Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on January 30, 2022

Today we would like to pay tribute to all those who lost their lives in the Holocaust. May their history inspire us to work responsibly for peace, dignity of life, dignity and liberty of every individual and country Bishop Rafal Markovsky, Chairman of the Committee on Dialogue with Judaism at the Polish Bishops Conference, appealed.

On the eve of the International Holocaust, which marks the anniversary of the release of Auschwitz-Birkenau, a former German Nazi concentration camp, Bishop Rafal Markovsky, chairman of the KEPs Committee on Dialogue with Judaism, issued a special statement. The word was given to the BAP by the press office of the Episcopate.

After St., the hierarchy was emphasized therein. John Paul II No one should be indifferent to Showas tragedy. This attempt to deliberately destroy an entire country casts a shadow over Europe and the rest of the world; it is a crime that has forever tainted the history of mankind, Bishop Markovsky wrote.

KEP, the leader of the Committee for Conversation with Judaism, stressed that the Holocaust experience is the direct opposite of command + that you love your neighbor as yourself.

Man, created in the image of God, received dignity and freedom with the gift of life, he stressed. The systematic annihilation of the Jewish people, the imprisonment and murder of citizens of almost all European countries occupied by Nazi Germany the trampling of the gift of life, dignity and human freedom is shocking Bishop Markovsky assessed.

As he stressed Today we want to pay tribute to all those who suffered in the Holocaust. We firmly believe that God is the God of life and that man lives eternally in God.

He also said that Holocaust Memorial Day is an opportunity to commemorate the heroic deeds of many famous and unknown personalities such as St. Maximilian Maria Golpe. .

May their history inspire us to respect the life, dignity and liberty of each individual and nation, and to pursue peace responsibly, Bishop Markovsky pleaded.

The Holocaust, also known as the Showa or Showa, was the genocide of European Jews committed by the Third German Reich during World War II. The number of victims is estimated at nearly 6 million, with one-third of these children. According to various sources, the number of Polish Jews among the victims of the Holocaust is estimated at 2.6 million to 3.3 million people.

On November 1, 2005, the United Nations declared January 27 as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The Red Army set a date to mark the anniversary of the liberation of the German Auschwitz-Birkenau camp.

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Bishop Markovsky: Today we want to pay tribute to all those who died in the Holocaust - brytfmonline.com

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Posted By admin on January 30, 2022

(JNS) After a high-profile debate surrounding the role of anti-Semitism in the Jan. 15 synagogue hostage crisis in Colleyville, Texas, an Israel-education organizations conference on cultivating greater understanding about anti-Semitism arguably could not have been timelier.

While the special agent in charge of the FBIs Dallas field office, Matthew DeSarno, raised eyebrows by initially saying the Colleyville attack was not specifically related to the Jewish community, FBI director Christopher Wray later described the attack as an act of terrorism targeting the Jewish community.

The episode amplified the theme of the StandWithUs International Conference 2022, which was already set to focus on the importance of defining anti-Semitism, and specifically, adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of anti-Semitism.

We cannot hope to defeat it if we cannot define it, StandWithUs CEO Roz Rothstein told participants of the Jan. 23 virtual conference, sponsored by the Adam and Gila Milstein Family Foundation, which drew more than 200 college students and 200 high school students.

In a pre-conference interview with JNS, Rothstein said the FBIs initial position on Colleyville brings up the need for education and informationthat every single one of us draws these red lines and has these conversations: Wait a second, it was Jews who were targeted.

We have to work hard to make sure people understand that anti-Semitism is anti-Jewish bigotry. We have to know it when we see it. Otherwise, we cant address it if we have such confusion about what it is, she said.

One day after the conference, StandWithUs on Monday launched Students 4 IHRA, a campaign to bring about wider adoption of the IHRA definition, which acknowledges that anti-Semitism can include the targeting of the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity.

There are people that are anti-Israel that want to separate Israel from the Jewish psyche, and we have to reinforce that Israel is a component of the identity of most Jewish people, said Rothstein. Half of the Jewish people in the world are living in Israel.

Addressing the conference, U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) spoke of the danger of letting anti-Semitic poison into the bloodstream of American political discourse, warning that sentiments on the far-left could devolve into those promoted by former British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn.

We have to be willing to speak out against the anti-Semitism in our own backyard, said Torres.

As a pro-Israel progressive, he spoke out against the BDS movements efforts to delegitimize Israel and ostracize progressive members of the pro-Israel community. He underscored the need to drive home the message that there are people like me who are pro-Israel not despite our progressive values, but because of them. Theres no country [in the Middle East] more protective of minority rights, womens rights, LGBTQ rights [than Israel] its a tableau of religious pluralism. By every metric, Israel is a profoundly progressive country and enterprise, and thats a message that needs to be driven home here in American politics.

Gil Troy, a distinguished scholar in North American history at McGill University and a leading Zionist activist, explained that understanding Judaism is a prerequisite to understanding Zionism. He said Judaism is not just a religion, but a mix of peoplehood and religion involving the Jewish people, the land of Israel and the State of Israel.

Troy said that today, traditional anti-Semitism is transferred to the Jewish state.

He raised the questions of why only Jews are asked to give up Zionisms nationalism when there are 192 countries around the world built around nationalism, and why Jews are asked to give anti-Zionists a pass when members of other marginalized groups would never be asked to downplay racism and hate.

Why do we Jews have to say, Oh, my goodness, they [anti-Zionists] might be somehow nice. Theyre not! he said.

TM Garret, a neo-Nazi turned human-rights activist, provided another perspective on anti-Semitism by telling the story of his step-by-step radicalization and subsequent transformation.

Im not the usual speaker you would expect for a conference like this, he acknowledged. You could say that my business is for the love of people, but it hasnt always been like that. Until 20 years ago, my business was hating people.

Growing up in Germany, Garret picked up anti-Semitic jokes and started repeating them as a way to get the attention he was seeking. He later embraced hateful music and skinhead culture; joined the National Democratic Party of Germany (a neo-Nazi party) and the Ku Klux Klan; and read The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, an anti-Semitic propaganda pamphlet based on a hoax.

It felt like I found the Holy Grail, and I had a chance to protect myself and my people against this enemy, like a superhero, he said of the Protocols. And lets be honest, which kid doesnt want to be a superhero, saving everyone?

TM Garret, a neo-Nazi turned human-rights activist. Source: Screenshot.

But when Garret experienced kindness first from his Turkish-Muslim landlord, then from the Jewish community in Memphis when he moved there in 2012, he said his hate started to crumble, and he gradually abandoned anti-Semitic and racist stereotypes. Today, he is in the process of converting to Judaism.

Former Associated Press reporter and editor Matt Friedman provided a wide selection of statistics on the medias disproportionate focus on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including how during his time at the AP from 2006 to 2011, the news agency had more staffers covering Israel and the disputed territories than it had covering the worlds most populous country: China.

He said media outlets will treat the approval of 100 new apartments over the Green Line as a major story, but not 100 rockets fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel because they are trying to align the news with a narrative that always frames Israel as the stronger side.

What if you zoomed out to the whole Middle East, the regional picture? Then Israels actions begin to make sense, he said, describing such coverage as an attempt to deliver a moral critique of Israeli Jews.

Rothstein noted the importance of vigilance in reporting anti-Semitism on social media and the need to hold corporate giants accountable when Jew-hatred goes unchecked on their platforms.

Its going to be up to organizations like ours, up to everyday people, up to Congress. Its dangerous. Are more people learning to hate as a result of an escalation of anti-Semitism on the Internet? The answer is yes, she told JNS.

In the realm of combating anti-Semitism at colleges and universities, she said the next frontier for Jewish and pro-Israel organizations is working to ensure that campus administrations are implementing safeguards against anti-Semitism and more quickly condemning it when it arises.

We see anti-Semitism on campus, whether its BDS or a social-media post by an anti-Semite who actually sounds dangerous, and we dont see the kind of response from the administration that needs to happen or would happen if it were any other minority group, she said. We want the same level of respect and care and safety for Jewish students and Zionist students on campus.

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'We cannot hope to defeat it if we cannot define it,' asserts those at conference on anti-Semitism - Jewish Journal

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Posted By admin on January 30, 2022

JTA Is it appropriate to call an ancient rabbi a legendary hottie? To use thirst in the online sense? To translate one talmudic voice replying to another as, Oh my God, what the actual fk is wrong with you, you misogynistic ageist dipst?

Miriam Anzovin, an ex-Orthodox artist in Boston, ignited debate over those questions this week, after making headlines in both North America and Israel for her series of TikTok videos responding to passages in the Talmud, the central text of rabbinic Judaism.

Anzovins way of talking about Talmud has been shocking for some. This is a particularly provocative and crude use of texts sacred to Judaism to rake in likes, tweeted Avishai Grinzaig, a prominent Orthodox activist and writer in Israel. This is not traditional, this is not religious continuity, this is not accessibility. Its just a disgrace.

Even among fans, Anzovins work is frequently praised as a pedagogical tool, useful to get more people engaged in Talmud study but still a sideshow or stepping stone to the more serious study that takes place in study halls and yeshivas.

But for many others, including me, Anzovins work is a natural outgrowth of something much larger: a new way of talking about Jewish texts and holy scripture that has come of age with the internet. Despite flying under the radar for many traditionalists, this form of communication about Torah is already fully developed, and it is time for it to be taken seriously as a genuinely new way of engaging with Jewish ideas.

The method of engagement is widespread, but does not yet have a name. It draws on shitposting, a term that originally referred to insincere and intentionally inflammatory remarks, but has since been adopted by many affinity groups of urban transportation, of Star Trek and of Torah to refer to a method of discussing ideas that oscillates rapidly between sarcasm and sincerity and doesnt treat foul language or off-color humor as out of bounds. Though I have participated in such groups for years Facebooks Shitpost the Beit Midrash group is a personal favorite until seeing Anzovins videos I had never put much thought into how these conversations were supposed to fit into the grander narrative of Jewish discourse.

This kind of discourse is easy to find if you know where to look. On both Facebook and Twitter, there are an endless number of well-populated groups and accounts dedicated to Torah memes; as Anzovins viral fame makes clear, TikTok, too, is an emerging frontier for this content. Content in these groups is irreverent by default; it frequently contains profanity and sexual innuendo, and is not afraid to criticize even the most respected rabbis.

Someone unfamiliar with the tone of these groups might think that contributors are disdainful of Judaism or even on the verge of leaving it behind entirely. But this could not be further from the truth: Many contributors are rabbis and Jewish educators, and they are extending one of the oldest components of Jewish discourse: criticism.

SHALOM FRIENDS! Its #dafreactions Moed Katan 12! the sages cant stop judging each other ???? & Rav Ashi is no Gimli with an axe! #dafyomi #jewtok

original sound Miriam Anzovin

Criticism of Jewish texts is nothing new; the first critic of the Bible is other parts of the Bible. The Talmud itself actively encourages interrogation of even the most sacred texts; one well-known story relates that the sage Rabbi Yochanan was deeply saddened that his study partner kept agreeing with his interpretations. Medieval commentators put each other down with invective that still seems harsh today; decode a page of the Talmud and you will quickly discover a war zone.

Today, students of Jewish texts are still taught to question everything they study, and these questions are frequently the seeds from which additional insights into the Torah grow. It is not a stretch to say that the entire edifice of Torah study would crumble if criticism were forbidden. It is foundational.

In the modern era, this tradition of criticism has taken on a new urgency because it is, for many people, what allows them to maintain a relationship with texts that can feel in turns misogynistic, homophobic and obsessed with ritual minutiae. When Leviticus says that it is an abomination for two men to have sex, I could meet the moment with pensive laments that, yes, some parts of Torah are difficult, but we must try our best to understand. Or, I could say to the text: I love you very much, but this is ridiculous. That the first form is better received does not make it more legitimate. Though it has its place, restricting critique to only the softer form can have the effect of intellectualizing concerns that are felt viscerally, effectively minimizing those concerns in the process.

The appeal of sharp-tongued critiques is about more than just the ability to let loose. Its about being able to bring ones whole self to religious conversations. Playing rough with the tradition also communicates a confidence that it is impervious to our barbs. Conversely, tone-policing the expression of Jewish ideas especially when it comes from a gender that has not been in a position to write centuries worth of commentaries telegraphs an underserved fragility, one that ensures a generation of approved Jewish ideas that are removed from the concerns of actual people.

On the internet, this sharper form of criticism has flourished. Until now, both contributors to and observers of the genre have spent little time theorizing about their own work, but it is time to acknowledge that meme-ified Torah is a genuinely new form of expressing Jewish ideas, one whose reach is already massive and is likely to grow further.

This form of Jewish discourse one that allows for both caustic and innocent humor, the one that treats absolutely nothing as off-limits has allowed for a far wider variety of relationships to the tradition, and it allows people to contribute to that tradition even if they do not personally have the wherewithal to write a monograph or give a sermon. It is not marginal; it is the future.

David Zvi Kalman is the scholar in residence and director of new media at the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America and the owner of Print-o-Craft Press. He holds a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania.

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Raunchy, sarcastic TikTok Talmud commentary isn't profane; it's Torah - The Times of Israel

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Posted By admin on January 30, 2022

Yudi Levine, a native Detroiter who now lives in Texas, has written a lively, funny, readable, informative book about what could be a forbidding topic legal thinking in the Talmud. This book is not for everyone, though. However, if you fit into the target audience, you will certainly want to read his book, Are You Sure? (Volume 1) How Chazakahs Guide Us Through the Unknown (Shikey Press).

The book focuses on a difficult problem in comparative law: What should courts do when we do not have clear evidence? What should we do when we do not have enough evidence, or when the evidence is unclear or contradictory?

Most of our lives, we do not have enough evidence to reach certainty, and yet we still have to decide.

Law courts certainly have to reach decisions. In law, some official has to have the power to decide. The legal system can emphasize rules for the official to follow if the ball crosses the plate above the batters knees or it can emphasize empowering the official if, in the opinion of the umpire, the ball crossed the plate.

The Talmud devotes much thought to the nature of the rules. In the Talmud, a rule to use in cases of doubt is called a chazakah, a legal presumption establishing burden of proof. A chazakah, in Levines definition, guides us through the unknown.

Levine provides us with a systematic classification of the different varieties of these rules. For each rule, he describes its function as it appears in the Talmud. Invariably, the Talmudic rabbis disagree about the scope and meaning of the rules, and later rabbis disagree about what the early rabbis meant. Levine guides us through the disputes with clear conceptual analyses.

This is real scholarship. The enthusiastic forward for this book was written by Noah Feldman, Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law at Harvard University and director of its Program of Jewish and Israeli Law.

So, the book provides significant material for serious study. But I described the book as funny, not a typical description of books of Talmudic analysis. Part of the humor comes from this: Levine illustrates each doubt with examples from the world of sports or of popular entertainment.

His examples typically convince the reader of the continuing need for systematic thinking about conflicts, and often show the current value of the resolutions suggested by Talmudic rabbis. These discussions startle by rubbing together material from different cultures.

Discussions of Talmudic thinking do not often consider the wisdom of the National Basketball Association when it decided to recognize Grant Hill and Jason Kidd as co-winners of the Rookie of the Year award.

Would it have been a greater honor to recognize one as Rookie of the Year of the Eastern Conference and the other of the Western Conference? Or does the shared honor as co-holder of the Rookie of the Year of the whole NBA seem greater?

Somehow, in Levines analysis, this question illuminates a dispute between Rambam and Tosfos about how to analyze the first Mishnah in Bava Metsiah, in which two disputants come to court, each holding the same garment and claiming the whole thing.

Discussions of Talmudic thinking do not often consider what Kanye West did when presenting an award to Taylor Swift at the 2009 Video Music Awards interrupting her presentation to imply that Beyonce deserved the award. Levine judges Kanye Wests opinion correct Beyonce deserved the award but the action inappropriate.

Levine uses this incident to illuminate the complex Talmudic discussion of a Kohen who seizes the agricultural tax that the farmer, by law, must donate to a Kohen of the farmers choice. If the court allows the Kohen to keep his ill-gotten gains, the farmer loses his right to choose a recipient, a right that perhaps should have no significant value. The farmer must not get paid for choosing one Kohen over another. Still, the court does extract the tax from the Kohen, according to Tosfos, as explained by Levine, because grabbing is simply not the appropriate course of action.

Many writers could evoke pop culture and sports to illustrate Talmudic discussions and still write desert-dry prose. Levines jazzy, improvisational and eccentric diction succeeds in conveying his meaning while inspiring an amused smile or even a good belly laugh.

But this book is not for everyone.

One limitation comes because Levine sprinkles his text with a generous supply of Hebrew and Aramaic terms and names, transliterated in Ashkenazic pronunciation.

Levine assumes his reader has at least some level of familiarity with the terms of Jewish law, with the sages of the Talmud and later contributors to rabbinic literature.

A second limitation comes from the opposite direction: Some people who know which end of a Talmud is up have kept away from popular culture. They might feel lost or offended by Levines examples.

The final limitation: Your reader has to have a sense of playfulness. I would not ask a somber person to try to read this book.

But, if you can navigate through a little Talmud, know some sports or pop culture and have a sense of humor, do yourself a favor and get a copy of Are You Sure? While you are at it, get some as presents for other folks who fit the description.

This is a happy book. Reading it makes me smile. One aspect of the book, however, inspires sad thoughts.

In a few years, the Talmudic analysis will still come across as fresh and accessible; anyone who studies Talmud would find them useful. By then the references to sports and popular culture may have become as obscure as anything in the Talmud; people might need detailed historical notes to make any sense of them at all.

The legal analysis in this book will retain relevance for decades, while other parts might become incomprehensible. Maybe that will create opportunities for future scholars.

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Talmudic Legal Thinking: Author Brings Humor, Sports and Celebrities to this Serious Topic Detroit Jewish News - The Jewish News

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Posted By admin on January 30, 2022

A Salford-based former teacher, Yankel Shepherd, has been banned from teaching indefinitely by the Education Secretary, Nadhim Zahawi, after serious charges of inappropriate sexual misconduct were made against him.

In his ruling after a panel hearing by the Teacher Regulation Agency which Mr Shepherd declined to attend the Secretary of State said that the severity of allegations meant that Mr Shepherd was prohibited from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or childrens home in England.

He added that Mr Shepherd would not be entitled to apply for restoration of his eligibility to teach although he has a right of appeal to the High Court for a month after receipt of his ban.

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The decision was made after a five day virtual hearing in which claims were made by two witnesses, known as Child A and Pupil X. Both witnesses gave details of specific misbehaviour committed by Yankel Shepherd, which took place at a Jewish community centre and a synagogue while he was a teacher at different strictly Orthodox schools.

Child A, who is now an adult, gave evidence of sexual abuse committed by Mr Shepherd in the 1980s, while Pupil Xs allegations related to abuse in 2018 and later. In both cases the teacher sought to isolate his victims in order to perpetrate abuse. The panel acknowledged that Mr Shepherd has not admitted either the facts of the allegation or that such conduct constituted unacceptable professional conduct or conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute.

Because he declined to attend the hearing the panel had to consider whether or not to proceed without him, noting that the only explanation that Mr Shepherd has given for not attending the hearing is that he has left the education sector and will not return.

The former teacher was initially employed from September 4 2009 at the Talmud Torah Chinuch NOrim school in Salford. On November 14 2012, Child A provided an account to the police of allegations against Mr Shepherd [for conduct that had taken place in the 1980s].

He was arrested on December 12 2012 and ceased working at the Talmud Torah Chinuch NOrim school in the week ending February 8 2013. But the police investigation came to an end in the summer of 2013 after Child A decided that he did not wish to proceed to give evidence against Mr Shepherd.

From October 1 2013, Mr Shepherd was employed as a teacher at Talmud Torah Yetev Lev School in London. He also worked as a Learning Support Assistant at the Oholei Yosef Yitzchok Lubavitch School in Salford.

Allegations were made that Mr Shepherd had behaved inappropriately towards Pupil X while working at Oholei Yosef Yitzchok Lubavitch School. Mr Shepherd was suspended on 23 October 2018 from his role at Talmud Torah Yetev Lev School. He resigned from that school. But on July 31 2019, the Crown Prosecution Service decided not to prosecute Mr Shepherd in respect of alleged offences relating to Pupil X.

Yehudis Goldsobel, chief executive of Migdal Emunah, the watchdog group against sexual abuse in the Jewish community, believes that Child A and Pupil X were failed by their community, since despite Mr Shepherds arrest he was able to gain employment at other Jewish schools, and received favourable references from previous employment. She also said there was a failure on the part of the criminal justice system, because the allegations against him were not pursued.

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Posted By admin on January 30, 2022

We all have our reasons for going on Tinder. For most of us, it's the need for company and the possibility of meeting somebody who could end up being the one! However, this wasn't why Shimon Hayut landed on the dating application. Using Tinder under the alias of Simon Leviev, he created the illusion of being a globetrotting businessman and misled multiple women into giving him huge sums of money. This is the story that made Felicity Morris and Netflix come up with 'The Tinder Swindler', the streaming giant's upcoming true-crime documentary.

The documentary follows three women who set out to bring down Hayut after he deceived them and robbed them of their life savings. The conman also made the women incur massive debts, with one of them opening multiple lines of credit just to fund his activities. For those new to true-crime documentaries, you could take a look at 'Don't F**k With Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer,' 'Tiger King,' 'Evil Genius: The True Story of America's Most Diabolical Bank Heist,' and 'Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes.'

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Born in 1991, Shimon Hayut grew up in a modest apartment in the orthodox city of Bnei Brak in central Israel. His father Yohanan Hayut is the chief rabbi of El Al Airlines. As a boy, Shimon studied in a Talmud Torah elementary school near his home.

Shimon began his acts of crime at the age of 20, stealing checks from a family of a 4-year-old that he babysat in Kiryat Ono. He did the same while working as a handyman at the home of a businessman in Herzliya Pituah. Shimon used that money to buy a Porsche and to take flying lessons. He also conned a classmate at the aviation school by making him invest in a non-existent deal.

In 2014, Shimon Hayut was accused of theft, forgery and fraud. However, he fled to Finland using a forged passport before he could be convicted. Hayut was charged with defrauding three women there and was sentenced to three years in prison. Following his prison sentence, he was extradited to Israel in 2017 where he discovered that the indictments against him had been updated. Hayut was arrested by the Israeli police but was released on bail, paid by his brother and a friend. It was during this time that Hayut created the identity of Simon Leviev. He also formally changed his last name to Leviev so that his driver's license and passport would be credible. He fled Israel for the second time soon after and started operating in Europe.

Calling himself Simon Leviev, Hayut started looking for his prey on Tinder. He claimed to be the wayward son of Lev Avernovich Leviev, a prominent Israeli businessman and billionaire. Hayut took the tag Prince of Diamonds from Lev, who is called the King of Diamonds due to his massive investments in the diamond mining industry. Hayut made his victims believe that he was Lev's prodigal son and that his family showered him with money to stay away from them. He'd lure them with his extravagant lifestyle, earn their trust meticulously for months, and then exploit it by stealing their cash.

The Israeli conman would tell the victim that he had to maintain a low profile owing to security issues and that he needed access to their funds because his accounts were being tailed by those who wanted to harm him. Hayut would use the funds to entice his next victim, effectively running a Ponzi scheme. He would promise them a repayment but that would never happen. Some say Hayut's Tinder swindling scam comes up to a whopping $10 million. One of his victims decided to come out and he was arrested in 2019. Hayut was sentenced to 15 months in prison but was released in 5 due to the coronavirus outbreak. In the months following his release, he made the news once again, this time for impersonating a frontline worker so that he could get vaccinated. Shimon Hayut is at large since then.

'The Tinder Swindler' is slated to release on Netflix on February 2, 2022.

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'The Tinder Swindler': Who is Shimon Hayut? Conman's crazy life inspired Netflix docu - MEAWW

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Posted By admin on January 30, 2022

Bible scholars attempt to ferret out the ancient meanings of the Bible just as conservative jurists have sought the original sources of the Constitution. Many Christians hold that the Bible is inerrant and without fault in all its teachings, but those who believe in a living Bible or living Constitution assert that these documents must be interpreted according to inclusive values rather than those of a patriarchal and misogynistic culture.

A common biblical justification of outlawing abortion is the claim that all of us are created in the image of God. Those who study ancient Near Eastern languages have concluded that the biblical authors used this phrase in the sense that Adam has sovereignty over the world.

The apostle Paul agrees: the new Adam Christ rules the world as the image of God, but all others were born in the image of the man of dust (1 Cor. 15:49, RSV). Earlier, Paul extends the image of God to males only: man is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man (1 Cor. 11:7). Moscows Christ Church must appreciate this verse very much.

Liberal Christians are not tied to original or literal interpretations, so they can choose any number of inclusive definitions of the image of God. Writers at Christianity.com assert (without biblical reference) that it means rational understanding, creative liberty, and the capacity for self-actualization. This is a modern understanding of the self, not a Hebrew one.

Many Christians would argue that only humans have souls, but there are hundreds of biblical references indicating that animals also have souls (nephesh). They were infused with Gods divine breath (neshamah), just as Adam was. This led many ancient Jewish authorities to assert that the fetus becomes a person when it takes its first breath.

Yet another biblical argument is the commandment thou shalt not kill, but it appears that women, girls and boys are property rather than persons. This is clear from Leviticus: If the child be from a month old even unto five years old, then thy estimation shall be of the male five shekels of silver, and for the female thy estimation shall be three shekels of silver (27:6). This verse and others are perhaps the reason a Christian father in pre-Norman England could lawfully kill any of his children who had not yet tasted food.

When we think of a census, we assume that all persons will be counted, including women and girls. But Numbers states: Take a census of the whole Israelite community by their clans and families, listing every man by name, one by one (1:2). Later in the chapter the census is extended to every male a month old or more (3:15). No value is placed on the fetus or newborn.

An ambiguous passage in Exodus is frequently quoted to support the rights of the fetus (21:22-23), but it is to no avail. The context is a pregnant woman who miscarries because of men who are fighting. In the Rabbinic Targum, ancient Jews made it clear that if the fetus is injured, then the husband receives money from a judges decision, but if death befalls the woman, then the killer gets life for life.

Yet another verse used to support the pro-life position is Psalms 139:16. The key word is golem, which is best translated as unformed substance. The Jewish tradition has always considered it a body without a soul. In the Jewish Talmud, Adam was considered a golem before God infused his divine breath.

The living Constitution has been amended to abolish slavery, to give every person due process and equal protection of the laws, a womans right to vote, and finally, by law, citizenship to Native Americans. In order to distill the pure essence of the Gospel, Thomas Jefferson dramatically amended the New Testament by cutting out every reference to miracles, the divinity of Christ, and the Trinity.

I much prefer to leave the Bible as it is: a treasure trove of some of the best Near Eastern poetry, many morally uplifting stories, imperfect history, problematic theology, but most of all the inclusive ethics of Jesus.

Gier was coordinator of religious studies at the University of Idaho from 1980 to 2003. This column was adapted from his article on abortion at bit.ly/3ExwNUs. Email him at ngier006@gmail.com for discussion and more references.

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His View: The Bible, the fetus and abortion - Moscow-Pullman Daily News

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Posted By admin on January 30, 2022

In July of 2021, I found myself in a Manhattan clinic wearing an eye mask and headphones, about to receive my fifth of six injections of therapeutic ketamine.

Whats your intention for this session? asked my therapist, poised with a notebook to record the answer.

Id like to encounter my ancestors or my guides, I said.

Let me back up.

My great-grandparents immigrated to the United States from Ukraine and Poland in the early 20th century to escape pogroms. Even though I never even met them, their fears were passed to me. It manifested as an underlying rumble of sadness and dread that I couldnt fully explain with any part of my own childhood. I just thought it was normal. Theres a reason for the stereotypes about Jews and the neuroses we carry: its the natural result of millenniums of running for our lives.

Intergenerational or ancestral trauma occurs when traumatic events impact not just the person who experiences them firsthand, but that persons descendants as well. Research shows, for instance, that the offspring of Holocaust survivors carry the trauma in their bodies. Our DNA encodes this pain and transmits decades of collective and individual toxic stress to the subsequent generations.

My awareness of and ability to speak clearly about my depression from a young age was like a badge of honor in my family. When I described my feelings to my dad, hed say, The apple doesnt fall far with such tenderness that depression became another loving link that connected us. At Seders and Thanksgiving dinners, my cousins and I bonded over which medications we were on, what type of therapists we were seeing and what was ailing us in body and mind. I believed that dread was my birthright.

Id ridden manageable waves of depression since I was little. But the bottom dropped out on Dec. 12, 2020, when I moved back to New York from Los Angeles and experienced a nervous breakdown.

I was like a tuning fork that had been struck by lightning. I couldnt sleep, eat or stop shaking. Waking life was excruciating. I found a new psychiatrist and tried returning to the antidepressant of 17 years off which Id so painstakingly weaned myself: it didnt work this time. I took a pill to help me sleep and another to soften the panic, but they barely scratched the surface.

I switched to a new antidepressant. I jumped down Google rabbit holes in an obsessive flurry of hyper-focus to try and self-diagnose. I researched adrenal failure. I tested my blood and my hair for vitamin deficiencies and bought a SAD light therapy lamp. I worked with multiple therapists and pursued healing modalities with the intensity of a Talmud scholar, but nothing brought relief. It was as if all the fear of a dozen generations of Mandels and Potashnicks had caught up to me, and my body had no way of processing it.

At this point, several months into suicidal ideation, I queried my doctor about therapeutic ketamine. Id read about psychedelics being used as an experimental treatment for depression for years, fascinated by the scientific breakthroughs arising from out-of-the-box treatments. I read up on the history behind entheogens a psychoactive substance used in religious or shamanic ceremonies not because I was planning to pursue them myself, but because I was intrigued by any treatment that had the potential to alleviate the symptoms of mental illness.

Ketamine may be best known for its illicit, risky use as a club drug K, but its use has been approved by the FDA for decades as an anesthetic and painkiller. Using ketamine to treat mental health is still relatively novel, but thus far, several studies have found it to be highly effective at treating depression. When I asked my doctor about it, I was nervous but desperate for relief. I told her I wanted to take the lead on finding the right clinic for me, since Id done so much independent reading already. She agreed, knowing I knew myself and my body best, as long as I kept her in the loop.

I found my clinic on Instagram, of all places. It had the vibe of a day spa, with several comfortable rooms decked out with wall murals of nature scenes and Himalayan salt lamps.

I underwent a long screening by phone and two more virtually: one with a nurse practitioner, the other with my assigned therapist, who was trained specifically to guide and integrate ketamine therapy sessions. Ketamine therapy is not yet covered by insurance, and I was lucky that my family could help pay for the treatment.

At my first appointment, I was given a journal, a pen and art supplies, and was encouraged to use them to integrate what I learned in my explorations.

I wanted to treat the ketamine process with the same respect and reverence Id bring to synagogue or studying Kabbalah. Spirituality had helped pull me out of depression before: In the existential slog of my late 20s, studying Jewish mysticism brought confirmation of a beautiful cosmic order to the world and my place in it. It felt like evidence that there was a greater reason for my suffering, even if I couldnt always comprehend it. Perhaps ketamine didnt have to only be a clinical procedure; it could also be a renewal ceremony of sorts in the temple of my body.

My course of ketamine therapy included six sessions over three weeks, each one lasting 40-60 minutes. At the beginning of each session, a nurse took my vitals and gave me an anti-nausea pill before giving me an intramuscular injection of ketamine. My therapist wrote down the days dosage, my intentions and the time of injection, then sat with me for the duration.

As Id blast off into the darkness, my fingers and toes would tingle and grow numb and my mouth would go dry. I felt confused, a tightening and the sensation of my consciousness wandering around inside me like an ant in a dark theater.

Within hours of the first session, though it had been terrifying and exhausting, I felt the faintest clearing in my brain. I took my sheets to the laundromat and answered long-abandoned emails, tasks Id been unable to do for weeks. The ancestral dread was still there, but its grip was slightly looser.

Yet it was my fifth session, when I set the intention to encounter my ancestors, that was the most empowering and profound. In the darkness, at first I felt heat: it was the deep, dry, primordial heat of prehistory. Behind my eyes, neon green pixels became billions of grains of sand. I felt myself writhing to the rhythm of the music in my headphones, rhythmic, percussive and haunting. I was a snake, slithering up to the surface of the sand in the desert night.

If by this point youre thinking this all sounds a little out there I know. I was deeply skeptical for a long time, too. Yet I was determined to be open to this experience. What was the burning bush if not an inspired vision?

In the darkness, I couldnt see people, but I felt them around me - dancing in a wide circle around a bonfire, with the shadows of flame licking up the dusty cliff faces all around. There was a pulse connecting us and a communal bond I recognized from a place so deep and old inside me, I hadnt known it was there. I was ecstatic, and the energy radiated. I knew, somehow, that I was one of these people. It was as if I were present at the dawn of the Israelites in their native home and in their joy before the trauma of exile. What a revelation: there was a way of being Jewish, and being me, without the backdrop of fear and despair.

Suddenly my intense connection to the Negev, a desert Ive only visited once and briefly, made sense: Id felt home there, even though Id been raised in colonial New England. The soft smell of dust felt like a safe embrace, and hadnt I seen these craggy mountains in a dream? This desert this was the origin of my tribe. Id always imagined my ancestors would appear to me like ghostly figures. Instead, theyd brought me to them not to see, but to feel.

As I floated back down to earth, sensation returning to my hands and face, I was flooded with insight. All this time, Id sought external mentors and guides, convinced that I was defective and healing could only come from outside of myself. Now I knew that I was the composite of all those ancestors, my DNA was actually made of them. I had access to not just their trauma, but also their wisdom I brought them with me everywhere.

Over the course of treatment, I felt my brain regaining its balance, and my cortisol and adrenaline soften back to normal. My appetite returned, and so did my sleep. Ketamine didnt solve all my problems; there is no quick fix for clinical depression. But it did help synthesize a cerebral understanding of my ancestral story into more experiential knowledge. My pain is not just me, broken: it was in me before I was born.

My brain does feel restored, like ketamine cleaned the slate chemically so Im on more solid ground from which to chip away, do the work and keep healing, day after day. Its a marathon, not a sprint.

If my ancestors could wander the desert for 40 years for their own survival, and I am made up of them, then this journey through the desolate wasteland of my subconscious for my survival doesnt feel like a fluke in my path: it feels like my birthright. And Im so much wiser for it.

To contact the author, email editorial@forward.com.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Forward.

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What ketamine therapy taught me about my Jewish intergenerational trauma - Forward

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Posted By admin on January 30, 2022

The White House this month ousted seven members from a commission that preserves Holocaust-related sites, telling them they could either resign or be terminated.

The overhaul of the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of Americas Heritage Abroad occurred with International Holocaust Remembrance Day just days away and came hours before the start of the Sabbath.

The list of ousted appointees included a Fayetteville man, John Horne, who had joined the independent federal commission in September 2019 after serving as a deputy assistant to the president and deputy chief of staff to then-Vice President Mike Pence.

The commissions nonpolitical. The members were surprised and shocked by the dismissals, Horne said.

Many of the commissioners are Jewish; some lost family members in the Holocaust.

Given the short notice, and its proximity to the Jewish day of rest, the members had little time to come up with a response, he noted.

The president selects the 21 commissioners. Seven are appointed after consultation with the speaker of the House and seven after consultation with the president pro tempore of the Senate.

Past administrations had allowed commissioners to serve out the remainder of their commission terms, he added.

The commissioners were due to complete their terms in late February, Horne said.

Since President Joe Biden took office, similar purges have occurred on other boards or commissions, including the Commission of Fine Arts, where four of seven President Donald Trump appointees were removed.

Justin Shubow, who was removed as chairman in May, said he was shocked and dismayed that he and three colleagues had been targeted.

Removing board members from these types of independent executive agencies breaks longstanding tradition, critics say.

In the Commissions 110-year history, no commissioner has ever been removed by a president, let alone the commissions chairman, he said.

My fear is that future administrations will treat these positions like political appointments. Theyre just going to change with every new administration, Shubow told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Members of the National Capital Planning Commission and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation were booted in February, just days after Bidens swearing in.

The Biden administration is conducting a thorough review of several councils, commissions, and advisory boards. As a part of that review, we may remove individuals whose continued membership on the board would not serve the public interest, a White House spokesman told the Washington Post at the time.

Horne, commission chairman Paul Packer, and other members appointed by former President Trump learned they were being removed via an emailed letter from Gautam Raghavan, deputy director of the White House Office of Presidential Personnel.

On behalf of President Biden, I am writing to request your resignation as a Member of the United States Commission for the Preservation of Americas Heritage Abroad, the Jan. 14 letter to Horne stated. Please submit your resignation to me by the close of business today.

Should we not receive your resignation, your position with the Commission will be terminated effective 6:00 p.m. tonight. Thank you, it said.

A White House official confirmed that a similar letter had been sent to all seven appointees who are being replaced.

Horne sent a letter back, telling Raghavan he was honored to be appointed by President Donald J. Trump and that he intended to serve out the remainder of his term.

It is profoundly disappointing that President Biden would reject the practice of prior presidents, of both parties, and therefore deprive his Administration the diversity of opinions that Presidential Boards and Commissions were created to provide, Horne wrote.

Packer also responded, reminding Raghavan that he was mere weeks away from completing his term.

It is incomprehensible why you would act this way, Packer wrote.

For the past 4 plus years, I have dutifully and professionally served this country. I have traveled the world proudly working to fulfill this Commissions essential mission: to protect and preserve historic sites of significance to Americans and their ancestors, Packer wrote, adding, This is NOT a partisan issue. It serves all Americans.

David Friedman, the former U.S. ambassador to Israel, told the Jerusalem Post that Packers early ouster was unprecedented, mean-spirited and decidedly not in the interests of the United States.

The White House, while acknowledging the ousters, did not offer an explanation for the commissioners removal.

Commissioners terms last three years, though they can continue serving until their successor is chosen. When a vacancy occurs midway through, the appointee serves the remainder of the term.

Packer has been replaced as chairman by Star Jones, a lawyer and former co-host of ABCs The View. Jones was tapped earlier this month to serve as a judge and host on Foxs Divorce Court.

In 1985, Congress passed legislation creating the commission to encourage the preservation and protection of the cemeteries, monuments, and historic buildings associated with the foreign heritage of United States citizens.

The law instructed the 21-member commission to identify and list these properties in central and eastern Europe, particularly those cemeteries, monuments, and buildings which are in danger of deterioration or destruction.

Under the Nazis, most of the Jewish population there was systematically murdered.

The Holocaust annihilated much of Europes Jewish population, killing most Jews and forcing others to flee. In many countries, none were left to continue to care for the communal properties that represented a historic culture in the area and have importance within the Jewish religion. (Burial places are sacred in Judaism), the commission states on its website.

The destruction, desecration, and deterioration of properties under the Nazis persisted under subsequent Communist regimes. Additionally, Cold War tensions hindered access by Americans who wanted to ensure preservation of the sites, it states.

The commission was created to help safeguard these and other significant properties.

After the fall of the Iron Curtain and the collapse of the Soviet Union, many of the new regimes were eager to partner with the United States on the work.

These days, the commission primarily obtains assurances regarding the protection and preservation of cultural property by negotiating formal, bilateral agreements between the United States and foreign governments, its website states.

These joint efforts focus on communal properties of groups that were victims of genocide during World War II and are no longer able to protect and preserve properties without assistance, it adds.

Agreements now exist between the U.S. and at least 26 countries.

In addition to memorializing mass grave sites and helping to restore synagogues and cemeteries, commissioners also helped erect a plaque in Budapest honoring Pope John XXIII. Monsignor Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, as he was known during World War II, issued false papers to save the lives of Jews from Hungary, Croatia, Slovakia, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece and France.

In 2019, the commission helped place a plaque at the Flossenburg concentration camp in Germany, honoring Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the Lutheran pastor, theologian and Nazi foe who was executed there.

Horne, who is a Methodist, first visited one of the death camps in the 1980s when he was attending language school in Munich.

Since then, he has returned repeatedly to Holocaust sites, sometimes with government officials, occasionally with Jewish groups.

Ive been there so many times. Every time is moving, Horne said.

You dont want to forget something like this so you dont repeat it, he said.

In January 2005, he traveled with then-Vice President Dick Cheney to Auschwitz to commemorate the 16th anniversary of its liberation. In February 2019, he returned to the camp again, this time with Pence.

Commissioners arent paid for their work.

Under the law, the commission may accept, use, and dispose of gifts or donations of money or property in furtherance of their mission. Most of the projects are paid for by American donors. In some instances, commissioners have used their own funds to complete a project, Horne said.

Packer provided great leadership throughout his tenure, Horne said.

Hes one of the most distinguished chairs in the commissions history, Horne said. Hes worked well with, obviously, the Trump administration, with the Biden administration, with the State Department. Hes traveled the globe to ensure that these sites were preserved for history.

In an interview, Packer portrayed the removals as senseless.

We had five weeks left on our terms from President Trump, he said.

It was the most bipartisan commission out there dealing with the most bipartisan issue: Holocaust memorial, Holocaust remembrance and honoring those who actually helped [save Jewish lives] during the Holocaust, he said.

Taking something that is the most bipartisan issue, not only to Jews but to all Americans, and making it a partisan issue is what was so shocking to me, he added.

Packer also expressed appreciation for Hornes service on the commission.

He didnt do a good job; he did a great job, Packer said. From day one, even before he joined the commission, Johns whole heart was in that.

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Fayetteville man one of seven removed from commission aimed at preserving Holocaust-related sites - Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

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Posted By admin on January 30, 2022

The average temperature in Israel is expected to increase 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2050, the Israel Meteorological Service announced. This figure would mean a total increase of 3 degrees in 100 years, according to the data released in response to a request from Haaretz. The service expects the number of very hot days, above 34 degrees Celsius (93.2 degrees Fahrenheit), will increase by tens of percentage points.

Annual heat waves are also expected to increase and reoccur between six to seven times yearly, with experts believing they will be longer and more extreme. Some regions are due to see 48-degree temperatures. The number of warm nights defined as 20 degrees or higher will rise from 63 days to 75 days on average. Spring will see another five hot days annually, while autumn will be disrupted by eight more hot days. In the Jordan Valley, temperatures are expected to rise even more than 2 degrees in the next 30 years higher than the national average increase.

This forecast is the first one detailing how climate change will affect various regions within Israel, where the pace of warming is double the global average and has been triple the global rate over the past 30 years. The findings were recently presented to the defense establishment in preparation for the climate crisis.

Another forecast expects a rise of 50 percent or more in the number of days in which temperatures will be above 35 degrees in most Israeli cities. This forecast was prepared using data from CORDEX, Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment, at the initiative of the World Meteorological Organization and UNESCO.

The database, which belongs to the World Climate Research Program, is being used by the team within the Prime Ministers Office in charge of putting together a climate crisis preparation plan.

Of the many aspects of climate change which affect human health, heat waves are considered among the most dangerous. The World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control say that quick temperature increases immediately hurt the bodys ability to regulate its own temperature. As such, heat waves are liable not only to cause heat stroke and dehydration but also to lead to strokes, severe damage to the kidneys and deterioration of chronic medical conditions like heart failure.

Recent research also shows a correlation between heat waves and problems with pregnancy, fertility and babies, as well as a rise in violent incidents.

Researchers Yitzhak Yosef, Avner Furshpan, Leenes Uzan and Assaf Zipori of the meteorological service conducted the research under service director Nir Stav. The forecast is based on climate models from other research institutes abroad, which were adapted to local conditions based on the services 24 weather stations around the country. The forecast is divided into five climate regions in Israel due to its geographic location and topographical complexity.

Jerusalem: Longer Heat Waves

The Jerusalem hills are expected to see a sharp rise in the hot (over 30 degrees Celsius) summer days, from 45 days a year to 60 by 2050. The number of very hot days (35 degrees and over) will nearly triple from six per year to 15 on average. The number of average hot nights per year will also rise from about 40 to around 60.

In addition, the regional heat waves are expected to increase in number, temperature and duration from two to four such waves, lasting four days on average and featuring temperatures of over 32 degrees, by 2050 experts expect six or seven heat waves per year, each lasting six days on average, and featuring temperatures of over 34 degrees Celsius. The temperature during these expected heat waves will top out at 39 degrees.

Coastal Plains: Highs of 40 Degrees

Along the coast, from Acre to Ashkelon, the number of hot summer days is expected to rise from 65 to 75 days per year by 2050. The very hot days will rise dramatically in number as well, from four days annually today to 15 days in 2050. Autumn in Israel is expected to see 11 more hot days, from 27 days per season today to 38 by 2050. The coastal plain will also see a significant number of heat waves, from one or two today to four on average per year by 2050.

The Northeast: Extremely Hot Days Skyrocket

The Safed area will see a 42 percent rise in the number of hot days, from some 40 days per year currently to around 57 days per year by 2050. The average of extremely hot days is expected to triple, from the current five to 14. In the Galilee Panhandle valleys, near Dafna and Kfar Blum, the average number of hot days is expected to rise from 76 today to 82 per year by 2050. The number of very hot days in the region is expected to rise from 65 per year to 76 by 2050.

In general in the Galilee Panhandle valleys, both days and nights are expected to get much warmer. The number of extremely hot days, in which temperatures exceed 38 degrees, will reach an annual 35 by 2050. The number of warm nights is also expected to rise, from 53 nights to almost 70 per year on average. The mountains expect sharper growth in such nights, from the current 34 to 55 nights per year.

Today Israels northeast sees around three heat waves per year, lasting around four days each and featuring temperatures of 36 degrees in the Galilee Panhandle valleys and 34 degrees on average in the mountain area. By 2050 the number of heat waves is expected to rise to six or seven per year, lasting around six days, featuring 37 degree averages in the valleys and 35 in the mountains, and highs of over 42 degrees.

The Negev: Triple the Extremely Hot Days

The Negev, already used to hot days of over 30 degrees in the summer, will not see many more of them, and the expected average by 2050 will be 85 per year. However, the region will see a rise in very hot days (of over 34 degrees) from 40 currently to 55 by 2050. The number of extremely hot days is expected to triple, from four currently to twelve in 2050.

The average of hot days in autumn is expected to rise from the current 36 to 45, and the number of warm nights will rise from an average of 11 today to 21. The spring will see three more hot days on average and two more warm nights.The number of heat waves in the Negev will rise from the current four to seven longer ones annually by 2050, with highs of over 42 degrees.

Jordan Valley: Highs of 48 degrees Celsius

Since the region already experiences high temperatures The Meteorological Service explained that there is no significance to examining the rise in the number of merely hot days, and focused instead on the rise in extremely hot days. The main difference is expected in the average number of extremely hot days, of over 38 degrees, from the current 77 days per year to 85 in 2050. The service further predicts that the average temperature in the Jordan Valley region is expected to rise by maybe more than 2 percent by the middle of the century over the average national rise.

In the Lake Kinneret region, the average number of extremely hot days will rise from the current 36 to 57 days, a 58 percent rise. The number of extremely hot days in the spring will nearly double, from around eight such days annually now in the Jordan Valley region to 14 by 2050. In the Kinneret region the projected rise in such days is from a current 4.5 to eight. The region currently sees some three heat waves per year, lasting four days, with highs of 44 degrees. By 2050 the annual average will stand at seven heat waves, lasting six days, with temperatures reaching 48 degrees.

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Israel will get much hotter by 2050, heat waves will increase, expert prediction finds - Haaretz

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