Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on March 8, 2022

This April, Chatham Baroque presents New York-based ensemble East of the River for the program Hamsa, featuring music from the geographic regions of Andalusia, North Africa, the Ottoman Empire, and the Sephardic diaspora. This program consists of songs and dances from liturgical and folk traditions as well as examples of classical instrumental music from the Ottoman court. These various types of music aren't built with Western musical conventions, but rather, use the system of microtonal melodic modes referred to as the Arabic maqam.

This will be the organization's first public program presented at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary since Chatham Baroque moved its headquarters there in January, 2022. The campus's Kelso Museum of Near Eastern Archeology will feature a related exhibit, and East of the River's Daphna Mor and Nina Stern will also give a lecture, free to Chatham Baroque subscribers and ticket holders, on the historical significance of the music of Hamsa. Details on both events below.

East of the River:Daphna Mor, voice and recordersNina Stern, recorders and chalumeauRonnie Malley, oudTal Mashiach, bassShane Shanahan, percussion

East of the River: HamsaHicks Memorial Chapel, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, East Liberty | Venue InfoSaturday, April 30, 5 PMSaturday, April 30, 8 PM

Tickets at http://www.chathambaroque.org$38 General Admission$30 Seniors$15 Students

Note on COVID protocols: Chatham Baroque is joining many fellow arts organizations in requiring proof of vaccination or a negative PCR test for in-person attendance. Currently, attendees are also required to wear masks. COVID safety protocols are subject to change. Visit http://www.chathambaroque.org prior to attending the concert for up-to-date information.

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Chatham Baroque Brings East of the River To Pittsburgh For A Program Of Medieval Sephardic Music and More - Broadway World

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Posted By admin on March 8, 2022

To have known Matilda Laura Rosenberg was to be splashed with Mediterranean sunshine.

She was incredibly loved by those she held dear family, close friends, colleagues and the hundreds of families she served in a distinguished career as a social work.

At a Sunday afternoon symphony or hike through the Overland Park Arboretum, she would be approached by women and men and thanked for meaningful kindnesses she extended to a loved one.

Matilda, 69, passed away just after midnight Friday, February 25 after a more than two-year battle with a pernicious cancer.

In that time, she had many personal triumphs, foremost among which was her children blessing her and Marty, her husband of 44 years, with four grandchildren: Mira, Aliza, Leor and Levi.

Matilda was also thrilled to welcome Amy Parison to the family as the wife of her eldest son, Eli.

Recently, she spent long stretches with all her children and grandchildren.

When Hurricane Ida hit New Orleans in late August she assisted her daughter Alanna and grandchildren in evacuating from the devastation. She invented the game of in and out to run with Aliza at rest stops with Levi tucked under her arm.

The whole family spent a remarkable Rosh Hashanah on Cape Cod organized by Eli and Amy.

Joey and Maya built a small nona and papa house in their California backyard that allowed for visits that went months at a stretch during which worries about illness vanished on the stiff bay breeze.

Matilda was born in Portland, Oregon, to Albert and Alegre Tevet, Holocaust survivors and part of a tiny remnant of the Greek Jewish community that survived the Holocaust.

Matilda went to Israel during the 1973 Yom Kippur War to work on an agricultural kibbutz while workers were off defending Israel. After six months she traveled with a longtime Portland friend to Crete, where they slept in a cave and were awakened by a herd of goats and their tinkling bells.

Upon her return, she met, fell in love and married Marty. They settled in Kansas City for career reasons and dove into a richer Jewish life with their children.

When she turned 36, she and her husband took their three children, then ages 3, 6 and 9, to Japan for six months. She was enlisted as an English tutor by a group of women in their outer Tokyo neighborhood and in return they taught her about Japan.

Living in Kansas, she was wholly dedicated to enhancing her familys life and experiences, mastering the cooking of the most exquisite Sephardic foods.

She was director of social work at Village Shalom from 2002 to 2007 and director of social work at Aberdeen Village from 2007 to 2019. She earned her masters degree in social work in 2007 from the University of Kansas.

At Village Shalom, where she was one of few Jewish staffers, she made every effort to secure careful treatment and care of residents who were Holocaust survivors, explaining to her coworkers that the elderly men and women had survived haunting tragedies and deserved the best.

She researched her own familys Holocaust years and internment in Auschwitz. She accompanied her husband to Washington on business trips to meet with historians and scholars at the U.S. Holocaust Museum to learn more about Greece during the war years, when Germans like Kurt Waldheim terrorized the innocent.

She traveled back to her parents hometown in northern Greece and saw the Salonika ghetto where they were forced to live. On a cold misty night, a barking German shepherd on a rope nearby, she and her daughter and husband walked the remote train depot where her family was brutally forced on a horrific train to Auschwitz.

In Auschwitz, she located and lingered in the barrack where her mother was interned.

As the family story become clearer, Matilda spoke about it at a variety of Kansas City locales.

On December 1, she was one of three women speakers at the program, Our Mothers Were in Auschwitz, at Union Station in conjunction with the landmark Auschwitz exhibit.

Many of her friends on hand were unaware that she was fearful that she would not have the stamina to convey all that she wished to impart. She bravely and triumphantly excelled in her presentation.

A bit earlier, she surprised and turned the tables on her journalist husband on his 70th birthday, arranging to interview him for StoryCorps at a mobile studio outside the Nelson-Atlkins Museum.

With eyes shining and voice honeyed with love, she tenderly questioned him about his life and their shared journey recorded for the U.S. Library of Congress.

To mark their 40th wedding anniversary they went on safari to South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana with a group of Kansas City friends.

On Robben Island, she talked with a guide who had been imprisoned with Nelson Mandela. As she recounted her parents Holocaust years the man looked intently at her and said Robben Island imprisonment was a picnic compared to Auschwitz.

On safari, each morning as they rose in the predawn hours she greeted all with, Another morning in paradise with her trademark exuberance, as they went out to find giraffes, zebra, jacanas and malachite kingfishers.

After her grandchildren arrived, her most loved experiences were family centered. In January, after picking up Mira from pre-school late afternoon, the two would visit Berkeley park. As Mira finished the mini-ice cream cone that nona gave her, she would hold on to her nonas coat as she pretended to chase her both squealing in glee.

In New Orleans, she would often walk Aliza to Bayou St. John, picking up many pebbles en route for Aliza to toss into the water, before the two leisurely strolled the neighborhood looking for johnny pump hydrants and chicka-chickas scratching under porches.

Lately, she loved to play a game she made up for her granddaughters and their new brothers. Who is the be-be, who is the bon-bon? she would smilingly ask. Im the bon-bon, hes the be-be, and the girls would shout, ecstatic.

She is survived by husband Martin, son Eli Rosenberg and wife Amy Parison, daughter Alanna Rosenberg and husband Joseph Kanter and grandchildren Aliza and Levi, son Joseph and wife Maya Tobias and grandchildren Mira and Leor, brother Isaac Tevet and wife Charlotte, sister Sarah Korman and husband Ira Korman, nieces, nephews and extended family.

Messages of support and condolence have flooded in, warm and deeply felt. A niece told Matilda she modeled her marriage after her. A friend wrote Matilda that her goodness has made an indelible mark.

The funeral service was held Monday, Feb. 28 at Louis Memorial Chapel. Donations may be directed to the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education.

Welcome to another morning in paradise, Matilda, beloved, honored, treasured wife, mom and nona.

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Obituary: Matilda Rosenberg, 69, social worker who strived to honor the memory of Holocaust survivors like her parents - Shawnee Mission Post

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Posted By admin on March 8, 2022

Another one of America's favorite salads, the Cobb, is a popular staple at Sadelle's in New York. Found between Soho and the Village, Sadelle's serves the classic salad in tremendous portions,with Yelp reviewer Perry T. calling the Cobb salad a "veritable acre of lettuce and goodies." Those goodies include bacon, chicken, egg, avocado, and tomato nestled in the massive forest of lettuce. The sheer generosity of the portions alone makes this salad easy to share. "We got a Cobb salad to split, which was huge and amazing," said reviewer Jackie W.

Sadelle's also made its claim to fame with its menu of Jewish cuisine and highly-celebrated bagels. In 2016, Grubhub even declared Sadelle's to have the best bagel in New York. Whether it's for bagels, brunch, or for dinner at anytime, Sadelle's is considered an iconic destination restaurant, according to Ryan Sutton of Eater, New York.

"This is what happens when you transplant the culinary traditions of the Lower East Side to the Soho shopping district," said Sutton. "You get, with Sadelle's, an instant New York daytime classic." When you stop by, don't skip the salad.

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The Absolute Best Salads In The US - Mashed

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Posted By admin on March 8, 2022

A Fox News story (1/27/22) that used anti-Asian hate crimes to swipe at a favorite Fox targeta progressive DAwas accompanied by a video that put Foxs typical anti-China spin on a space story.

In crafting a landscape rife with danger and lawlessness, Rupert Murdochowned outlets drew upon a spike in hate crimesspecifically anti-Asian and antisemitic hate crimeswithout taking responsibility for the xenophobia theyve consistently peddled when it benefited their political agendas.

Fox News (1/27/22) in January reported that the Asian-American victim of a 2019 attack was suing San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin for mishandling his case, just one day before the San Francisco police department announced that hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) were up 567% in the city in 2021 compared to the previous year. The story also mentioned a 60% increase in anti-Jewish hate crimes from 2020.

Early last month, Fox (2/2/22) reported on the arrest of a man suspected of spray painting swastikas on several Jewish schools and synagogues throughout Chicago. The incidents came days after Holocaust Remembrance Day and as antisemitism is on the rise across the country, the piece says. Another Fox headline (2/7/22) declared, NYC Antisemitic Crimes Up Nearly 300% in January; the story noted that there were 15 hate crimes committed against Jewish people in Januarya 275% increase compared to the four hate crimes recorded in January 2021.

Meanwhile, Murdochs New York Post (1/21/22) published NYC Hate-Crime Complaints Skyrocket, With Anti-Asian Attacks Up 343%. Citing NYPD data, the article also noted that the largest portion of hate-crime complaints in the city in 2021 was for anti-Jewish incidents.

The Wall Street Journal (1/26/22), another Murdoch property, reported on an incident at a virtual meeting of National Asian Pacific American Womens Forum when a Zoom bomber hacked the group and projected anti-Asian images and audio onto the screen. Major cities have reported an increase in hate crimes directed at Asian-Americans, the article said, also citing the San Francisco and New York police department numbers.

Murdochs own outlets, however, often spread anti-Asian and antisemitic tropes, while taking no responsibility for the xenophobia that fuels these hate crimes in the first place.

The OReilly Factors Jesse Watters (10/3/16) pretends to perform martial arts as part of a race-baiting report from New Yorks Chinatown.

The rise in anti-AAPI violence is connected to both the rise of a new cold war with Beijing and the scapegoating of China for the Covid-19 pandemic (FAIR.org, 4/8/21, 7/29/21, 8/25/21), playing upon xenophobic stereotypes of Asians as disease-carriers (Salon, 2/6/20) and as robots brainwashed by their government.

Even in the years prior to the Covid outbreak, Fox News was spreading anti-Asianparticularly anti-Chinesesentiment. In 2016, the Fox News segment Watters World (10/3/16) featured Fox personality Jesse Watters conducting on-the-street interviews with New York City Chinatown residents, ostensibly to mock them for their lack of knowledge regarding US/China relations as discussed in the 2016 presidential debates. From the Kung Fu Fighting background music, to Watters asking his sources if they knew karate (a Japanese martial art) and questioning whether their watches were stolen, the piece was five straight minutes of blatant racist stereotyping thinly veiled as cheap humor.

Like bullies in the lunchroom deriding another childs food, Murdochs outlets employed the stereotype of Asian cuisine being unclean as a commonand juveniletrope to scapegoat the Chinese for Covid. Watters anti-Chinese racism predictably ramped up at the start of the outbreak in 2020, when on Foxs The Five (3/2/20), Watters asked for a formal apology from the Chinese, insisting Covid originated in China because they have these markets where they are eating raw bats and snakes. He linked the disgust such stories evoke to a red-baiting agenda:

They are a very hungry people. The Chinese Communist government cannot feed the people, and they are desperate. This food is uncooked. Its unsafe, and that is why scientists believe thats where it originated.

The New York Post (1/23/20) misidentifies a gross-out video as being taken amid [the] coronavirus outbreak.

The Wall Street Journal that condemned the rise in anti-AAPI hate crimes is the same paper that on multiple occasions has itself conflated Covid with China. In 2020, the Journal called China the real sick man of Asia (2/3/20), used what it called the Communist coronavirus to criticize Chinas government (1/29/20), referred to the virus as the Wuhan Coronavirus (1/29/20) and falsely accused the Chinese government of stalling investigations into the evidence-free Wuhan lab leak theory (2/12/21, 5/23/21).

Murdochs outlets have also played a significant role in normalizing anti-Jewish rhetoric, despite their eager conflation of any criticism of the Israeli government with antisemitism. In 2012, Murdoch himself tweeted about purported irony of the Jewish-owned press being (in his mind) anti-Israel, evoking the antisemitic conspiracy theory that an elite Jewish cabal controls media (Extra!, 910/96).

Fox News blames the left and Palestinian solidarity for a spike in anti-Jewish hate crimes. US Seeing Wave of Textbook Antisemitism Amid Israel/Gaza Tensions, warned one Fox headline (5/21/21). The incidents fly in the face of those trying to distinguish between anti-Israel and antisemitic bromides, the piece said.

Right-wing talkshow host Dennis Prager told Fox News (5/21/21) that the Middle East dispute is because a big chunk of the Muslim world that would like to exterminate the Jewish state.

Conservative radio host Dennis Prager joined Fox News Primetime (5/21/21) to discuss the rise in attacks:

This is not what the left wants you to believe. They want you to believe its over land. No, its not. There is a big chunk of the Muslim world that would like to exterminate the Jewish state beginning with, of course, Iran. That is why if you look at the rhetoric, its always F the Jews, F the Jews in all of these attacks. Its never F the Israelis. Its always F the Jews.

But attributing a rise in antisemitic hate crimes mainly to left-wing anti-Zionism is more politically useful than substantiated. Data from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) suggests the majority of antisemitic attacks come from white supremacist groups.

ADLs most recent numbers are from 2019, during which there were 2,107 recorded attacks. There were 171 incidents in which attackers mentioned Israel or Zionism, and 68 of those were propaganda efforts by white supremacist groups (ADL, 2019). Out of 270 incidents carried out by known extremist groups, two-thirds of those groups were white supremacist.

Certainly, antisemitism does appear on the left as well as the right, and there are activists who shout Free Palestine and Death to Jews in the same breath, and use the word Zionism not as the name of an ideology but as a codeword for Jewishness. But Murdoch outlets consistently blur the line between criticizing Israel, or supporting Palestinian rights, and antisemitism. When Palestinian-American model Bella Hadid wore a necklace with the word Palestine on it, Fox (1/16/22) reported the model was accused of perpetuating antisemitic tropesreferring to a tweet Hadid had posted condemning Israeli colonization, ethnic cleansing, military occupation and apartheid over the Palestinian people.

Fox News (12/14/21) took down a cartoon depicting George Soros as the puppet master behind progressive DAs and attorneys general after complaints that such imagery contributes to the normalization of antisemitism.

Murdoch outlets stop short of condemning antisemitism when it benefits their antipolice reform agendas. Blaming Jewish billionaire and philanthropist George Soros for the election of progressive soft on crime district attorneys throughout the country, they evoked images of a wealthy Jewish cabal pulling strings behind the scenes (FAIR.org, 1/14/22). Soros Funnels Cash Through a Complicated Web, explained a New York Post piece (12/16/21).

In late 2021, Fox removed a Soros puppet master cartoon from its social media after being called out for evoking antisemitic imagery (Haaretz, 12/16/21; FAIR.org 1/14/22).

Fox star Tucker Carlson has also accused Soros of waging a kind of warpolitical, social and demographic waron the West, in his recent documentary, Hungary vs. Soros: The Fight for Civilization (Fox News, 1/26/22).

In an interview with Watters about the documentary, Carlson said Soros is seeking to create a society that is more dangerous, dirtier, less democratic, more disorganized, more at war with themselves, less cohesive (Fox News, 1/25/22).

This anti-Soros rhetoric sounds eerily similar to that of Robert Bower, the Pittsburgh Tree of Life Synagogue shooting suspect who allegedly killed 11 people during Shabbat services in 2018. Bower (Washington Post, 10/28/18) once tweeted:

Jews are waging a propaganda war against Western civilization and it is so effective that we are headed towards certain extinction within the next 200 years and were not even aware of it.

Also a target of the puppet master trope: Michael Bloomberg. In 2020, Fox News anchor Raymond Arroyo described the billionaire and former New York City mayor, who is Jewish, as a Biden puppet master (Fox News, 3/5/20). The comments sparked backlash from the ADL, which contended that the use of the trope, even unintentionally, played a role in mainstreaming antisemitism.

Tucker Carlson (Fox News, 9/21/21) said Democrats want to change the racial mix of the country: This policy is called the great replacement, the replacement of legacy Americans with more obedient people from far-away countries (Media Matters, 9/23/21).

In October, Jewish groups condemned Carlsons defense of Replacement Theory (Daily Beast, 4/9/21)the idea that immigrants and people of color are entering the US to reduce the political power of white Americans (Media Matters for America, 4/8/21; FAIR.org, 10/20/21). The theory is linked to antisemitism because its often claimed an elite Jewish cabal is leading the replacement. A popular conspiracy theory in 2018 claimed Soros himself was organizing the caravan of Central American migrants to the US border (Washington Post, 10/28/18).

Among Carlsons fan-base are a group of neo-Nazis and white supremacists who attended the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, where Jews will not replace us was a prominent chant. Facing a lawsuit for taking part in the deadly demonstration while serving time in prison for an unrelated crime, neo-Nazi Christopher Cantwell reportedly watched Carlson with other white supremacists to prepare for the trial, according to a former inmate (BuzzFeed News, 10/28/21). Cantwell also mentioned Carlson in court documents, saying his trial was intended to silence white supremacists and those who agree with them, even on peripheral issues. He went on:

This is evidenced by the president of the United States, and the second most popular show in cable news (Tucker Carlson) being branded as white nationalists on account of sharing a small number of our views on the pressing issues of our time.

Neither Carlson nor Fox has commented on the neo-Nazi endorsement of the show.

Carlson has also downplayed the January 6 insurrection, whose participants included Holocaust deniers and neo-Nazis, asserting that it was not an act of terrorism (Fox News, 1/7/22). On hand for what Carlson (7/7/21) described as a fake insurrection where elderly people showed up with signs on the Capitol were Tim Gionet, a livestreamer known as Baked Alaska who has promoted antisemitic conspiracy theories online; the Nationalist Social Club neo-Nazi group; a man wearing a Camp Auschwitz sweatshirt; and another wearing a shirt reading 6MWE, which stands for 6 million wasnt enough.

In 2021, Fox News commentator Lara Logan faced condemnation from Jewish advocacy groups for comparing Dr. Anthony Fauci to Nazi doctor Josef Mengele, who performed deadly pseudoscientific experiments on Auschwitz prisoners (Fox News, 11/30/21). It is disrespectful to victims & a sad symptom of moral and intellectual decline, tweeted the Auschwitz Museum in response. Neither Fox nor Logan apologized; in fact, Logan retweeted a defense of her comments.

As FAIR (FAIR.org, 6/24/21; CounterSpin, 10/7/21) has reported in the past, using an uptick in certain crime categories to stoke fear of street crime allows corporate outlets to push a pro-police agenda, while blaming social justice, anti-police violence movements for crime.

In early February, Fox News (2/3/22) reported on President Joe Bidens visit to New York City and rejection of calls to defund the police, citing the citys rise in crimes, including hate crimes:

Hate crimes also surged 72% in New York City last month, driven mostly by a 275% increase in crimes against Jewish people.

Its a trend that started last year, as hate crimes rose 96% in 2021 .

Framing the primary problem as crime and not hate allows hiring more police to be presented as the solution. And hate-mongering outlets like Fox News, the New York Post and Wall Street Journal dont have to address their own antisemitism and anti-Asian racism.

FAIRs work is sustained by our generous contributors, who allow us to remain independent. Donate today to be a part of this important mission.

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Murdoch-Owned Outlets Ignore Their Own Role in Hate Crime Surge - FAIR

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Posted By admin on March 8, 2022

Some of the most precious memories that our good friend Mona has from her childhood are the summers she spent with her grandmother Mamamohtaram in Tehran.

Her grandmother lived on the ground floor of a three-story building with high walls and a large garden.Her elder son and his family lived on the middle floor and the younger son and his family lived on the top floor. Her kitchen was the center of all the action. Her daughters in law would come downstairs to help her prepare breakfast for the family. As soon as breakfast was cleared from the table, her grandmother would start cooking huge lunches. There was a little courtyard off the kitchen where she and the housekeeper would pluck chickens, wash and soak the rice, trim the herbs and chop the vegetables.

Her grandmother was happiest when she was feeding everyone. She would spend mealtimes making sure that everyone had a full plate rather than eating food herself.

Mamamohtaram was determined that Mona and her siblings enjoy the crown of Persian cuisineShiran Polo (sweet rice). Traditionally served on Rosh Hashana and other festive occasions, Monas grandmother made it for a regular Friday night dinner during their summer vacation. Mona remembers the love and patience that she put into preparing all the toppings that go into and on top of the rice. She would candy thin strips of orange peel, roast pistachios and julienne the carrots by hand. She would saut barberries and raisins with sweet spices. Then she would layer all these ingredients on top of fragrant saffron steamed rice.

After the Iranian Revolution, Monas grandmother and her extended family moved to Los Angeles. Whenever Mona would travel from New York for Rosh Hashana and other special occasions, Mamamohtaram would make jeweled rice. She was in a different country and a different kitchen but it was the same incredibly delicious rice.

Persian cuisine is rich with intricately spiced and flavored khoresht stews like Ghormeh Sabzi made from five different herbs and red kidney beans, Fesenjan made with chicken and walnuts in a sweet and sour pomegranate sauce and Gheima made with meat, yellow lentils, dried lemon and spices. There are roasted meats, fish, duck and chicken and all the grilled koobidehs (kebab style meats and chicken). And they all go on top of rice. Basmati rice.

The Persian rice cooking process is precise and includes many steps. First, the rice is rinsed four to five times, then it is left to soak for at least an hour. The drained rice is added to a pot of boiling water. After it is cooked till al dente, the rice is washed and drained, then returned to a pot with oil on the bottom. The top of the pot is covered with a towel or a double layer of paper towel and the lid. The heat is turned to low and the rice is left to steam.

Shiran Polo is a truly spectacular dish. The rice is steamed so that each grain is separate and then the top layer is stained yellow with saffron water.

Shiran Polo, also known as Jeweled Rice, is a truly spectacular dish. The rice is steamed so that each grain is separate and then the top layer is stained yellow with saffron water. Then the rice is layered with the delicately spiced toppingscarrots, sliced almonds, pistachios, orange peel, currants, raisins and barberries.

In the past, Zereshk, the tart barberries that give this dish its uniquely sour notes, were expensive and hard to find, so it is no wonder that Shiran Polo was reserved for Rosh Hashana, weddings and other festive occasions.

We were experimenting in the kitchen and we came up with our own recipe. We caramelized onions, sauted some Zereshk and raisins, toasted some almonds and pistachios, popped open a bag of candied orange peel and shredded carrots. We washed and soaked the rice but we skipped the step of parboiling and rinsing again.

We served the dish at one of our girls nights and we were all obsessed with the delicious flavors.

We thought wed share our much simpler Sephardic Spice Girls version of this rice in honor of the month of Adar and the very Persian holiday of Purim.

Saffron strands1/2 cup hot water3 cups Basmati rice4 tablespoons olive oil3 teaspoons kosher salt2 cups shredded carrotsAvocado or vegetable oil for frying1 onion, finely diced1/3 cup sliced almonds1/3 cup raw pistachios1/3 cup barberries1/3 cup golden raisins1/3 cup candied orange peel

Sharon Gomperts and Rachel Emquies Sheff have been friends since high school. The Sephardic Spice Girls project has grown from their collaboration on events for the Sephardic Educational Center in Jerusalem. Upcoming events include interviewing Chef Shimi Aaron at the WIZO Purim Luncheon and a Sharsheret Passover Cooking Webinar. Follow them on Instagram @sephardicspicegirls and on Facebook at Sephardic Spice SEC Food. Website sephardicspicegirls.com/full-recipes

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The Crown of the Persian Kitchen: Jeweled Rice - Jewish Journal

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Posted By admin on March 8, 2022

A new downtown food and dining destination, known as High Street Place, has officially opened its doors in Boston.

Located between 160 Federal St. and 100 High St. in the citys Financial District, it features 20 distinct vendors across its 20,000 square foot floorspace in the five story tall atrium located between the two buildings.

While the food hall opened to much fanfare and celebration on Wednesday, March 2, it came two years later than originally anticipated due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on society particularly the absence of business workers, social outings and restaurant dining in downtown all core pillars to the food halls success.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu spoke to organizers, food hall restaurant owners and those in attendance before its 10 a.m. opening to the general public, saying it was heartwarming to see the project bring life back into the space and to downtown.

Downtown, for a while, became a ghost town, she said, highlighting the absence of many people who would have frequented the food hall in the two years it laid dormant after its original March 2020 opening was dashed.

[High Street Place] will represent a collection of the citys most cutting-edge chefs and entrepreneurs and a home for downtown to continue blossoming, Wu said.

Boston Chief of Economic Opportunity and Inclusion Segun Idowu, City Council President Ed Flynn and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu at the food hall's opening on Wednesday.

She added that part of the citys comeback from COVID is bringing the new vitality of the food court into every part of the city.

Let us make sure that we continue building on that legacy of bringing each and every one of our neighborhoods into downtown, bringing the energy downtown into each and every one of our neighborhoods, and making sure that our collective recovery leaves us stronger, more vibrant, healthier, and more connected across our entire city, she said.

Segun Idowu, the citys chief of economic opportunity and inclusion, echoed the mayors words.

He said that the space created at High Street Place can be replicated across the city using the creativity and vibrancy on display at the food hall.

Idowu said making the space and area around the food hall sustainable, vibrant, accessible, open and inclusive for all Bostonians and visitors to the city is the top priority of his cabinet.

Were here to make sure that when the workforce returns, that theyre able to take advantage of spaces like this and many others, Idowu added alongside the mayor and City Council President Ed Flynn.

Fred Borges, managing director of Rockpoint Group, a private equity firm which helped bring the food hall to fruition, said the project first started in Spring 2017 when the previously underutilized atrium began to be reimagined.

In the creation of the space, no detail was overlooked, Borges said. Everything was deliberately designed to offer the public the best possible experience in Bostons downtown neighborhood.

He noted the space paid tribute to the history of 160 Federal St. through its Art Deco style details in addition to an assorted greenwall in the atrium featuring 4,000 individual lights, a 28 by 11 foot screen for multi-content viewing and rectangular acoustical panels in the atriums window boxes.

The High Street Place Food Hall had its grand opening on Wednesday March 2, two years after it was supposed to open in 2020.

Boston is a resilient city that knows how to move forward in the face of adversity, Borges said, thanking vendors for their continued commitment to the exceptional project and for their patience throughout the delay in opening.

On Wednesday, vendors also offered a taste of the world with Gorgeous Gelato offering Italian ice cream, Fuji at High Street Place specializing in Japanese cuisine, Kutzu specializing in Southeast Asian and Korean cuisines and HumOveh offering Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisines.

One of those vendors is Rachel Miller Munzer, one of seven co-owners of Mamalehs, a Jewish delicatessen with two other locations in Cambridge and Brookline, alongside sister restaurants State Park and Vincents.

Miller Munzer called the opening on Tuesday exciting, adding that it was a long time in the making.

She said that opening in 2020 certainly wasnt the right time, but feels the timing of Wednesdays opening is right and hoped for a busy first day.

The deli has been previously based in neighborhoods outside the hustle and bustle of the downtown and Miller Munzer said while the food hall means stepping outside their comfort zone as a co-owned business, Mamalehs is a fitting concept for the crowds and residents of downtown out for business, meet-ups and entertainment.

Miller Munzer noted that for the food halls vendors, while the wait to open is finally over, for some, the food hall has been their only project, leaving them on hold for two years.

Even though theres all this fanfare, and its very exciting, I think its really important for people to remember that restaurants are really struggling still, and that the pandemic is not actually over, Miller Munzer said, adding it will still be a while before businesses fully recover.

Click here for MassLives Facebook Live of the food hall.

High Street Place Food Hall officially opened on Wednesday March 2, two years after it was supposed to open in 2020.

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High Street Place officially opens in downtown Boston, after two year delay, with 20 vendors ready to welcome - MassLive.com

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Posted By admin on March 8, 2022

Dinner at the Koschitzkys Napa Valley homewhen Sam and Nada Simon have flown in from Michigan to joinmight involve baba ghanoush, tabbouleh or fattoush, lamb marinated in Baharat (a spice blend that is to Middle Eastern cooking what garam masala is to Indian cuisine) and baklava, always baklavaDana Koschitzky is a pastry chef, after all. The families hail from two disparate parts of the Middle east, but they join together over the shared flavors of their tables. And over the last four or five years, theyve come together over personal experience too, their tragic family histories a springboard for launching one of Napas newest exciting wine brands: Simon Family Estate.

Its an alliance of two immigrant families. The Simons are from Iraq, the Koschitzkys from Israel. Over a lineup of new Simon Family wines recently, Sam Simon and Maayan Koschitzkywho lovers of great Napa bottles know as the director of winemaking for Philippe Melkas acclaimed winemaking group Atelier Melkaspin their very separate family stories. What my iPhone records, against the backdrop of new tragedy looming in Eastern Europe as we speak, is eerily similar displacement and loss, but also the synergy of parallel life paths.

Sam Simons story begins in the Armenian genocide of the early 1900s, in which his grandfather lost his entire family, surviving only by escaping across the border from Turkey into northern Iraq. There, Simons father grew up and built a thriving shoe-manufacturing business, even supplying boots to the military. But a successful Armenian Catholic was less than welcome in Iraq, and under threat the family was forced to decamp to Lebanon, empty-handed. Two hundred dollars, a gift from the church, brought Simons parents and his four siblings to Michigan, where they had friends. The rest, he says, was the American dream. But as that dream is wont to be fulfilled, he describes long hours of menial work (cleaning tools and pumping gas in the small group of stations his father came to own), and the intrepid purchase, when he was only 19, of a single big rig to dive into diesel at a time when Shell would have none of it. (His official uniform spoke of a battalion of employees, when there was only the one truck and one very young man.) Values born of family bootstrappingthat work ethic, self-reliance, family, finding the right people (including Nada, who he hired away from Ford Motor Co. before he could even afford the salary and car she demanded)grew the single truck into the Atlas Oil company of today.

Koschitzkys tale loops even closer to the news of the day. His mothers family, from Hungary, was loaded en masse onto trains bound for Auschwitz. Only his grandparents18 years old at the timeescaped the fences, fled into the forest, made their way to Italy and from there boarded a boat to Israel. The camp numbers branded on their arms seared Koschitzkys young memory. On his fathers side, in Poland, his grandparents were among the lucky few not herded into the Warsaw ghetto; released by the Soviet Union, they opted to finally settle in Israel to help establish a Jewish homeland. For his part, Koschitzky threw down in support of the country as well, as a paratrooper in the Israeli military, where, he tells me, you always see combat. I brought friends home in boxes. It was a focus on wine equipment as a mechanical engineering student at the University of Tel Aviv that captured and redirected him. I applied for an internship at a winery, he says, and never looked back.

As the stories continue to spool, we begin tasting and the beauty in our glasses is, on one hand, a disconnect with the struggles my phone is still recording. On the other, its both product and promise of cross-cultural collaboration, or as Nada Simon says, making the most of all of our cultures togetherIraqi, Israeli and American. First up, the Simon Family Estate 2021 Tigress Ros of Grenache indulges Nadas tastesummer water, she calls it. From a tiny block of Grenache persevering in Rutherford and priced at $35, it cant be a good business model, but its deliciousdry and aromatic, bursting with rose petals, strawberry and peach laced with grapefruit and lime zest. Up next, a reference pointdefying 2019 Golden Ore Sauvignon Blanc, from old, dry-farmed vines, is complex, expressive and mouth-fulling. Wet-stone minerality and a touch of flint balance high-soaring white blossom and citrus aromas over an interplay of stone fruit and grapefruit.

On the red side, the Simon Family Estate 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon over-delivers on its $125 price tag with beautiful dark fruit. Complex aromas of blackberry, plum, spice and earth give way to a fine-textured palate with appealing acidity. A pair of 2019 Cabs named Double Blessings, for the Simons (clearly dissimilar) twins, Michael and Peter, offer a fascinating contrast in styles possible across the valleyMichael, symbolized by a sword, leans on the structure and power of Coombsville fruit, exotic spice and savory herbs; Peter, represented by a key, expresses the more relaxed generosity of warmer, up-valley fruit, with mocha and florals punching up the wow factor. But the jewel in lineup is the Simon Family Estate 2019 Reserve Cabernet, more than flagship-worthy with impeccable balance and compelling complexity, brimming with beautiful fruitplum and berrylaced with crushed herbs, impressive structure giving way to a lush midpalate, and depth and texture unfolding in an endless finish. This one wont be released until early next year, making the winerys Founders Circlewhich you can join nowan awfully good place to be when it is. (Simon Family also has an Allocation tier, which gives you an opportunity to purchase within limits.)

So how does a self-described Hennessey man from Michigan morph into a California vintner passionate enough to put his family namesomething his father always said was all they hadon a new wine brand? (That at a time when many prominent family wineries are selling to big outside players: Araujo and its Eisele Vineyard, Colgin and the latest, Shafer.) In large part, credit Bill Harlan and the Napa Valley Reserve, where would-be winemakers can dip their toe in or take a deep dive. Simon describes buying in during the early aughts. We were so proud of that Simon sign on our five rows, he says. We made our own label. We got into the whole processpicking, crushing, destemming, bottling, labeling. It created an itch. He asked himself, How do I figure this out? The answer: Find the right people.

As it turns out, Koschitzky has built his winemaking businesses on the right people toolong-term relationships with growers who see eye to eye, meeting of minds on style and integrity. They met just a few years back, as Sam had known Maayan by reputation and asked him over for dinner while he was staying at Meadowood. The They hit it off even before they got around to the subject of wine and continued to meet after. Then, about a year and a half in, they decided in 2019 to start making wine together. And as the Koschitzkys and SimonsJewish Israelis and Armenian Christians (by way of Baghdad), respectivelyexplored all of the above in laying the groundwork for Simon Family Estate, their shared history and love of common foods (and, well, maybe a little bit of Screaming Eagle along the way, where Maayan once worked) expanded beyond business. We connect on a lot of levels, says Koschitzky, but mostly, this is personal.

By this time, were reading lunch menus. Sam Simon lifts his glass and says simply, To peace.

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How Iraqi and Israeli Immigrants Teamed Up to Create One of Napas Great New Wine Brands - Robb Report

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Posted By admin on March 8, 2022

Sergey Korenev was running out of time.

He watched his daughter Anna, 11, practice skateboarding in a park on a rainy Thursday night outside Portland, Oregon. His midnight flight will board in a few hours that will begin a long journey to the war in Ukraine. Sergey still has to pack, but he doesnt hurry her.

Sergey, 44, has been bringing Anna here to the park for a month and each time she gets better. He watched her roll down a small hill towards him. Come on, come on, come on Sergey said in Russian, smiling at the progress shes making.

Sergeys eldest daughter Maria, 17, was standing next to him with her hoodie pulled up. She doesnt look at her phone, even when Anna walks back up the hill and it turn quiet between her and her father. Sergeys mother is alone in her home outside Kyiv, hiding from shelling. Sergey wants to go home to rescue her, take her to Poland and then stay and fight.

Since the start of the Russian build up Sergey has been fixated on news, worried. On the night of the invasion Valentina Korenev, his ex-wife, texted him. He had already made his decision: he was going back to Ukraine.

Ive been monitoring the situation since last fall, like everybody, Sergey said through a translator, his brother Alex Korenev. But when it became a total invasion, I felt like I needed to do something. I could not watch it from afar.

Sergey is one of about 66,000 Ukrainians returning home to help fight the Russian invasion following President Volodymyrs Zelenskiys call for s Ukrainians abroad return to the homeland to fight the Russias. Korenev, whose family is Jewish, is one Ukrainian in the US answering the call.

Later that Thursday night in his apartment in Vancouver, Washington, Sergey laid his gear on a sofa. Laptop, headphones, gloves, new boots he still has to break in, a bag of insulin for his type 2 diabetes. Hes trying to get familiar with where all the pockets are in his new military-style backpack.

He doesnt carry much, but he takes care of what he does have. His Ukrainian passport isnt bent or worn. Only the stamps inside it give away how much its seen. He folds a scarf of Dynamo Kyiv soccer club into his bag. He opens a pouch with keys to his mothers home in Kyiv, checking to see if they are still there. He zips up the pouch and places it in his bag.

A lot of my friends are volunteers, in the territorial defense force. I can help them, because I know them, I told them I can bring what you need when you need it. So Ive gotten a list of supplies of what they need, he said.

Sergey sticks a small Ukrainian flag on the outside of the backpack. On a shelf obscured by a small television is a framed award, that hes not packing, from the Ukrainian special forces recognizing him for his work with veterans.

He is a huge patriot of Ukraine, said his brother Alex, who has lived in Vancouver, Washington, for 11 years. Hes going there because he feels that hes country is under assault and wants to help his brothers in arms. Alex said his brother felt the need to help in some way after he saw his friends killed in the Maiden revolution in 2013.

When fighting broke out in the eastern region of Donetsk in 2014, Sergey and Valentina, an interior designer, started a foundation to help those fighting. They lobbied companies to donate construction materials that they could use to fix apartments.

If a father or a son was killed in action, leaving behind a family with a roof to replace and plumbing to fix, they would do it for free. If a veteran returned from the war without meaning and purpose, with just a hammer or a paint brush, Sergey and Valentina would find them one.

They even helped the nascent Ukrainian military, as at the time a special forces unit was relocated to a barracks with bare walls. They made it livable with windows, doors, put floor in, paint it, and put some chairs and furniture, said Alex.

But, by immigrating to the US, he and Valentina had been trying to give their daughters a shot at a better life, at more opportunity. They wanted to try a better life, they have two young daughters and they thought its gonna be good for them to grow here and get good education, said Alex. They just won the lottery green card, if you win the lottery you use it.

Sergey has been embracing life in Americas Pacific north-west. Hes been exploring the craft beer landscape, hes been buying every time something new, a couple of cans and making photos and archiving it all, said Alex.

Sergey speaks Russian at home and is still learning English. Hes taken gig economy jobs that let him work while still learning the language, driving for Uber and Doordash. Since hes been doing DoorDash hes been exposed to a lot of different cuisine. For example, hes been taking Mediterranean stuff home, Chick-fil-A and a lot of pizza, Alex said.

Korenev is leaving home tonight on a mission with three objectives. First hes taking $9,000 in donations from Ukrainian community in Oregon. Hes flying to New York on to pick up some more donations from friends in the Ukrainian community there. Then hes flying to Warsaw, Poland, to cross the border over land. His second objective is to get to Kyiv as fast as possible to find his mother and get her to safety. He hopes to get her out of the country.

His final objective is to help win a war. Im going there to help my friends, they are my brothers in arms, Sergey said.

One of his final acts with his family was to drop off his Mercedes SUV at his ex-wifes home and to say goodbye.

Valentina had a gift waiting for him: a new pair of boots. He was surprised. He tried them on and then went to his bag and gave Maria the receipt for his other pair, with instructions to return them and keep the money.

His ex-wife is scared for him but supports his decision. I think its the right thing to do, Valentina said. I and our children are very worried, of course, but Ii agreed to help in any way I can. If I need to come, I will come to Ukraine. But for now, I can do more good from here.

Near midnight, at Portland international airport, Sergey walks with his daughters and brother towards security. He takes out the dollars in his wallet and hands them to Anna to keep. He sets his bag down and picks Anna up, holding her in the air. A couple try to get past Sergeys group and stop. One of them points to the Ukrainian flag sticking out of his bag, aware of whats happening, and they both back away for a moment to watch Sergey say goodbye to his family.

Maria holds her younger sister, after their father has left, letting her cry in her arms.

When asked about how she feels about her dad leaving to join the war effort, Maria has a simple answer: Scared? No, Im proud.

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I can help them: one mans journey from Portland to Ukraines frontlines - The Guardian

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Posted By admin on March 8, 2022

CHISINAU, Moldova At a synagogue in central Chisinau on Monday, an Israeli social worker, Omer Hod, had a flash of historical vertigo. Ms. Hods ancestors had lived in Chisinau more than a century ago, surviving a devastating pogrom in 1903 before emigrating to what became Israel. Now their descendant had returned to the Moldovan capital this time not as a victim, but as a rescuer.

Its like closure for me, said Ms. Hod, a 26-year-old from Jerusalem who had come to Chisinau to help with the evacuation to Israel of thousands of Jewish refugees from Ukraine.

Back then, it was almost a shame to be Jewish, Ms. Hod said. Now, people want to show they are Jewish so that they can be evacuated.

Today, as in the early 1900s, Jews are once again escaping violence in southeast Europe. But the context is radically different cathartically so for the many Israelis who have come here to join the relief effort.

A century ago, Jews fled widespread antisemitic attacks in cities like Chisinau and Odessa pogroms that helped spur early Zionists to emigrate independently to Palestine. Today, the violence is not antisemitic. And this time around, representatives of the Jewish state, as well as an unusually high number of independent Israeli aid organizations, are now waiting at Ukraines borders to shepherd Ukrainian Jews to Israel.

The pogrom in Chisinau, also known as Kishinev, was a very central event that drove modern Zionism, the Israeli prime minister, Naftali Bennett, said in a phone interview on Monday. In the same Kishinev, right now, were saving Jews, Mr. Bennett added. The raison dtre of Israel is to be a safe haven for every Jew in danger. We didnt have it in 1903. We have it now.

The Israeli government expects 20,000 Ukrainian Jews to emigrate to Israel, 10 percent of the estimated Jewish population in Ukraine, and says it is also seeing a rise in applications from Russian Jews. More than 2,000 Ukrainians have already been flown to Israel since the start of the war, nearly 500 of whom have at least one Jewish grandparent.

Teams from the Jewish Agency, a nonprofit organization that operates in coordination with the Israeli government and assists Jews interested in immigrating to Israel, are waiting in several European countries to organize their emigration. Israeli aid and emergency groups like United Hatzalah of Israel and IsraAID are at the border crossings to provide medical and psychological support, to both Jews and non-Jews, and often to provide temporary accommodation. Israeli airliners are waiting in regional airports to fly new immigrants to Tel Aviv.

At the diplomatic level, Mr. Bennett has played a central role in negotiations between Russia and Ukraine. While he has been criticized for not taking a stronger stance against the Russian invasion, Mr. Bennetts neutral position has allowed him to assume a mediation role that analysts consider to be unprecedented for an Israeli leader during a war between other countries.

This combined Israeli aid and diplomatic effort has moved many Israelis, especially those on the ground in Europe.

It feels like its some kind of repair, said Jill Shames, another Israeli social worker at the synagogue whose ancestors also escaped nearby pogroms in the late 1800s.

Like Ms. Hod, Ms. Shames was providing psychological support to refugees, on behalf of United Hatzalah. Were doing now what we couldnt do then, said Ms. Shames.

The Agudath Israel synagogue is one of several hubs in the city serving as a staging post for Ukrainian Jews on their way to Israel. On Monday, the building was a crowded carousel of people coming and going, some just arriving from the border, others piling into buses that would take them to an airport in eastern Romania. Some families were sleeping in the synagogue itself, a few yards from its Torah scrolls.

Most were too exhausted to think about any grand historical parallels.

Nothing particularly strikes me right now Ive had such a hard week and a half, said Israel Barak, a 71-year-old Israeli who had just arrived from a village near Kyiv, where he had lived with his Ukrainian wife for four years. The couple had managed to bring their cat, Belka, but not their dog a thought that drove Mr. Barak to tears.

Several had only a distant connection to Judaism. Mr. Baraks wife, Tatiana Khochlova, 66, is a non-Jew who doesnt speak Hebrew; the pair met on a dating website, and communicate through an online translation application.

March 8, 2022, 4:47 a.m. ET

I never thought Id do anything like this! Ms. Khochlova said in Russian, via a translator.

Nearby, a young woman from Kyiv said she and her mother were more likely to head to Europe than Israel.

Israel is quite far, and we have a dog, said Daria Ishchenko, 23, nodding at her beagle, Barcelona. Im not ashamed to say Im Jewish or that Im Ukrainian, she said. But were not that religious.

Hurrying to and fro, the chief rabbi of Moldova, Pinhas Zaltzman, complained about a shortfall in funding from international donors, including the Israeli government; Rabbi Zaltzman had plowed his own savings into the relief effort, and was now down to his last $1,700, he said.

At least half the people the rabbi was sending by bus to Romania had no documents that could prove their Jewish roots, he said.

Were making every effort to help every human, Rabbi Zaltzman said. Were not checking.

For some Jews in Israel, this fact has prompted unease both because of fears that it could dilute Israels Jewish character, and because it is a laissez-faire approach that some feel has not been granted to would-be immigrants from other Jewish backgrounds, including Ethiopian-born Jews.

A third round of talks. Ukrainian and Russian delegations met for another negotiating sessionand agreed to try again to open humanitarian corridors for civilians leaving Ukrainian cities under attack, but made no progress on ending the war.

Pnina Tamano-Shata, an Ethiopian-born minister in the Israeli cabinet, accused colleagues of double standards in a television interview last week, calling discrimination against Ethiopian Jews disheartening.

Others argued that Israel should, in fact, do even more to welcome non-Jewish Ukrainians. And many also warned that for all the fanfare with which the Israeli state was now welcoming Ukrainian Jews, it had not made life easy for earlier waves of Ukrainian and other Russian-speaking Jews who arrived in the 1990s.

About a million Russian-speaking Jews emigrated to Israel following the collapse of the Soviet Union, many of whom qualified for Israeli citizenship through their Jewish ancestry but are not considered Jewish by Israels religious establishment because they do not have a Jewish mother or had not converted to Orthodox Judaism. That makes it harder for them to marry or receive a religious burial.

For the new wave of Ukrainian immigrants, this will pose a long-term problem, said Ksenia Svetlova, a Russian-born Israeli commentator and former lawmaker. They will run into the iron wall of the rabbinate, or religious establishment. The question of their status will surface when they want to get married here or, god forbid, die here, Ms. Svetlova added.

To Palestinians, the prospect of a new wave of Jewish immigrants raises the possibility that some will settle in the occupied West Bank, making it even harder to establish a Palestinian state on that territory. Thousands of Russian speakers from earlier waves of immigration now live in the West Bank, including the current finance minister.

Israel is welcoming Ukrainians at the expense of the Palestinians and their land, said Nehad Abu Ghosh, a Palestinian political analyst and independent member of the Palestinian National Council.

But in the synagogue in Chisinau, what mattered most was that thousands of refugees were finally safe.

I feel like history has been turned on its head, said Ms. Shames, the social worker with roots in southeast Europe.

As if to illustrate her point, Ms. Shames was approached by a passing Moldovan woman.

From Israel? the woman asked Ms. Shames.

Then the woman smiled, and unbuttoned her jacket to reveal her necklace.

It was a Star of David.

Reporting was contributed by Myra Noveck in Jerusalem, Gabby Sobelman in Rehovot, Israel, and Rawan Sheikh Ahmad in Haifa, Israel.

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Once Victims in Southeast Europe, Jews Come to Aid Fleeing Ukrainians - The New York Times

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Posted By admin on March 8, 2022

In the twenty-first century a democratic European country is being invaded by a totalitarian aggressor and the world watches and does not intervene militarily. History does indeed repeat itself. It is eerily reminiscent of how the world stood by in silence in the twentieth century as another totalitarian dictator gobbled up Czechoslovakia and Austria. Appeasing evil is never the solution. The free world is bombarded with images of destroyed cities and we hear about civilian deaths and MILLIONS of refugees and yet, besides offering words of condemnation, shelter for refugees, and economic sanctions, there is no real military support on the ground as the Ukrainian armed forces and people battle alone against the Russian juggernaut engaged in a military invasion with the aim of occupying the country. They are using massive force which indiscriminately targets the civilian population. What will we tell our children?

Of the many images from the current Russian war of aggression, one that stands out in my eyes, is that of one hundred Ukrainian Jewish orphans arriving in Israel. In 1942 these helpless Jewish orphans would have been murdered by the Nazis, and their helpers, for the crime of being Jewish. There was no where to run and no one to protect them.

Ukrainian Jewish orphans arriving in Israel. Photo (c) Zionist Federation of Australia, 2022

Thank God we live in 2022 where it is a blessing to be Jewish. There is a place to seek refuge and to protect Jews where ever we are. We no longer have to rely on the pity of our host nations, but are in control of our own destiny. This new reality is all because of the very existence of the State of Israel and the IDF. Natan Sharansky eloquently summarized the difference that eighty years make for us Jews.

When I was growing up in Ukraine, in Donetsk, there were a lot of nations and nationalities. There were people who had Russian, Ukrainian, Georgian, Kozaki written on their IDs. It was not so important, there was no big difference, but one thing was important if it said Jew, it was as if you had an illnessI was reminded of it this this week when I saw thousands of people standing at the borders, trying to escape the tragedy in Ukraine. They stand there day and night, and there is only one word that can help them get out of there: Jew. If you are a Jew there are Jews out there who take care of you, there is someone on the other side of the border who is looking for you, your chances of leaving are high. The world has turned upside down. When I was a child, Jew was an unusual word for evil, no one envied us, and today on the Ukrainian border a Jew is an unusual word for good, it describes people who have a place to go and there is an entire nation , which is their family, waiting for them outside.

Natan Sharansky. Illustration, (c) T. Book, 2022

Like the mythical Phoenix arising from the ashes of Europe, our State arose and was reborn. Nobody handed us our State, in the words of Chaim Weitzman, on a silver platter. It rose because of the selfless courage of generations of selfless young men and women who were and are still prepared to step forward and walk the walk. For just as in the previous century the young Chalutzim (Pioneers) recreated a brave new Jewish land by planting our land one tree at a time and revived our language one word at a time and restored our sense of self-worth one defender at a time, so today we are blessed with a generation of young boys and girls who serve in the IDF. They stand for what it means to have our own country. A country that will aid those less fortunate whatever their religion, race, or creed. In addition to sending in tons of vital supplies, the State of Israel is currently in the process of building a mobile field hospital in Ukraine. Israel strives to be a light unto the nations. Daniel Gordis succinctly summed it up when he stated that, in addition to striving for the benefit our own citizens,

This country has become a country, with all of its imperfections, that sees as part of its purpose as looking out for other people.

We live in an age of miracles and wonders. We live in an age of having our own Jewish state that will happily absorb our Jewish brothers and sisters from the four corners of the earth. The hope (Hatikvah) of two thousand years, to be a free people in our land is indeed a reality. What a difference eighty years makes!

Dr. Tuvia Book was born in London and raised in both the UK and South Africa. After making Aliya at the age of 17 and studying in Yeshiva he volunteered for the IDF, where he served in an elite combat unit. Upon his discharge he completed his BA at Bar-Ilan University, as well as certification in graphic design. He then served as the Information Officer at the Israeli Consulate of Philadelphia, while earning a graduate degree in Jewish Studies. Upon his return to Israel, Dr. Book graduated from a course of study with the Israeli Ministry of Tourism, and is a licensed tour guide.Tuvia has been working in the field of Jewish Education, both formal and informal, for many years. He has guided and taught Jewish students and educators from around the English-speaking world for some of Israels premier educational institutions and programs. Tuvia has been guiding groups for Birthright Israel since its inception and, in addition, has lectured throughout North America, Australia, Europe and South Africa. Tuvia served as a Shaliach (emissary) for the Jewish Agency for Israel as the Director of Israel and Zionist Education at the Board of Jewish Education of Greater New York (Jewish Education Project). He was a lecturer/educational guide at the Alexander Muss Institute for Israel Education (AMIIE) in Israel for a decade. Tuvia has lectured at both Bar Ilan University and Hebrew University. He was a Senior Editor and Teaching Fellow at the Tikvah Fund. He is a research associate at the Hudson Institute.Tuvia is the author and illustrator the internationally acclaimed Israel education curriculum; "For the Sake of Zion; A Curriculum of Israel Studies" (Fifth edition, Koren 2017), and "Moral Dilemmas of the Modern Israeli Soldier" (Rama, 2011) and has a doctorate in Israel Education. His latest book, "Jewish Journeys, The Second Temple Period to the Bar Kokhba Revolt 536 BCE-136 CE," was published by Koren this year. To order: https://korenpub.com/products/jewish-journeys

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Being a Jew in Ukraine: The difference eighty years makes - The Times of Israel

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