kharkiv, and work in customer support for the New York-based e-commerce company Wiserbrand.

They had been hunkered down in their apartments since the beginning of the invasion, continuing to work from their darkened homes as Russia bombs fell closer and closer, including on a nearby tractor factory.

Nastya told me that Russian jets had been bombing a nearby Ukrainian army tank academy for days.

One night, Oksana saw four Russian soldiers running through the woods outside her home, and Ukrainian troops moving through the same copse the next day.

A burning building is pictured after shelling said to be by Russian forces in Ukraines second-biggest city of Kharkiv, on March 3, 2022. (Sergey Bobok/AFP)

Finally, the women decided they had been through enough.

Day 9 had come, said Oksana, when the center of Kharkiv was bombed, this was a breaking point in making a decision to flee.

Wiserbrand rented houses in western Ukraine for its employees, and they decided to try to make it, with Oksanas opinionated tomcat George in tow.

The taxi to the train station cost 1,000 hryvnia ($33), ten times the normal cost. They could hear bombs falling on Kharkiv as they sped to the depot.

The trip was nightmarish, the women said. The wagons were stuffed to the brim, with 5 people on each lower bench, 2-3 people on the second upper shelves, some even slept on the baggage shelves. It was hard to breathe, not enough oxygen, said Oksana.

George the cat looks out the window on the train ride to Lviv (courtesy)

Even more passengers got on in Kyiv.

Nastya and Oksana had no idea where they would spend the night in Lviv before heading on to the city of Stryi, 70 kilometers (43 miles) to the south.

They asked for suggestions in their companys chat group, and an Israeli colleague named Yossi urged them to call the rabbi in Lviv, a New York-born Karlin-Stolin Hasid named Mordechai Shlomo Bald.

The women tried calling Bald too late, as it was already Shabbat in Israel, where Bald had brought his family to safety with the intention of returning in the coming days. With no answer, and no other options, they pressed ahead to the synagogue.

Lvivs Beis Aharon VYisrael synagogue, Friday, March 4, 2022 (Lazar Berman/Times of Israel)

The guard and the janitor, a matronly blond Ukrainian named Marina, let the women inside, and showed them into the sanctuary.

We were met very kindly with respect and felt at home, said Oksana, we were offered to stay over and were very happy about it. This was such a relief after all we went through, all the stress and pain, when we could just stop, just breathe, and get peace of mind.

Oksana and Nastya had never been inside a synagogue before, and were eager to walk around and explore the paintings, the carvings, the ark. Not wanting to be disrespectful, they asked before doing anything or taking any pictures.

Pretty soon, George was eager to get out of his carrying case as well, having spent a day cooped up surrounded by strange sounds and smells. The women let him poke around the sanctuary then let him stretch his legs in the synagogue courtyard, the feline chattering away all the while.

When we came to Lviv, we thought we were going to bring back atara lyoshna, bring back the past glory of Judaism, Bald told The Times of Israel by phone from Beitar Illit on Friday. Little did we know people would be so downtrodden.

We had to get down to the nitty-gritty of food, medicine, clothing, and not talking about anything spiritual. You dont talk to people about that when they have to fight for every drop of food, he said.

When Bald arrived in Lviv more than thirty years ago, he set about starting educational projects and extracurricular programs. Bald ran a Jewish school for more than 25 years until funds dried up.

Volunteers from Lvivs Beis Aharon VYisrael synagogue deliver a care package to an elderly Jewish woman. (Courtesy)

His philosophy was to encourage young Jews to leave Ukraine for Israel, the US, and Canada, where they would have more religious and professional options. Now, with only 20-30 men showing up for Shabbat prayers, Bald has regrets about his approach.

I think Chabad was partially right and I was wrong, he reflected. Chabad is a Hasidic movement known for its Jewish world outreach that developed a wide network in post-Soviet Ukraine.

Send them out, send them out, send them out, the more the merrier. Thats all we focused on, instead of having 500 families in Lviv with their children and their grandchildren, Bald said. Just imagine I would have kept them it would have been a beautiful, flourishing community.

Now were always starting from the beginning, he said. You dont have the people singing and dancing to create an atmosphere.

Since the start of the Russian invasion, Bald, his wife Sarah, and some of their daughters have been working around the clock to keep people fed and sheltered, and figure out how to help people leave the country.

Rabbi Mordechai Shlomo Bald. (YouTube screenshot)

Some community members pick up supplies from the synagogue, while volunteers bring boxes to the elderly and infirm. The Bald family also arranged deliveries of kosher food to other cities.

With a reputation as someone who knows how to get things done, Balds number has been shared well beyond the Jewish community. He helps anyone who calls.

Literally dozens and dozens of people calling all the time, he said, many of them asking for help finding medicine. I dont know who gave my number. Weve ordered from Germany, from Poland, and anyone I can find in the chats, please, please send over as much medicine, and then well find someone to send it out to other cities.

Ukrainians eating at Lvivs Beis Aharon VYisrael synagogue during the war with Russia. (Courtesy)

But not all of his efforts have ended well. Bald arranged transportation into Poland for a 95-year-old Holocaust survivor, he said. When she got there, none of the organizations on the Polish side of the border helped her find accommodation. She ended up being robbed and sent back home to Ukraine, Bald said, with anger in his voice.

Bald has also focused on the particular needs of the Jewish community. We have a few boxes of kosher food left. You have to let go, you have to let go, because people need kosher. Whats going to be? I dont know, I guess the world will send kosher. Im trying to get a few truckloads of kosher food.

Right now were focusing on just the basic physical needs, and also shelter of course, Bald said. But if we get to the next step, start to give them a little psychological and spiritual help, that would be great right now.

On Friday night, I was the only Jew in the synagogue, and there would be no communal prayers. But the old synagogue was serving the physical needs of many.

A baby was crying in the womens gallery, and the ghostly shape of a young mother flitted behind the lace curtains, cooing to her child. They were not Jewish, but the second floor of the synagogue was their home right now.

George the cat surveys his name home in Stryi after a harrowing journey from his native Kharkiv. (Courtesy)

Kosher food arrived at 8:00 p.m., and I enjoyed my cold but much appreciated Shabbat meal with the women from Kharkiv.

As we ate, and George sniffed around irascibly, families came through the synagogues door every few minutes to be greeted in the foyer by Marina.

After a short conversation in Ukrainian, she would quickly put together a box of supplies and hand it to the parents while little blond children peered curiously into the cavernous sanctuary. Marina didnt smile, but her tone was one of grandmotherly concern.

I did not get to hear the familiar tunes and prayers that I so longed for after a week in a foreign country at war. But the scene that night would have been familiar to generations of my ancestors in Zhytomyr, in Bessarabia, in Lithuania. Weary travelers and refugees eating and sleeping in the synagogue, as neighbors hurried along in the cold night on the uneven cobblestones outside.

In you, refuge for My poor people will be found.

Though no communal prayers were said at the Beis Aharon VYisroel Synagogue on Friday night, and there was no wine on which to recite the Shabbat kiddush, a scene of immense holiness was taking place in the weary synagogue.

Inside its walls those same walls that had the strength to withstand the ravages of the Nazis people took refuge.

In the flickering light of ner tamid, the eternal flame over the ark, mothers, babies, young professionals, even a grumpy cat none of them Jewish, all of them tired, scared and innocent found a sanctuary.

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On a Friday night in Lviv, Ukraine, when a synagogue became a sanctuary - The Times of Israel

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Posted By admin on March 8, 2022

Find a good read, movie or even vinyl at Beth David Synagogue's 18th Annual Book sale.

GREENSBORO, N.C. If you're looking for a good read, you may find one this weekend at a book sale in Greensboro.

The Beth David Synagogue18th Annual Book Sale starts Friday and runs through Monday.

You could get a bang for your buck while also supporting a good cause.

The synagogue has 10's of thousands of books up for grabs.

The books on sale are donated by people from across the greater Greensboro community.

Volunteers have gone out of their way to make sure they have books stocked that readers today are into.

There's fiction, mystery, religion, books kids can enjoy, movies and Vinyls on sale.

Beth David Book Sale Starts TomorrowCome check out the tens of thousands of books available at bargain prices....

Cheryl Greenberg has volunteered for the book sale for years and said all kinds of people come out.

Its an invitation to everyone to come, Greenberg said. We have schools come, we have people come because they want health and wellness books to take back to their private practice.

Rabbi Joshua Ben-Gideon said the book sale is all about getting people back out and connecting with one another.

This is the synagogue's largest fundraiser. The money raised will go back into the Greensboro community.

We do a lot within the building but we also contribute outside the building. Working with Out of the Garden to distribute food," Ben-Gideon said. For us, we're always looking outwardly from education to how we're policing to the general social network of the Greensboro community.

Here are the days and times folks can shop:

- March 4: 9am-11am $10 admission, 11am-5pm free admission

- Monday 7: 11am-7pm. Bag sale

Greenberg said the synagogue is the only place people can go locally to pick up text that deals with Jewish subjects.

Rabbi Ben-Gideon will be at the book sale each day to chat with folks who'd like to learn more about the faith.

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Weekend bargain book sale benefits the greater Greensboro community - WFMYNews2.com

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Posted By admin on March 8, 2022

A hot dog, an emoji and Superman walk into a synagogue and theres no punchline. Its the reality for Allan Rosenblatt, owner of Purim Mega Store in Brooklyn, New York.

Every year, Rosenblatt sells hundreds of costumes, which he sees donned by the children at his synagogue, riding their hamantaschen sugar highs and giving grown-ups headaches with their graggers.

Purim Mega Store is only open for a couple of months every year much like the secular Spirit Halloween stores that crop up all over the country come Oct. 1 and the two Sundays leading up to the 14th of Adar (this year, March 16-17) are his busiest.

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I cant even begin to tell you theres hundreds of costumes, Rosenblatt said.

But Purim has not always had themes of costumes and merriment interwoven in its traditions, and the introduction of costumes to the holiday was not without controversy.

The first mention of the use of costumes to celebrate Purim was by Rabbi Yehuda Minz, a 15th-century Italian rabbi who made the argument that costume-wearing, even cross-dressing, is permissible because it serves the purpose of creating joy, according to Ori Z. Soltes, professor at Georgetown Universitys Center for Jewish Civilization.

Others speculate that the wearing of costumes on Purim coincided with and was inspired by the medieval Catholic tradition of dressing up on Mardi Gras, said Rabbi Shlomo Brody, author of Guide to the Complex: Contemporary Halakhic Debates and founding director of the Tikvah Overseas Student Institute.

Sometimes you adapt religious meaning to broader customs that fit the holiday as well, Brody said of the costume-wearing. I dont think it would have been if it didnt fit with the holiday, but it could have just been a coincidence.

Scholars agree that the story and themes of Purim lend themselves to costuming. In addition to general revelry felt during the holiday, examples of being hidden or disguised are replete in the Purim megillah: For much of the Purim story, Esther does not disclose her Jewish identity to King Ahasuerus or Haman; Haman conceals his plot to kill Mordechai. Purim is also one of the few Jewish stories where God does not make an explicit appearance.

Dressing up for Purim also aided in fulfilling the Purim mitzvah of matanot levyonim giving directly to the poor. With everyone masking their faces or dressing in disguise, those in need could maintain their dignity and not disclose their identity, but still receive direct aid from others.Today, mishloach manot, Purim baskets, are given to everyone as a way to prevent those in need from disclosing their socioeconomic position.

In the 17th century, Purim spiels developed, and the use of not only costumes, but allegory, served to create a sense of comedic catharsis, Soltes explained.

While the Purim spiel traditionally tells the story of Purim, it also draws heavily on the political topics of the day and popular culture. When Jews in Europe were not able to overtly criticize Christian hegemony, spiels allowed them to express their grievances publicly, without drawing the attention of their oppressors.

Were making fun of these bastards who are treating us so poorly, but were doing it in a disguised manner, so they dont even realize this, Soltes said.

Though costumes have been baked into Purim traditions for more than 600 years, some Jewish thinkers are reluctant to fully embrace the role of disguises in the holiday. Dissenting from Rabbi Minzs opinion, 20th-century Rabbi Ovadya Yosef urged Jews to avoid crossdressing and other costumes that could be seen as debauchery. Shmuel Abuhab, a 17th-century Italian scholar, believed costumes detracted from the joy of the holiday.

Brody said that ultimately, the argument against costumes on Purim came from the fear that Purim was becoming more associated with frivolity than Jewish resistance and the lessons made available from the Purim story.

People love the costumes, as far as what people associate [Purim] with, Brody said. The wisdom of the people won out.

The commercialization of the holiday and holidays in general particularly in the United States, adds weight to this argument.

Similar to Purim costumes coinciding with early Mardi Gras celebrations, in 19th and 20th century America, holidays such as Purim and Chanukah which were in close calendar proximity to Easter and Christmas, respectively began to mirror commercial traditions of their Christian counterparts.It was in part, a function of all the developments in the 19th century, in which Judaism tries to adapt itself to the reality and the illusion of being abused, being accepted into the mainstream, Soltes said.

Purim began becoming commercialized in America during World War II; the rise of Halloween-esque costumes in Israel took place in the following decades, after the founding of the state and in the 1960s and 70s, when it was gaining its economic sea legs.

Brody, who lives in Israel, is experiencing the Purim-craze firsthand: Every childrens store, theyre selling costumes; theyve been selling hamantaschen for a few weeks. Israeli schools, theyre not learning too much this month. Theres a lot of costume-wearing, for better or for worse.

But synagogues rehearsing their spiels for the upcoming holiday are confident in their ability to balance frivolity and the meaning of the holiday.

Philadelphia-based Congregation Rodeph Shalom will have a spiel this year based on the 2022 Disney film Encanto, which Rabbi Eli Freedman said is a popular spiel theme this year both because of the ease with which one can adapt Disney songs and because of its popularity among young people. (The movies original song We Dont Talk About Bruno is only the second song from a Disney film to reach the top of the Billboard Top 100 chart.)

Drawing heavily from popular culture can help Jewish children connect with an otherwise-distant story, the rabbi said.

Its sometimes hard for especially students, younger folks, to be able to relate to a story which took place thousands of years ago in Persia, he said. The same is true for the stories from the Torah. Ultimately, as a rabbi, when I give a sermon on Shabbat, the main purpose of my sermon is the same thing taking this text from thousands of years ago and making it relevant to today.

Rodeph Shaloms spiels have also worked to build community. In 2015, the congregation merged with an LGBT congregation Beth Ahavah. Since the merge, one of Beth Ahavahs founders, Jerry Silverman, dresses up in drag as Queen Esther, an effort that Freedman described as a gift to the rest of our congregation.

For Rabbi Abe Friedman of Temple Beth-Zion-Beth Israel in Philadelphia, the mixing of joy and the seriousness of the holiday was felt first hand in 2020. BZBI hosted their Purim celebration just days before the first wave of pandemic restrictions.

Emotionally, its really associated with the move to the pandemic, Friedman said.

After putting out an open call to congregants to send in pre-recorded videos to compile for a 2021 Zoom Purim spiel, Friedman was blown away by what his congregants came up with. One spieler chanted the contents of his CVS receipt using the megillah-reading tropes.

The frivolity is actually very serious because it asks us to see the absurd in life, Friedman said. It asks us not to take ourselves too seriously. It asks us not to take our institutions too seriously, not to take our leaders too seriously.

Particularly during the pandemic restrictions last year, Purim allowed the congregation to not lose perspective of life, Friedman said. Laughter and joy is a vital piece of Jewish life.

As Purim approaches this year, Friedman is drawn to the images in the news of Ukrainian grandmothers lecturing Russian soldiers, invoking similarities between Esther standing up for the Jewish people, an image that can only be understood by fully immersing oneself in Purims traditions.

Purim is about more than just a party, Friedman said. The party is a means to actually understanding the power that we have in the world. and I dont know that theres a more important message for us to be dealing with right now. PJC

Sasha Rogelberg writes for the Jewish Exponent, an affiliated publication where this first appeared.

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Unmasking the origins of Purim costumes | The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle - thejewishchronicle.net

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Posted By admin on March 8, 2022

As the Maine Legislature held an eight-hour public hearing today on an affordable housing bill that would amend zoning rules statewide for cities and towns, the Mayor of Auburn, the states fifth-largest city, showed us how his city is already implementing the kinds of changes proposed.Legislators on the Housing and Labor Committee entertained several hours of testimony over the bill sponsored by Maine House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, a Democrat from Biddeford, LD 2003, which would require municipalities to let property owners build up to four units on lots zoned for single-family homes, among other reforms.Zoning laws are by definition exclusionary in nature, Auburn Mayor Jason Levesque, a Republican serving his third term, said in an interview at a construction site. Thats really the fundamental change that has to happen. Were overregulated, were under-housed, and really, weve eliminated the rights of property owners to actually live on the land that they own.Levesque and the city council revised zoning laws that limited property owners to single-family homes or prevented them from adding accessory dwelling units on their land."Nobody's going to force you to do anything in your backyard, then again you have no right to force someone, your neighbor, to not do something in their backyard," Levesque said. "There's a lot of people who have big backyard right now that would like to downsize and live with their kids in an accessory dwelling unit in their backyard. Why should we stop that?"Another zoning change in Auburn has relaxed parking space requirements to enable more density in new housing developments.This change helped a former nursing home be converted to 10 apartments, and a synagogue to be approved for conversion also to 10 residences."It means you have more of a walkable downtown, Levesque said. "It means you can actually utilize on-street and municipal off-street parking in order to not just have just acres and acres of asphalt everywhere." After decades of stagnant population, Levesque said, Auburn's population is growing again. But will the new market-rate housing be more affordable?Levesque said, "It's affordable to different people at different income levels are different stages of life."The mayor said the zoning changes have already resulted in 1,800 new housing units being built, approved, or planned during the past two years.

As the Maine Legislature held an eight-hour public hearing today on an affordable housing bill that would amend zoning rules statewide for cities and towns, the Mayor of Auburn, the states fifth-largest city, showed us how his city is already implementing the kinds of changes proposed.

Legislators on the Housing and Labor Committee entertained several hours of testimony over the bill sponsored by Maine House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, a Democrat from Biddeford, LD 2003, which would require municipalities to let property owners build up to four units on lots zoned for single-family homes, among other reforms.

Zoning laws are by definition exclusionary in nature, Auburn Mayor Jason Levesque, a Republican serving his third term, said in an interview at a construction site. Thats really the fundamental change that has to happen. Were overregulated, were under-housed, and really, weve eliminated the rights of property owners to actually live on the land that they own.

Levesque and the city council revised zoning laws that limited property owners to single-family homes or prevented them from adding accessory dwelling units on their land.

"Nobody's going to force you to do anything in your backyard, then again you have no right to force someone, your neighbor, to not do something in their backyard," Levesque said. "There's a lot of people who have big backyard right now that would like to downsize and live with their kids in an accessory dwelling unit in their backyard. Why should we stop that?"

Another zoning change in Auburn has relaxed parking space requirements to enable more density in new housing developments.

This change helped a former nursing home be converted to 10 apartments, and a synagogue to be approved for conversion also to 10 residences.

"It means you have more of a walkable downtown, Levesque said. "It means you can actually utilize on-street and municipal off-street parking in order to not just have just acres and acres of asphalt everywhere."

After decades of stagnant population, Levesque said, Auburn's population is growing again.

But will the new market-rate housing be more affordable?

Levesque said, "It's affordable to different people at different income levels are different stages of life."

The mayor said the zoning changes have already resulted in 1,800 new housing units being built, approved, or planned during the past two years.

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Auburn sees itself as setting an example of how to amend zoning to spur more housing - WMTW Portland

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Posted By admin on March 8, 2022

Late last year, Malik Faisal Akram travelled from the UK all the way to Dallas with the intention of taking Jewish people hostage in a synagogue. He bought himself a gun and, on 15 January, enacted his plan at the Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas.

Fortunately the hostages escaped unharmed. But why did Akram fly 4,500 miles to take Jews hostage, when he lived on the doorstep of Britains second-biggest Jewish community in Manchester?

The answer lies in the murky world of antisemitic conspiracy theories, and a centuries-old belief in mysterious Jewish power that can still motivate people to kill.

Akram was trying to secure the release of Aafia Siddiqui from a Texas prison. Siddiqui, who was jailed for 86 years in 2010 for attempting to kill American soldiers in Afghanistan, had a long association with al-Qaeda. There have been several previous attempts by terrorist groups to obtain her release, including one 2013 plot to kidnap Jews in Nepal as bargaining chips.

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However, having flown to Texas where Siddiqui is imprisoned, Akram did not take hostages in a government building, or a church, or some random shop or restaurant. He wanted Jewish hostages, because he believed that Jews controlled the US and had the power to release Siddiqui.

Other terrorist attacks on Jews in recent years have also been fuelled by antisemitic conspiracy theories. Robert Bowers, who killed 11 people at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018, believed that Jews were to blame for non-white immigration into the United States. The following year, Stephan Balliet murdered two people after attacking a synagogue in Halle, Germany. In a short video he made of the attack, Balliet explained that the Jews were responsible for feminism.

Three terrorists attacking three different synagogues on two continents in the past four years, all motivated to violence by conspiracist beliefs about Jews. Bowers and Balliet were neo-Nazis while Akram was a jihadist, but they had a shared belief in where real power lies in this world: with the Jews.

This is the backdrop to the year-on-year increases in antisemitism in Britain recorded by my organisation, the Community Security Trust (CST). Five of the past six years have seen record annual totals for antisemitic hate incidents reported to us from across the Jewish community.

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The disturbing resurgence of antisemitic conspiracy theories - Open Democracy

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Posted By admin on March 8, 2022

When I arrive at the Bushey United Synagogue, Rabbi Nick Kett is in the midst of his afternoon prayer. A group of men stand together in the main shul, a bright open space with blue curtains adorned with stunning embellishments and gold embroidery.

Behind the curtain, the Torah scrolls are concealed as the men continue in silent prayer. Orthodox Jews pray three times a day and I have arrived amid Mincha, the afternoon service.

I wait outside the main shul and feel like an intruder as I peer into the room where the men are huddled in prayer. I turn my eyes away to avoid interrupting their personal prayers, their opportunity to connect directly with God.

Read more: Get the latest Bushey news

Rabbi Nick comes out to meet me shortly after, and I am greeted with a welcoming smile. I have seen just a small fragment of his day. That morning, they had held a Bar Mitzvah celebration. Rabbi Nick then taught a class before the men prayed and I arrived. After I left, he would be officiating a funeral.

"And who knows what will come about by the evening?", he says. "You get these peaks and troughs. On Tuesday, I did a wedding at lunchtime, and after that it was back to back funerals and home visits for the bereaved family, so you ride the waves."

Nick has been the community Rabbi at Bushey United Synagogue for nearly five years. He and his wife Shira, who also plays an important role as part of the Rabbinic team, had previously worked in Hale in south Manchester, where they had been working with the young families and youth.

Rabbi Nick shakes his head and laughs when I ask if he had always wanted to be a Rabbi, adding: "I grew up in a very observant home. It was very community focused. My parents were always very involved with, not just the Jewish community, but other community initiatives as well. So I always knew I was destined to get my hands dirty."

He studied law in Manchester but was working as a youth leader alongside his degree and realised he was better at community work than law. After university, he studied for the Rabbinate in Israel, during which he met and married Shira.

But he explains that there is so much he did not know about being a Rabbi until he started working in the community, saying: "You teach but you're also a counsellor in some ways, because you're speaking to members of your community and officiating at their life cycle."

He chuckles as he adds: "You're also a glorified events planner. I'm now a YouTuber, because of Covid and everything going online. Those are the things you don't know when you're studying for the Rabbinate."

Rabbis are there for so many stages of a person's life.

Rabbi Nick explains: "You step into people's lives at the point of birth, at the point of Bar Mitzvah for a boy, Bat Mitzvah for a girl, a wedding. Then when they have children, they step in again, and at the end as well with bereavement. In the last four weeks, I think we've had 10 bereavements unfortunately. It's a lot of juggling and a lot of families to try and support.

"We're also teaching. We've got different classes, on different topics and for different people. We have our regular services here, so three daily services, a big event on a Shabbat (Saturday) morning. Beyond that, is trying to squeeze in every email, phone call."

When asked if the pressure of so much responsibility ever feels overwhelming, Rabbi Nick says: "It can do, especially when it all builds up, but I have a great team around me. I feel very privileged. You get a sense of feeling very privileged that you can be there for people when they need it. And it's great when that's for a happy time.

"But when people are at their most vulnerable, and when they need you the most, it's very...", Rabbi Nick hesitates as he struggles to find the words. "It really strikes a chord. You can be there for someone, and it's always nice when it's for a joyous occasion.

"But often it's not for joyous occasions, and people really need that support, especially in a case of bereavement when things are so raw. We're able to hold their hands and be there for them, and they're often very grateful. We can be a comfort for them."

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A Rabbi's role is different to that of a therapist or social worker, however, in that these are people who they know well. They are a part of the community and sadness is often deeply personal. It is more difficult to create a professional detachment.

"I think that's probably a really interesting difference," Rabbi Nick says. "Speaking for myself and my wife, we embed ourselves in the community. Our home is their home, their lives are our lives. We all mesh.

"It's not quite the same as someone who is in a therapist setting or an event planner, who can close the door. I do feel for Rabbinic families who don't really close the door. We don't really switch off. It does require resilience."

Rabbi Nick adds that it is very much a family commitment. His three children, Miri, Doniel and Dassi, are very much a part of the community and have built relationships with members of the synagogue. The wives of Rabbis are also employed by the synagogue and Shira plays a vital role in delivering support to the community. Rabbi Nick says you could argue they work even harder than Rabbis.

There are multiple Rabbis at the Bushey United Synagogue. Rabbi Elchonon Feldman is the senior Rabbi, and he joined shortly before Rabbi Nick, although he is currently on sabbatical.

"When Rabbi Feldman joined, the community felt like it was ushering in a new era," Rabbi Nick says. "The previous Rabbi who had been here for four decades and had really built the community from scratch. He knew every single family that moved into the area.

"He's got a phenomenal mind, and can recall all sorts of family connections. That level of familiarity and closeness was vital really in seeing this community blossom and grow. We've got members here who've been here since the beginning."

Rabbi Nick adds: "There are people living here who were there 50 years ago. They remember services taking place in people's homes and the very early stages of the community starting to emerge over here. They're still around today. So they look back and just can't believe how much we have grown in size. This building is too small for us now."

According to Rabbi Nick, there are an estimated 5,000 to 6,000 Jewish people in the Bushey area. There are over 1,300 household units who are members of the Bushey United Synagogue alone, which equates to thousands of people.

"We've got a big community here," Rabbi Nick says, but he adds that the pandemic has meant that they have had to readjust the way they communicate with their members. "It's hard enough to reach them when everyone could move around freely.

"It became even more difficult to reach them when people were locked down. But it meant that we could come up with creative ways and put things into motion that would have probably taken years in any other situation. But we rolled them out in a couple of weeks.

"As with most religions, most organisations and most businesses, we had to move everything online. We had to do that very, very quickly. All of our programming moved online. A lot of our programming changed. New initiatives came to the forefront, and there was more social engagement online."

They worked to ensure they maintained a connection to every single one of their households. They had a team of volunteers who contacted every single family to ask how they were coping with Covid.

They have initiatives in place to support people who are struggling financially, which were in place before the pandemic and continued to run. They also made deliveries, filled with gifts, to every family a couple of times during the pandemic.

"In a way, it helped things emerge," Rabbi Nick says. "There were things that people were struggling with that we weren't aware of before. If people didn't telephone the synagogue to let them know that their father is not well, or someone is struggling with their mental health, then we wouldn't hear about it. But we were able to connect with people because of these new initiatives during Covid."

The synagogue is involved with local schools, offering tours and helping to educate people about the local Jewish community. They have a nursery too, and when I see Rabbi Nick interacting with the children as we leave the building, each of them knows him by name.

"I think the way that community has evolved here," Rabbi Nick adds, "is that this physical campus acts as the community hub. You could call it the pulse, heartbeat, the centre for Jewish life in Bushey. It's been around for 50 years and it's ingrained in people's Jewish identity."

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Posted By admin on March 8, 2022

Day 12 of Russia's Invasion of Ukraine saw Russia continue to prevent the evacuation of civilians and a third round of peace talks.

Russian shelling is still preventing evacuations of civilians in war torn cities.

The president of Ukraine, Volodymr Zelenskiy, has vowed to punish "every b*****d" who committed atrocities during the invasion of Ukraine.

READ MORE: 'Scouse Escobar' has massive jail term increased again over prison cell exploits

In a video address, he said: "How many such families have died in Ukraine? We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will punish everyone who committed atrocities in this war."

Day 12 also saw a third round of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, but "little progress" was made.

Closer to home dozens came together in Childwall Synagogue in a special service to pray for Ukraine.

Here's everything you need to know from Day 12 of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Russia continue "preventing evacuations" of civilians - Ukraine

Russian shelling is still preventing the evacuation of people from besieged cities, Ukraine says.

Attacks are said to continue despite a proposal from Russia to create safe escape routes out of Kyiv, Mariupol, Sumy and Kharkiv

Ukraine branded the proposal "immoral" after it emerged many of the routes would only take civilians to Russia or its ally Belarus.

Third round of peace talks have "little progress"

The third round of talks between Ukraine and Russia have come to an end.

A Ukrainian adviser to the president's office said there was some "small positive" progress on the logistics of humanitarian corridors. And Reuters news agency quoted a Ukrainian negotiator as saying no agreement had been reached that significantly improved the broader situation.

A Kremlin aide said the talks in Belarus had "failed to live up to our expectations", in remarks broadcast on Russian TV.

Both sides say talks will continue.

UK announces further 175m of support for Ukraine

Boris Johnson spoke at a press conference alongside his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau and Dutch premier Mark Rutte.

He says the United Kingdom will give 175m of aid to Ukraine, saying it takes the UK's total commitment to nearly 400 million.

Dozens come together to support Ukraine at Childwall Synagogue

Liverpool's Jewish community came together to support Ukraine at Childwall Synagogue on Monday, March 7.

The Synagogue held the special service, which saw Rabbi Rafael Kruskal of the "Tikvah" community in Odessa, join the dozens of people who attended via Zoom.

Dad's emotional update as family flea Ukraine war zone

A dad who travelled to Ukraine to reunite with his wife and child has given an emotional update to his TikTok followers.

Ian Umney, 28, from St Helens, quit his job as an English teacher and a courier to travel to Nikopol in south-eastern Ukraine to "save" Ukrainian wife Nelia and two-year-old son Jonathan.

He left the UK on Monday, February 28 and arrived in Ukraine on Tuesday, March 1, before spending time with his wife, son and parents-in-law.

On March 2, Ian and his family decided to make arrangements to flea Ukraine and left their home on Saturday, March 5.

Today [Monday, March 7] Ian updated his 217k TikTok followers to say his family were "safe" and had crossed the border into Moldova.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE.

Transalpino owner heads to Ukraine with help from ex-LFC players

Brendan Wyatt, owner of Transalpino on Bold Street, is driving with friends to the Poland- Ukraine border to provide supplies during the current crisis.

Brendan decided to make the trip after becoming frustrated at the response of the UK government.

He said: "Like everyone else we are frustrated, you feel at a loss of what to do."

He told the ECHO : "Robin, one of the lads with us, called me the other day and asked 'you fancy getting over to Ukraine?' and I thought 'well yeah okay'.

"One of the other lads with us, Rado, he is a Polish translator in Liverpool, hes been in the city for 16 years, but his hometown is quite near to the border of Ukraine, so he wanted to come along too as he is worried about what is happening in his region."

READ THE FULL STORY HERE.

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Who are the greatest Black Mathematicians?

Who are the greatest Black Mathematicians?

Often I am asked the questions:

1. Is [or was] there a Black Gauss?

2. Should a Black Mathematician have been awardedthe FieldsMedal?

3. Who is [or was] the most important BlackMathematician?

4. Who are the greatest Black Mathematicians?

5. Who are the young mathematicians whose careersexhibit extraordinary promise?

I believe all but the last two questions tobe foolish. However, I hope to address these questions on thisweb page - in reverse order. For a history of AfricanAmericans in science research read Kenneth R. Mannings article,"CanHistory Predict the Future?" For a description ofBlacks in Mathematics Research see ResearchMathematicians of the African Diaspora. As usual, underlinedwords are hyperlinks in this website to more information on theindividuals below.

CONTENTS

Who are the young mathematicians whose careersexhibit extraordinary promise?

Mathematicians of the 1990s

Mathematicians of the 1980s

Who are the greatest Black Mathematicians?

Great Black Mathematicians of the 1970s & 1960s

The Masters

5. Whoare the young mathematicians whose careers exhibit extraordinarypromise?

Mathematicians of the 21st Century

I had anticipated delaying this section until 2007 and youngfolks had begun to publish. However, as a winner of the AMU/ICMS2003 Young Africanin Mathematics Medals, one individual has changed my mind.

Oguntuase: Currently in Italy, Nigerian born and soleyNigerian trained, JamesAdedayo Oguntuase earned his Ph.D. in 2001, but has published18 papers in mathematics since 1998. This promises to be a stelarcareer.

Mathematicians of the1990s:

Seven mathematicians of the 1990s, Adebisi Agboola, JonathanFarley, Wilfrid Gangbo, Abba Gumel, Trachette Jackson, KatherineOkikiolu, and Arlie Petters show extraordinary promise, "shouldbe" (but are not necessarily) located at the very best institutions,and may be the Fields medal candidates of the future.

Petters: Belize born American citizen ArliePetters, the most senior of the group is a member of DukeUniversity's Bass Fellows. He is Full Professor of Mathematicsand of Physics (their first tenured Black professor in the sciences- congratulations Duke). He is chiefly interested in the mathematicaltheory of gravitational lensing and related areas (differentialgeometry, singularity theory, general relativity, Astrophysics).Though Petters received his Ph.D. about ten years ago, he haspublished 30 papers and a book, chiefly in the area GravitationalLensing. Petters's book on Gravitational Lensing is considereda tour de force in mathematical physics. In 1998, Petters wasawarded the most prestigious award for "young" mathematicians,the three year Sloan Research Fellowship. In 2002, he wasrecipient of the first Blackwell-TapiaPrize.

K. Okikiolu: Born to Nigerian and British parents, buteducated in the U.S., KatherineOkikiolu (was once on Princeton's faculty) received specialdistinction in 1997 when she was the first Black to win a SloanResearch Fellowship. Later in 1997, she won the PresidentialEarly Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers for "Innovativeresearch in geometric analysis, particularly the determinant ofthe Laplacian under smooth perturbations, and developing studentworkshops and mathematics curricula for inner-city children."This particular award is worth $500,000 and is only granted 60scientists and engineers in the U.S. per year. Okikiolu's workon elliptical differential operators is considered a major contribution,going well beyond what experts had considered feasible, giventhe current state of knowledge. Her 2001 publication Criticalmetrics for the determinant of the Laplacian in odd dimensionsin the Annals of Mathematics, is receiving high acclaim. She isAssociate Professor of Mathematics at the University of Californiaat San Diego.

Farley: Born in an extremely successful academic familyof Rochester, New York, JonathanFarley, graduated second in his class with an A.B. fromHarvard University and obtained a mathematics Ph.D. from OxfordUniversity where he was awarded the Senior Mathematical Prizeand Johnson Prize for his research. During a two year visit tothe Mathematical Sciences Research Institute [MSRI] in 1996, Farleysolved very important old problems in the Theory of Ordered Sets.He also works in Lattice Theory. He is currently publishing atan average of more than three papers a year, and in 2003 was aDistinguished Fulbright Scholar at Oxford University inEngland. Currently is Visiting Professor of Mathematics at MassachusettesInstitute of Technology.

Gangbo: In just nine years from a Ph.D. to a Full Professor- this is incredible. WilfridGangbo was born in Benin and in 1992 earned a Ph.D. fromSwiss Federale Institute of Technology. Among his twelve papersis his 1996 The geometry of optimal transportation remainsthe single publication by a Black in the Mittag-Leffler Institute'sActa Mathematica, one of the world's strongest mathematics journals.In 2001 he was appointed Full Professor by Georgia Institute ofTechnology.

Agboola: In mathematics, one does not always know ofyoung persons working in fields outside their own, and it is agreat honor to the individual if the case is otherwise. Adebisi Agboola's workin Number Theory and Arithmetic Algebraic Geometry has been mentionedto me as very good by KevinCorlette and two of my non-Black colleagues whose areaof research is mutually exclusive with Agboola, Corlette, andeach other. Agboola is Full Professor of Mathematics at the Universityof California at Santa Barbara

Gumel: Born in Nigeria, Ph.D. in England. AbbaGumel is an extremely prolific in the areas MathematicalBiology, Non-linear Dynamical Systems, and Computational Mathematics.Currently he is a Full Professor at the University of Manitobain Canada.

Jackson: American TrachetteJackson was a mathematics major at Arizona State in Tempe.Four years later she earned a Ph.D. in Mathematical Biology. Fiveyears later she had ten articles under her belt and a Sloan Fellowship.Currently, Associate Professor at the Department of MathematicsUniversity of Michigan

Johnson: British born Mathematical Physicist Clifford V. Johnsonhas over 60 publications since his 1992 Ph.D. Since that timehe has immersed himself within String Theory (also see SylvesterJames Gates) with papers and books. He is currently on leaveat USC.

Great Mathematicians ofthe 1980s:

This is a group of mathematicians, nearing or just past Fieldsmedalist years (before the age of 40), whose careers are verystrong, and we expect them to have careers stronger than manyof those who came before. They are Idris Assani, Johnny Brown,Nathaniel Dean, Carl Graham, Overtoun Jenda, and William Massey.There are a few more Mathematicians who could be mentioned here.

Massey: During Princeton University's inclusive period,William Masseyenrolled and obtained a B.S. in Mathematics. From there he wentto Stanford University for the Ph.D. and to industry, but hislocation in the Mathematics Department of Lucent Technologieshas given him the opportunity to publish an average of 2.5 papersa year. In addition to the application of many papers in QueueingTheory and Stochastic Processes to problems in the Modelling ofTelecommunication Systems, Massey, most importantly, has beeninvolved with the mentoring African American students of Mathematics.Those who pay attention do very well; one of these is Arlie Petters(see young mathematicians above).Massey is a co-founder of CAARMS,the annual Conference for African Americans Researchers in theMathematical Sciences. In 2001, Massey became the first tenuredAfrican American Mathematician at an Ivy League Univrsity. Heis Full Professor in Princeton University's department of OperationsResearch and Financial Engineering.

Dean: Applied Algebraist NathanielDean has recently moved from Bell Labs and Lucent Technologiesto academia in order to strengthen an already strong Applied Mathematicsprogram at Rice University which included the Mexian AmericanRichard Tapia. Currently he is Full Professor of Mathematics andChairman of Mathematics at the HBCU Texas Southern Universityin Houston. Nearly half of his 50 publications are in ComputerScience. Dean, along with Massey, were featured on the PublicBroadcasting System 5-Part 1998 Mathematics Series Life bythe Numbers.

Assani: Benin born, French educated IdrisAssani studies Ergodic Theory and Dynamics. Assani haswritten very strong papers; read, for example, the 1997 Stronglaws for weighted sums of independent identically distributedrandom variables. (which extends with new methods resultsobtained jointly by (1994 Fields medalist) J. Bourgain, H. Furstenberg,Y. Katznelson and D. Ornstein. Another one is the 1998 Multiplerecurrence and almost sure convergence of weakly mixing dynamicalsystems. gives the best possible result to date on H. Furstenbergfamous conjecture on a.e. multiple recurrence for dynamical systems.Fern Hunt alsosays Assani is her candidate for the greatest Black Mathematician.

Graham: American CarlGraham, the most junior of this group and a professorat cole Polytcnic in Paris, was born in the U.S.but his African American mathematician father EugeneGraham emigrated to France where Graham was raised. Oneof his papers which particularly brought attention is The martingaleproblem with sticky reflection conditions, and a system of particlesinteracting at the boundary.

Makinde: Nigerian born OluwoleD. Makinde once said "Being a Black man in the Worldof Mathematics especially in Africa is not a very pleasant experience. One has to learn how to work with littleor no facility." He published 50 papers in a variety of puremathematcs subjects on the way to becoming Professor and Headof Applied Mathematics Depatment, University of the North, SouthAfrica.

Jenda: Malawi born OvertounM. Jenda continues to produce good Algebra inspite ofinvolvement with administration.

4. Who are the greatestBlack Mathematicians?

Great Black Mathematiciansof the 1970s& 1960s:

There are quite a few well established Black mathematicians,in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe, who are internationallyknown as leaders in their respective fields though past the midpointof their careers and never quite reaching the accomplishment/recognitionof "the masters." Ethelbert Chukwu(Differential Equations, Control Theory, and Mathmatical Economics),Francisco Antonio Doria(mathematical physics, logic, the philosphy of science, and themathematical theory of communications), NelLohoue (Functional Analysis), DonaldRichards (Statistics), and FloydWilliams (Homological Algebra & Lie Groups) are probablythe best of the group.

Others are OlusolaAkinyele (Ordinary Differential Equations), AugustinBanyaga (Differential Topology), EarlBarnes (Linear & Non-linear Programming), HeneriDzinotyiweyi (Topological Semigroups), G.O. S. Ekhaguere (Mathematical Physics), JohnA. Ewell (Number Theory), AderemiKuku (Algebraic K-theory), and ScottWilliams (Set-Theoretic Topology, Set Theory, TopologicalDynamics). There are at least 10 other good mathematicians whocould be mentioned here, you can find them on the web page ResearchMathematicians of the African Diaspora: http://www.math.buffalo.edu/mad/ResearchMathematicians.html.

Though Black Women in Mathematicsform 25% of all Black Mathematicians, it has not escaped thisauthor that the above response to question 4 discusses no woman.I am only aware of a hand full of Black women active ly engagedat forwarding the sciencesignificantly beyond a thesis. The most senior is FernHunt who has at least 20 papers - recall the most junior,Kate Okikiolu is discussed in section 5 (above).

The Masters

Until the mid 1980s, Charles Bell, David Blackwell, A. T. Bharucha-Reid,and J. Ernest Wilkins had published more mathematics than theentire rest of the entire African American community. Though thisno longer the case, The Masters, a slight expansion of the grouphas published more papers than the entire Black Mathematics communityin the 20th century. I believe The Masters are David Blackwell,J. Ernest Wilkins, George O. Okikiolu, JamesEzeilo, Albert T. Bharucha-Reid, Ronald E. Mickens,and Charles Bell.

no thumb photos

Bharucha-Reid

G. Okikiolu

Ezeilo

Mickens

Bell

Blackwell: There have been few black mathematicianswho, prior to the late 1960s, have had the freedom and opportunityto work relatively unfettered. Of this group, David Blackwellis the only Black mathematician whose work is clearly within the"extraordinary mathematician" rank. There are othersnot far behind, we discuss them below.

When he was 22, David Blackwell earned a Ph.D. (University of Illinois, 1941) within 5 years of high school. As only Black institutions with very high teaching loads (20 to 30 hours per week as opposed to the standard 6 hours of today) would hire him, one would think his early career would lag somewhat. Although his work caught the eye of great mathematicians of the time, it took another 13 years and 20 papers before Blackwell was hired permanently at a research oriented institution, the University of California at Berkeley. By the time he was 40 (in 1959), David Blackwell had accomplished that which most mathematicians would consider a lifetime's work, he had written a book considered a classic, published 35 papers (three in the Annals of Mathematics), and had been an invited speaker all over the world. In 1965 he became the first African American named to the National Academy of Sciences (he is still the only Black mathematician to be so honored). In 1979 Blackwell won the von Neumann Theory Prize (the Operations Research Society of America). Though most (but not all) of Blackwell's work was in Statistics, his work exhibits a strong "theoretical"mathematics background.

In 2002, the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute in Berkeley and Cornell University has established the Blackwell-Tapia Award in honor of David Blackwell and Richard A. Tapia, distinguished mathematical scientists who have been inspirations to more than a generation of African American and Hispanic American students and professionals in the mathematical sciences.

Wilkins: J.Ernest Wilkins was a contemporary of David Blackwell,though his experience with racism was clearer. Both Wilkins' parentswere graduates of the University of Chicago. At the age of 13,Wilkins entered the University of Chicago. He received his B.S.in Mathematics three and a half years later and at the age of19 he earned a Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of Chicago(1942) for a thesis in the area of Calculus of Variations. J.Ernest Wilkins, Jr. was described in national newspapers as "theNegro genius." Wilkins, though a very able mathematician,was interested in applications of mathematics, and after his Ph.D.,he went back to school earning degrees in Mechanical Engineeringfrom New York University.

Bharucha-Reid: To me, AlbertT. Bharucha-Reid's work was, mathematically, nearly hasgreat as Blackwell's and Wilkins, but for points of recognition,his career suffered one major fault - he resolutely refused toobtain a Ph.D. I have known several good mathematicians (e.g.,James Joseph, andAndrew Gleason, an ex-chair of Harvard University's MathematicsDepartment) who have found themselves in a similar position.

In 1949 at the age of 19, Albert Turner Reid (he later sharedthe surname, Bharucha, of his India born wife) earned a B.S. inMathematics and a B.S. in Biology from the University of Iowa.By the time he was 23, he produced mathematics for eight publishedpapers, but did not produce a Ph.D. thesis (he said, in 1953,it was a waste of his time) at his graduate school - the Universityof Chicago. Bharucha-Reid published six books and nearly 80 papersin algebra, analysis, mathematical biology, statistics, and topology,and was an undisputd leader in the area of Random Polynomials.With the exception of short stays at many institutions, he spentthe majority of his career at Wayne State University in positionsfrom Professor to Chair to Dean. He completed his career at Clark-AtlantaUniversity a few years before, despondent with the death of hiswife and taking his own life in 1990.

G. Okikiolu: The excellence of Black persons in Mathematicshas not been limited to Americans, the Nigerian GeorgeO. Okikiolu works in London and has published 3 booksand at least 190 papers, more than any other Black mathematician.He is also the father of Katherine Okikiolu discussedabove.

Ezeilo: Another Nigerian, James Ezeilo made an enormous contribution. This 1958 Ph.D. (University of Cambridge) has also received numerous honorary doctorates. His early research deals mainly with the problem of stability, boundedness, and convergence of solutions of third order ordinary differential equations. Apart from extending known results and techniques to higher order equations, the main thrust of his work was the construction of Lyapunov-like functions, which he did elegantly and used to study the qualitative properties of solutions. In addition he was a pioneer in the use of Leray-Schauder degree type arguments to obtain existence results for periodic solutions of ordinary differential equations. Finally, with two other mathematicians, Ezeilo built mathematics to the fine degree it exists in Nigeria today serving the entire African continent quite well.

Ronald E. Mickens at Historically Black Clark-Atlanta University straddles two fields, Mathematics and Physics, and from 1970 to 1999, Dr. Mickens published over 200 papers and 5 books. Recently, Mickens was honored with an election to Fellowship in the American Physical Society, a rare position limited to .5% of the membership of the society. With all of this Mickens has worked directly at the effort to bring African Americans into Physics and to improve Physics in Africa.

Here we note CharlesBell, who though, far from the rank of contemporariesBlackwell and Bharucha-Reid in Mathematical Statistics or Ezeiloand Mickens, had an exellent life-time career.

3. Who is [orwas] the most important Black Mathematician?

I believe the answer is vaguely fathomable? Assuming "importance"refers to impact upon the community. Do we mean on mathematics,on the world community in general, or just in the African Diasporacommunity? In the first case, we discussed individuals in the masters above. In the last case theanswer might be thefirst Black Math Ph.D., a mathematician influential withgovernement (as Percy A.Pierre), a great teacher (such as EttaFalconer or ClarenceStephens), a researchmathematician, or some part or combination of the four(like Adegoke Olubummoor Raymond Johnson).You must decide; to learn more click on the underlined words.

2. Should a Black Mathematician have beenawarded the Fields Medal?

OR

1. Is [or was] there a Black Gauss?

CarlF. Gauss and Archimedesare the greatest mathematicians of all time, and those not evenclose have won Mathematics' Fields Medal or the NevanlinnaPrize. Though a relatively recent award, the Fields Medalis sometimes known to the public as Mathematics' Nobel Prize,but that is a misnomer as the medal is only awarded to for workcompleted prior to the age of 40. In 2002, Cornell Universityand the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (in Berkeley)established a biannual prize, the Blackwell-TapiaPrize in honor of David Blackwell and Richard A. Tapia,distinguished mathematical scientists who have been inspirationsto more than a generation of African American and Hispanic Americanstudents and professionals in the mathematical sciences.

Less than1% of all mathematicians are Black, but a high1 percentage, 15%, of Black Mathematiciansdo mathematics research.. Extremeobstacles (also see struggles)prior to 1970 often blocked mere participation of Blacks withinthe advanced mathematical community and may have had an effecton possible candidates for the Fields; however, a few slippedthrough the blockade. Further, we, the mathematics community,have had a generation, since 1970, to grow a Black prize winnerand, to my knowledge, no Black mathematician of Fields Medal caliberhas been totally ignored. Finally, since the beginning of theeighties, there have been enough journals so that a journal changecan avoid a bad or racialist editor or referee. Not all publishedmathematics is good or even correct [see Fermat'sLast Theorem]; however, no good mathematics goes unpublishedunless its author desires it that way. I, therefore, believe theanswer to question 1 is "NO!" and to question 2, "Maybe?"

(1 high compared withwell under 10% in the general mathematical community)

REFERENCES

[agwu &nkwanta], [akinyele& olubummo], [deGroot],[Donaldson],[Falconner],[Grinstein& Campbell], [Ferguson,Shapeley & MacQueen], [Hill],[Kenschaft3], [Mayes], [Newell,et al], [Williams,Statistics], [74-93survey], [Fieldsand Nevanlinna winners], [FieldsMedal]

The address of this webpage is http://www.math.buffalo.edu/mad/madgreatest.html

A different version of this web page appeared in print elsewhere.

December 31, 1998revised: January 7, 1999revised: April 30, 2000revised: July 24, 2001revised: April1, 2002

Scott W. WilliamsE-mail

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Who are the greatest Black Mathematicians? - Buffalo

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