Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on September 28, 2021

Anna Kislanski was well into her twenties before she laid eyes on a Reform rabbi. And it was quite a shock when she did. Here was this guy who kept his kippa in his pocket and walked around in shorts and sandals, she recounts. It was not at all how I imagined a rabbi.

That her first exposure to a Reform rabbi would be so late in life should come as no surprise. After all, Kislanski was born in communist Russia five decades ago to a family she describes as extremely secular.

If there is any surprise at all, it is that this child of Russian immigrants would eventually be chosen to lead the Israeli branch of one of Judaisms leading denominations.

Earlier this month, the 49-year-old mother of three was officially named chief executive officer of the Reform movement in Israel. She replaced Rabbi Gilad Kariv after he won a Knesset seat for the Labor Party in the March election. Kislanski, who has held various high-level positions in the movement for more than a decade, had been serving as acting CEO since Karivs departure.

She steps into her new role at what promises to be an opportune time for the non-Orthodox denominations in Israel.

The fact that the new governing coalition is more moderate on religion and state issues gives us hope, Kislanski says. At the very least, we can expect much less demonization of our movements under this new government.

Indeed, the ultra-Orthodox parties, which consider Reform Judaism illegitimate, are not members of the new coalition while the Reform movement through Kariv not only has its first representative ever in the Knesset, but also its first representative ever in the government.

If that werent enough, all the parties that make up the coalition, to some degree or another, support religious reforms and greater pluralism.

That doesnt mean the new government will do anything as radical as allow non-Orthodox converts to marry in Israel or recognize marriages performed by non-Orthodox rabbis. And Kislanski is not deluding herself that it will.

She is, however, pinning her hopes on what she describes as the low-hanging fruit: the little things that could help strengthen the status of Reform Judaism in Israel. For example, the revival of the 2017 Western Wall deal, which was meant to provide the Reform and Conservative movements with an egalitarian prayer space at the Jewish holy site. Or a significant increase in state funding for the non-Orthodox movements through the new department for Jewish renewal, set up under the auspices of the Diaspora Affairs Ministry.

Transformative time

Kislanskis first interaction with members of the Reform movement was almost by accident. She was a graduate student at the University of Haifa at the time, working as a program director and facilitator at Melitz (an organization that sponsors educational programs dedicated to Jewish pluralism and Jewish peoplehood). It was through my job there that, for the first time, I started taking a real interest in my Jewish identity, she recalls. One of the programs I ran was affiliated with the Reform youth movement.

It was another chance encounter that would ultimately set her on her professional path. That encounter was with Rabbi Meir Azari, one of the leaders of Reform Judaism in Israel and the spiritual leader of Beit Daniel, the movements flagship congregation in Tel Aviv. I was determined not to get married through the Chief Rabbinate, she says, so when my partner and I began planning for our wedding, our deejay who knew how we felt suggested we contact this really nice Reform rabbi he knew in Tel Aviv who officiated at marriage ceremonies.

Kislanski and Azari immediately hit it off, and after the wedding she was offered a position as program director at Haifas Or Hadash, the Reform movements largest congregation in northern Israel. After a successful tenure in that position, she was sent with her family to New York, where she served as the Jewish Agency liaison to the Reform movement in North America between 2005 and 2009.

Those were transformative years for me, she says. I traveled around North America visiting Reform congregations and becoming much-better acquainted with the movement and its leaders. By the time we returned to Israel, it wasnt just me who identified as Reform it was our entire family.

Back in Israel, Kislanski would go on to serve as director of congregational development for the Reform movement and then deputy director of the movement, in which capacity she was responsible for congregational and educational activities. Since 2010, when she came on board, the number of Reform congregations in Israel has more than doubled, from 25 to 52.

Key goals

Born in Moscow, the newly inducted Reform movement leader moved to Israel with her parents during the Soviet aliyah wave of the mid-1970s when she was 2 years old. Kislanski grew up in Haifa, widely regarded as Israels most secular large city and a proud one at that. She served in the intelligence unit of the army and completed both her bachelors degree (in Middle Eastern studies) and masters degree (in education) at her hometown university.

After their stint in New York, she and her husband Arthur, a computer specialist, decided to leave Haifa and move south to Even Yehuda, a small town near Netanya, so they could be closer to her office in Jerusalem.

According to recent surveys, about 8 percent of Jewish Israelis identify as Reform. That doesnt mean we actually see these people more than once a year at our synagogues, acknowledges Kislanski. One of her key goals, she says, is to get those 8 percent more involved in the Reform movement.

Kislanski says she also intends to continue her work expanding the number of Reform congregations in Israel. To this end, she will be focusing on two key groups: young Israelis who have graduated from the Reform movements popular pre-military gap year programs, and are therefore already acquainted with the movement; and Russian-speaking immigrants who want to connect to Judaism but feel no affinity to the Orthodox establishment. Indeed, in recent years, the Reform movement has established two congregations in Israel that are dedicated to Russian speakers, many of them converts.

Israels relations with Diaspora Jewry, especially with the non-Orthodox denominations, came under considerable strain during then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus many years in office. Indeed, Netanyahu was accused of attaching much greater importance to his alliance with right-wing evangelical Christians. Kislanski believes the Reform movement in Israel can assist the new government in putting the relationship with world Jewry back on course. Given our affiliation with the largest Jewish denomination in North America, we can position ourselves as a bridge between Diaspora Jewry and Israel, she says.

A few years ago, when she had a bit more time on her hands, Kislanski enrolled in a tour-guide course along with her eldest daughter. One of the sacrifices forced on her by her new position is that shes had to give up for the meantime, at least her dream of their leading tour groups together.

My daughter just completed all her tests, but it looks like Im going to have to wait quite a bit of time before Im ready to take mine, she says. I guess those are some of the trade-offs in life.

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'It wasn't how I imagined a rabbi': Meet the new leader of Reform Judaism in Israel - Haaretz

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Posted By admin on September 28, 2021

Three years ago, Iceland's small Jewish community was fighting legislation that would ban the circumcision of children. It was an uphill battle because Judaism was not on the island nation's list of officially recognized religions and Jews still paid religious taxes to the state Lutheran church.

Today, Judaism is thriving in the land of fire and ice, and the community celebrated Sukkot with its first convert and an enterprising rabbi who has led it through three years of dramatic change.

Reykjavik was the sole European capital city lacking a resident rabbi until the fall of 2018, when Rabbi Avi Feldman, now 30; his wife, Mushky; and their daughters, who now number four girls under the age of 6, moved in.

Three years later, they are planning to invite members of Iceland's Jewish community, which Feldman estimates numbers 500 to 600, to share meals with them in a sukkah. This ceremonial booth is part of Sukkot (sometimes known as the Feast of Tabernacles), a biblical harvest festival where Jews eat outdoors in temporary dwellings to remember God's care for them after their exodus from Egypt.

Jews all over the world build similar informal outdoor structures for the eight-day Jewish feast, which started on Monday. But this sukkah is in an overwhelmingly Lutheran country where Jews have rarely been acknowledged.

This past Sunday, in a backyard of Feldman's spacious home with views of Faxafli Bay to the north, three men were trying to figure out how to construct a sukkah out of a pile of two-by-fours.

"Maybe you might ask, 'Aren't you making this kind of strong for Iceland? But you've not seen the wind in Iceland,'" said Mike Levin, a Chicago native who's lived in Iceland since 1986 and was wearing overalls covered with various carpentry tools.

Helping hold nails in place was Finnur Thorlacius, an Icelander hoping to be the nascent community's first convert to Judaism. Many of the Jews in town are expats, he said. Others have landed there after marrying Icelanders. Still others are attached to various foreign embassies. But no one had really pulled this disparate group together until the Feldmans moved in.

Feldman said his time in Iceland, nearing its fourth anniversary, has been extremely positive.

"Personally, we've only had great experiences," he said. "I am a very public person. I always try to make myself available to news channels here. People know who I am. I dress with a kippah [skullcap] and tzitzit [knotted fringes attached to clothing for Jewish men]. People recognize me as a rabbi. I feel very accepted here."

This island nation, whose national church is the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Iceland, is not known for welcoming Jews. In fact, Kling & Bang, an art gallery a mile away, is hosting an exhibit through October 3 showing how Icelanders deported or turned Jews away during World War II.

Icelanders allow their tax dollars to go to about 50 recognized religious groups that are subsidized, but not until earlier this year was Judaism considered one of them. In April, thanks to Feldman's efforts, the Israeli Embassy and others, the Icelandic government declared Judaism an official religion, allowing its Jews for the first time to send their church tax portion, known as sknargjald, to the Jewish Culture Center of Iceland, which is its official name. Feldman admitted he inserted Culture into the title to reach out to non-Jewish Icelanders and introduce them to aspects of his religion.

He has worked hard to persuade locals that, unlike other rabbis who may have dropped by through the years, he is here to stay. He is part of Chabad-Lubavitch, an Orthodox movement known for its outreach to Jews and non-Jews alike and its custom of sending pioneering couples to worldwide locales to strengthen or establish a Jewish presence.

Feldman's hot-off-the-presses 2021-2022 Jewish calendar has scenes from around the island and local ads. He posts inspirational videos on the Jewish Center of Iceland's Facebook page, which slightly differs from the official name lodged with the state. Sometimes he teases readers: "Moses found it important to have a Torah in Icelandic," he said on July 13.

He also maintains a Twitter account ("Sharing the warmth of Judaism in the land of fire and ice," it proclaims); and draws traffic to the group's JewishIceland.com page.

He has to tread carefullyafter all, it was in early 2018 that Iceland's Progressive Party floated a bill banning male circumcision on the ground that the child should be able to give informed consent. (Circumcisions are performed on a Jewish newborn's eighth day.)

Although Icelanders were split over the bill, the country's tiny Muslim and Jewish communitiesfor whom circumcision is a religious ritewere outraged, and outside observers asked Iceland if it wanted the dubious distinction of being the only European country to ban the act. The bill was shelved that May. The Feldmans moved to Iceland five months later.

The community does circumcisions by flying in a mohel, often a doctor or rabbi trained in the ritual.

Feldman said his wife was one of the inspirations for the move, in that she knew of Jewish visitors in Iceland who couldn't find a Sabbath dinner to attend, much less somewhere to observe Jewish holidays. One recent Friday evening, the Feldmans invited several guests to their table, set for 12. Napkins were tucked decoratively into glasses, and a loaf of braided challah breadmade especially for the Sabbathwas covered by a yellow, brown and orange cloth.

A bouquet of fresh lilies and roses was placed near the dining room table, and the rabbi's sizable library was set up at one end of the living room. A painting of the late Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Chabad movement's most famous leader, was prominently placed on the wall.

Just before 8 p.m., Mushky Feldman lit Sabbath candles set on a large silver tray and invited all women in attendance to do so as well. After prayers over the challah and a bottle of kosher winewith each guest encouraged to take at least a sipa dinner of beets, salmon and potatoes was served.

Interest is growing slowly, and some 40 people dropped by for prayers last week during Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement. Feldman has gotten positive and generous press coverage here, and local supermarkets stock some kosher items. It doesn't hurt that salmon and cod, which are plentiful in Iceland, are kosher.

"There's actually a lot of kosher food," the rabbi said. "Because Iceland imports a lot of food, a lot of the dry goods they get are kosher."

Feldman, a tall, scholarly-looking man with a full, dark brown beard and glasses, hails from Brooklyn's Crown Heights neighborhood. There, he met Mushky Namdar, who grew up in Sweden as the daughter of a Chabad rabbi. The couple wanted to pioneer a movement in the same way that her father had, and Iceland seemed a natural choice.

"We did research before coming here," he said. "We've been to Sweden, and the culture and styles of both countries overlap. I was amazed by how beautiful this country iseverything from the northern lights to the volcano to the hot springs."

Speaking of the volcano, Feldman has posted a video on Twitter of him blessing (in Hebrew) Iceland's six-month-old Geldingadalir volcano, which is an easy drive from downtown Reykjavik.

As a huge mound of lava smoked behind him and a helicopter whirled overhead, he said, "This makes us stop and think about this unbelievable creation, this beautiful world that we live in, and we think about the artist who created all of it."

One difference their presence has made, he said, was the establishment of an annual Holocaust memorial ceremony that was held in 2020 at the Polish Embassy and via Zoom last year. "Actually, other institutions reach out to us and asked us to be a part of it," the rabbi said. "I feel a memorial to the Holocaust deserves strong attention."

As for current attitudes, "I can't say there is no anti-Semitism here," he added. "There's always haters."

If so, they're keeping well hidden. Iceland's Jews hope to someday have their own synagogue, Jewish community center and mikvah, a ceremonial pool for women to bathe in after their menstrual cycle has ended. Mushky Feldman said they're trying to raise roughly $50,000 to construct one.

Previously, "people were saying, 'But there's no rabbi here,'" she said. "Now, it's an amazing, blossoming, growing Jewish community."

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Iceland's Jews Beat Church Taxes and a Circumcision Ban. Now They Even Have a Rabbi - Newsweek

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Posted By admin on September 28, 2021

ENTERPRISE Why is this wheat different from all other wheat?

Because it can be made into matzah, the thin, crisp unleavened bread, traditionally eaten by Jewish people during the Passover seder when a child will ask the first of four traditional questions from the Haggadah, Why is this night different than all other nights? The answer is that it was the night the God had the angel of death pass over the homes of the ancient Israelites while they were still in bondage in Egypt.

Since at least 2008, Orthodox Hasidic Jews from Brooklyn, New York, have traveled to Wallowa County to inspect and purchase wheat and this year, spelt from Cornerstone Farms Joint Venture, one of the largest grain producers in the county operated by Tim and Audry Melville and their sons, Kevin and Kurt.

Samuel Porgesz, the manager of a kosher bakery in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, said the Hasidim have meticulous requirements to make sure the wheat they use is absolutely kosher for Passover under Jewish dietary laws.

The kosher law is that whenever we start the harvest, it has to be under rabbinical supervision, Porgesz said. Before we start the harvest, we make sure all the combines and all this equipment are clean of any previous grains. We want to make sure its not contaminated with any other grains. The second its harvested, its always going to be under rabbinical supervision.

Hes not a rabbi, but he knows what the rabbis will be looking for and makes sure conditions are ripe for their approval.

I know the rules of whats supposed to be done, he said. The rabbis inspect the grain before its harvested to make sure theres no sprouts and splits.

On Sunday, Sept. 12, two Hasidic rabbis and their driver showed up at the Melvilles farm just outside of Enterprise. Porgesz had been working with the Melvilles all morning using air pressure hoses and vacuums to clean any grain from a previous harvest from the farm equipment.

Samuel flew out yesterday and they had some grain stored in one of our granaries that we cut earlier this fall and he helped us clean everything this morning, Tim Melville said Sept 13. The rabbis just showed up and thats the way it always works.

The previous day, Porgesz and the Melvilles loaded wheat harvested about three weeks earlier into 2,100-pound sacks. They were to be loaded onto a truck 22 sacks and driven to a mill in upstate New York to be turned into flour for the matzah.

Every bag will be sealed and then we seal the truck, Porgesz said. We will check all the seals once it gets to our mill.

Rabbi Joseph G., left, and Brooklyn, New York, bakery Manager Samuel Porgesz examine samples of wheat Monday, Sept. 13, 2021, in a field at Cornerstone Farms near Enterprise. The rabbi was looking for any sign of germination activity that would prevent it from being kosher enough to make matzah at Porgeszs bakery. (Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain)

A bit of a rush

The Hasidim were in a bit of a rush this year. The harvest cycle put a bit of a crunch on them to get done in time for their high holidays. Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, was Sept. 6-8, starting their lunar year 5782. Then came Yom Kippur the Day of Atonement just a week later, sundown Sept. 15 to sundown Sept. 16. Less than a week later is Sukkot, when Jews commemorate the ancient Israelites living in tents in the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land. Its also known as the Feast of Tabernacles or the Feast of Booths for the tents Jews put up in their homes to commemorate how they lived in the desert.

We bake all winter long; we start right after the holidays right after Sukkot and we bake for about six months all the way to the Passover holiday, which will be April 15-23, Porgesz said. Afterwards, we start coming out to all the fields in New Jersey and the East Coast first Virginia, Maryland and Delaware and upstate New York.

Danny Freedman, who drives for the rabbis, said it often can be difficult to comply with the weather and, at the same time, properly mark the holidays.We have to go with mother nature, he said. The holidays (and kosher laws) we cant break.

Kevin Melville, of Cornerstone Farms near Enterprise, left, and Samuel Porgesz, a kosher bakery manager from Brooklyn, New York, examine recently harvested spelt Monday, Sept. 13, 2021. (Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain)

Rabbinic inspection

Porgesz may know what theyre looking for, but its the rabbis who must make the decision on whether the grain is kosher.We have to finish up today because we have a holiday, Freedman said. Yom Kippur is Wednesday but we have to be home before. Not only because of the traveling, its because we dont eat on Yom Kippur. ... We fast from sunset to the following day at nightfall. We do prayers for most of the day.

The rabbi in charge of determining the kosher status of the grain, who preferred to go by Rabbi Joseph G., was the youngest of the three, just in his late 30s. However, hes the son of the grand rabbi and has been studying under his father since childhood.

He has years of experience in this, Rabbi Joseph said, as did his grandfather. He has experience from before World War II in Hungary and Poland, where the large Jewish communities were virtually wiped out in the Holocaust.

Hes still learning now in some stuff, Rabbi Joseph said. Im still learning; theres always time to learn.The main thing (I like) is that it doesnt rain so often in the summer months in the West, he said. Theres the quality, and the (lack of) shrinkage. Our flour quality measures the quality of the wheat. If there was rain during a stage of the wheat, the kernel inside might get core damage. Even if its not sprouted yet, if there was some germination activity when some molecules and starches start to mature and it damages the quality of flour. For the rabbinical, we try to make sure its not past a certain stage (of development) when its ready so its not a problem for us. Usually when there is rain, we see some mechanical, physical or structural damage unto the structure of the wheat and the rabbi will determine if its acceptable or not.

Even a little rainfall can begin the process of the natural yeast leaven starting its activity.We cant determine each kernel, but the rabbis are trained to look at kernels and see if itll be acceptable, he said. I was here three weeks ago and compare the sample that was taken to the lab and see if there was any damage from the rain.

A rainfall of only an hour or so seemed to have doomed one wheat field the Hasidim opted out of.

Tim Melville, of Enterprises Cornerstone Farms, drives a combine harvesting spelt Monday, Sept. 13, 2021, as Rabbi David rides along to ensure nothing that isnt kosher gets caught up in the harvest. (Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain)

Other grains, too

Although they didnt take as much wheat as theyd have liked, the Hasidim did purchase spelt from the Melvilles for the first time. It was also the first time theyd grown the wheat-like crop.

Tim Melville said he wasnt hesitant about giving spelt a first-time try for his Jewish friends.Weve never even seen spelt before, he said with a laugh.

According to healthline.com, spelt declined in popularity in the 19th century, but the ancient grain is making a comeback in popularity as its being considered more healthy than modern grains.Porgesz said spelt is believed to be easier to digest.

We also do a separate line of oat matzah, he said. Its gluten-free; its totally different. We make sure everything is clean and people will see that.

Kevin Melville said the Hasidim dont mix spelt with wheat.

They keep (spelt) completely separate and make matzah, he said. They do some with oats for people who are gluten intolerant. Some people consider spelt an ancient grain.

Likes Wallowa County

Porgesz said that in addition to the grain hes able to obtain, the Melvilles and the county make him keep wanting to come back.

Theyre absolutely magnificent. Cant say anything bad about them, he said of the Melvilles. Whatever we want, they do. Whatever the rabbis want, we go the extra mile to make sure its what they want. Thats why we come all the way from Brooklyn; its very expensive. Thats one of the reasons. Of course, the other reason is it usually doesnt rain out here during the harvest time.

The countryside also impresses him.

I woke up this morning and looked out and saw those mountains, he said. It makes me want to come back every time. The Wallowa Mountains, the lake, sometimes I take a cabin at the lower end of the lake near the tramway.And he finds things here you cant find in Brooklyn.

I have a house but not that kind of grass. (The yard is) only about 10-by-10 feet. Thats all weve got in Brooklyn, he said. Basically, thats why we come is for the high quality and the cooperation.

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Orthodox Hasidic Jews from Brooklyn find specialty wheat in eastern Oregon fits kosher requirements - OregonLive

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Posted By admin on September 28, 2021

Five years ago, I started rewriting the Torah by reversing the genders of all characters. All of the men became women and all of the women became men. Divine influence was now moving through a mother-daughter lineage.

Why would I do such a massive act of chutzpah?

Im an Israeli-American artist. In my art practice, Ive been exploring the relationship between language and form. After ten years of studying Kabbalah in the tradition of Baal Hasulam, a hasidic rabbi and kabbalist, I reached a spiritual impasse. I needed a sacred text that codified womens experience in relation to the Divine, but I couldnt find one. Our sacred books were all written from a mans point of view.

So there I was, seated on the couch, in my PJs, with my laptop. It was quiet around me, and I typed away. After the first few verses, I looked up at the ceiling it didnt fall. The room hasnt changed a bit. I continued, typing delightfully how Goddess created the world, until I reached Bereshit verses 26-27: Let us make an Eve in our likeness, after our image; And Goddess created Eve in Her likeness. In the likeness of Goddess, She created her.

For the first time in my life, I heard these words in full color. I felt that this ancient story was speaking to me directly, and giving me agency that I never felt before. For the first time, I met Goddess through my inner image, as I could so easily identify with Eve.

What else did the Torah hide from me?

I wanted to find out. About three years and a pandemic later, I bid farewell to Moshah as she stood on Mt. Nevoa an extraordinary woman whose eye was not dim, and whose sap had not run. The first draft of Chumash Toratah was complete.

During this period, profound things happened. I started to experience the text in community and witnessed how it resonated with others. For the first time, during Shavuot learning at the 14th Street Y, a female rabbi chant from a page of Toratah written by a female scribe.

In November 2019, we held the first ritual with Toratah, chanting the story of the Akeda, the binding of Isaac, alternating the verses between the traditional and our newly written version: Titzhak spoke to Emrahama, her mother, and said, My mother. And she said, Here I am, my daughter.

Tears came. Glasses fogged. Voices broke. A rabbi spoke to me quietly while she was tying the makeshift scroll we had prepared for the occasion: I promise you that we will tie a real Toratah scroll.

A few months later, I had another opportunity to chant from the Toratah during Shabbat Miketz: And Parah said to TosephI have heard that when you hear a dream, you can solve it.

After the service, Kohanot (Hebrew for Priestesses) from the Kohenet Institute surrounded me with their blessings. The power of their voices and intentions is still with me.

Tamar Biala joined me to work on the second draft of our regendered Chumash. Her experience growing up religious in Israel and her groundbreaking editing of Dirshuni, Israeli Women Writing Midrash have brought valuable breadth to this sacred work.

Working with Tamar, I have discovered new dimensions of Toratah. Where I gravitated towards psychospiritual applications of the text, Tamar gravitated towards sexuality, law and ethics.

Our conversations took us deeper into biology, Near East mythologies, languages, regional ancient legal systems and archeology. We created words and conjugated new verbs for female form when they were missing from the Hebrew language. We discovered in this process how multilingual and multicultural our Torah really is how vowelization, introduced in the 8th century, was also its own form of commentary. We connected more deeply to what we know language to be fluid and malleable.

Just over a year ago, we started a virtual weekly mincha service in which we read the weekly portions from our Toratah. An extraordinary collection of people artists, scholars, teachers, rabbis and ritual experts from the US, England and Israel have gathered for the weekly studies and discussions.

Toratah has challenged us in new ways: The agency that the women of Toratah have for good or bad, and their larger-than-life personas tested our feminist theolgies and feminist ethics. Toratah called on us to redraw our definition of woman in relation to a Goddess who shows Herself as a maximum woman, while men gain their social standing by fathering daughters.

We also saw that the original text and our version come together to create a complete Torah, and possiblities for gender-queer readings opened up when crossing stories from both sides: Emrahama and Sarah, the founders of the Tisraelah people, could not conceive but they had a slave named Hager. Torah has become dynamic.

After Simchat Toratah and the unveil of Chumash Bereshit in Hebrew, Tamar and I will start a new study series three Sundays per month teaching Toratah Bereshit comprehensively, and once a month, we will hold a Shabbat service to study the Haftarah from Prophetesses.

While doing this work, I encountered a verse that blew my mind and answered so deeply that which I yearned for: And Tehovah spoke to Moshah face to face, as a woman speaks to her girlfriend. (Toratah, Exodus 33:11).

If someone would have told me years ago, Yael, this is what you will be doing with years of your life, I would have replied that they are totally mad. But hineni, here I am. Goddess moves in mysterious ways.

Yael Kanarek is an award-winning multimedia artist. In 2016, she began an initiative to regender the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), by reversing the genders of all characters. More information about this project is available at Beit Toratah.

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I reversed the genders of every person in the Torah and it finally feels complete - Forward

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Posted By admin on September 28, 2021

I was introduced to the Mishna in rabbinical school. It is the codification of Jewish oral law as written down in its final form by Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi in the 3rd century CE. The laws in it supplement and expand Torah law which was often not comprehensive enough to cover changing circumstances.

I found most of these Mishna laws to be of historical interest but little else. This assessment included the laws dealing with agriculture. I was not a farmer and did not plan to be one.

Then came the pandemic, with its push for outdoor gatherings. Suddenly, these ancient laws for growing crops took on meaning in ways I could not have anticipated.

Donna and I had always enjoyed planting in our flower beds, so we decided to join our neighborhood community garden called Vista. It was the perfect option for safe socialization and offered an opportunity to do something we enjoyed. Thus, we became pandemic-induced gentleman farmers. Normally, a gentleman farm covers 50 to 70 acres. But in our case, our 4 x 16-foot plot has been about all the acreage we could handle.

Our first task was to decide what and where in our raised bed to plant. The experienced gardeners at Vista suggested that Donna and I read up on the subject to help decide.

Yet, as I began to read, I suddenly remembered those antiquated agricultural laws in the Mishna. I did not expect them to help, but I was curious to see how they compared to todays instructions.

When I reread the Tractate Zraim (order of seeds) for example, I learned that our ancestors believed you should not plant seeds of different varieties together. Some Rabbis argued that the stronger variety would steal nutrients from the weaker, resulting in a diminished harvest. Maimonides, a 12th century rabbi, admitted he did not know why the Rabbis had made that law, but that we should follow their advice.

It turns out that the earlier Rabbis were correct. Science today tells us that when you plant different varieties in the same place, they end up competing for sunlight, water, minerals, and space. Donna and I learned that lesson the hard way. We planted bush beans right under a towering tomato plant and the beans never produced.

Our rabbi farmers were also right about where to plant specific crops in a vegetable garden, and how far apart to space them. They even described and drew suggested plot layouts. For example, Mishna 1 in Chapter 3 of Kilayim (mixed species) reads, A garden bed which is six handbreadths by six handbreadths may be sown with five different species of seeds, four on the four sides of the bed and one in the middle. Though our plot was larger, our plant layout, as suggested by Vista Garden experts, was identical to one noted in the Mishna text. Who knew?

Another tractate in Mishna Zraim called Sheviit (seventh year) sets the law for soil management. The biblical basis for the law is found in Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy. There, our ancestors command us to leave the land in Israel fallow for one year on a seven year (sheviit) rotating basis. This law is also scientifically sound by modern standards. Growing plants in the same soil year after year depletes it of its essential nutrients and deprives it of its ability to regenerate naturally.

That our tradition mandates a cessation of planting in the seventh year was not new to me. But what I did not expect was the in-depth description in the Mishna text of manures and other amendments that should be added to the soil.

Yet, as Donna and I enhanced the soil in our plot with successive layers of mulch, compost, peet, and a cover crop of high nitrogen peas grown over the summer, I suddenly remembered reading about these additives of old.

Today, several Talmudic legal issues swirl around the Shmitah law. One such case asks if a Jewish farmer in Israel is allowed to plant in the seventh year if he does so by inserting seed into a compost and mulch filled fabric sock? Since he technically would not be planting directly into the earth, should that not suffice as a halachic workaround?

It is amazing how a new experience can breathe life into what I previously considered outdated and irrelevant. The same can also be said about my attachment to the holiday of Sukkot. Experiencing it literally now from the ground up has given me a new appreciation for the fear our forbearers faced at this time of the year. Building sukkot to be near their fields to protect their crops from danger was not the quaint practice it has become for us. For them, without grocery store backup, following every aspect of Sukkot and agricultural law was a matter of life and death. No wonder they rejoiced when the harvest was successful. We should try to capture their joyous spirit in our own Sukkot celebrations.

Rabbinically Speaking is published as a public service by the Jewish Press in cooperation with the Tampa Rabbinical Association which assigns the column on a rotating basis. The views expressed in the column are those of the rabbi and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Jewish Press or the TRA.

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Posted By admin on September 28, 2021

The holiday of Shemini Atzeres suffers from an identity crisis. On the one hand, its very name the Eighth Day of Assembly leads to the impression that it is the closing day of Sukkot, the holiday that immediately precedes it. At the same time, the Talmud clearly understands it to be a separate holiday, with significant features that distinguish it from Sukkot. Among the halakhic features that the Talmud uses to prove its independence is the recitation of the blessing of Shehechiyanu Baruch she-he-cheyanu ve-kiyamanu ve-higiyanu la-zeman ha-zeh the benediction recited at the beginning of each festival thanking God who has kept us alive, sustained us, and brought us to this season. The Shehechiyanu said at the beginning nights of Sukkot is not sufficient to cover the joy that we have in encountering a new and independent milestone of Shemini Atzeres.

It is striking to note how often this special blessing is recited over this season of the year: both evenings of Rosh Hashanah during kiddush, preceding the shofar on both days of Rosh Hashanah, during Kol Nidrei on Yom Kippur, during kiddush on the opening evenings of Sukkot, before waving the lulav and etrog for the first time and again in the kiddush of Shemini Atzeres and Simchat Torah. (In fact, during the time of the Talmud, an additional Shehechiyanu was recited when the sukkah was constructed! Sukkah 46a.) In many ways, this simple expression of gratitude to God for survival is the anthem of our High Holiday season.

There is a powerful story that illustrates the profound significance of this blessing:

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One year, the first Bobover Rebbe, R Shloime Halberstam (18471905), acquired a precious possession: a set of the famed Slavita edition of the Talmud. Particularly prized by Chassidic rebbes due to the beauty of the printing and the piety of the printers, the Bobover Rebbe was overjoyed with his good fortune. So when the second night of Rosh Hashanah arrived that year, the Bobover Rebbe asked that the Slavita Talmud be placed on the yom tov table together with the customary platter of new fruit, in order that his shehecheyanu his heartfelt declaration of joy in being allowed to live another year should include his excitement over his new Talmud.

Decades later, in 1946 his grandson who bore his holy name, R Shloime Halberstam (19072000), found himself in New York on Rosh Hashanah under very different circumstances. He had lost his wife, most of his children and many of his followers during the dark years of the Holocaust. Bobov was gone, and as a refugee in America, his beard just growing back after the war, was trying to imagine the near impossible work of rebuilding. When he sat down to celebrate the second evening of Rosh Hashanah, on the table he, too, placed a new set of Talmud, just as his namesake had done.

And when I imagine the ragtag group of refugees who shared that first Rosh Hashanah in the New World, I think about what the Shehecheyanu must have meant to them:

Notwithstanding the horror and the carnage, they were still alive.Notwithstanding the utter obliteration of the rich heritage of European Jewry, the Talmud still lived.Notwithstanding the unfamiliar and spiritually rootless soil they found themselves on, the grandson could still find the same joy in Judaism as the zeyde had years before.

Baruch she-he-cheyanu ve-kiyamanu ve-higiyanu la-zeman ha-zeh!

This has been a challenging year for the whole world, and as we culminate for a festival season that in some ways would be unrecognizable to our pre-pandemic selves, it is not difficult to give in to a sense of sadness and despair.

This Tishrei, we need to seize on to the Shehechiyanu of the Bobover Rebbe, to find the joy and gratitude to Hashem for what we do have, that we are still here and appreciating the unique gifts that each festival of this blessed season.

And I leave you with this question: What can we bring to the table this year to enhance our Shehechiyanu? More than a lychee or a kumquat, we need to dig deep in ourselves to find and share that for which we are so grateful to Hashem, notwithstanding the anxiety of this past year.

Baruch she-he-cheyanu ve-kiyamanu ve-higiyanu la-zeman ha-zeh!PJC

Rabbi Daniel Yolkut is the spiritual leader of Congregation Poale Zedeck. This column is a service of the Vaad Harabanim of Greater Pittsburgh.

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Posted By admin on September 28, 2021

As we speak, Jews across the world are preparing to celebrate Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah. Shemini Atzeret, or the 8th Day of Assembly, is the closing festival after the 7 days of Sukkot mentioned in Leviticus 23. Simchat Torah, the Joy of Torah, is a joyous occasion marking the fact that the Jewish people have finished reading the Torah for this year and start reading it anew for the year to come, demonstrating that the Torah is a cycle that is part of the daily life of the Jewish people.

In Israel, Shemini Atzeret is attached to Simchat Torah as one holiday. However, in the Diaspora, its celebrated as a separate holiday. Nevertheless, even though Israelis celebrate Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah as one holiday, the Talmud stresses that Shemini Atzeret is a holiday in its own right. According to Leviticus 23:36: For the seven days of Sukkot, you shall bring a fire offering to G-d; on the eighth day, it shall be a holy convocation for you.

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According to the text of Vayikra 23:43, the commandment to dwell in sukkot (booths/shelters) is observed:

In order that future generations will know that I made the children of Israel live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt.

In the Exodus narrative itself, these booths are not mentioned. This gave rise to a Talmudic dispute in which R. Akivas claim (that the festival of Sukkot refers to physical booths built in the desert) is contested by R. Eliezar, who suggests that the shelter referred to is none other than that of the annanei kavodthe Divine clouds of The Glory which protected Israel in the desert. (Midrash Sifra 17, Talmud Bavli, Sukkah 11b).

There is a sense in which both opinions are correct.

The hut (sukkah) which is built during the festival of Sukkot is a reminder of our reliance on Divine Providence and Protection. For some the emphasis is on the idea that it is we ourselves who build it-literally by our labour and creativity and figuratively by our attempt to live according to the Torah. For others it is a reminder that ultimately we are totally reliant on the Protection of God, and that He will be gracious to whomsoever He chooses. Both ideas are part of the liturgy of this festival, and both ideas can be a fruitful source of inspiration for our meditation, prayers, and other acts of gemilut chasadim.

Though the nature and symbolism of the Shelter/shelter under which we celebrate generated much creative argument one opinion on the festival of Sukkot which was always universally agreed upon is that Sukkot is the Season of our Joy.

The Joy which characterises this season celebrates a time in the desert which was no Nature Ramble or jolly summer-camp vacation. As Rabbi Irving Greenberg wrote in 1988:

In the desert, the people of Israel met their God, ate the bread of heaven, and followed the pillar of fire. In that same desert, The Amalekites attacked, the water springs were bitter, the Israelites lusted after meat, the flocks were thirsty.

The Joy of Sukkot is the joy of optimism in all circumstances-those we perceive as good and those we perceive as bad- and it is the fruit of authentic and expansive gratitude for whatever we are provided with daily. But, how can we feel joy at ANY time when we are aware that there is so much poverty, suffering and cruelty in our broken world?

The sukkah in the photo above (one I built in 1994 when I lived in Indonesia) would be a palace to millions of people in our world right now and at any time of year. Sometimes G-ds reality seems to be more cruel than we humans can perceive or even begin to understand.How can we experience joy when so many of our Nation (and of the entire Human Race worldwide) are suffering and dying in the current viral plague?

Those fulfilling the commandment to build and dwell in a sukkah during Sukkot are challenged to cope with the mix of Chesed and Gevurah in Creation and find the balance of Tiferet: ways to make their reliance on the Providence of G-d and their attempt to generate equanimity overflow to all worlds.

Even if we begin small: Sitting in the Sukkah, we are given a choice: We can moan and grumble when the roof leaks,or we can try to keep our spirits up and focus on the beauty of the stars we can see through the hole. We can give up the task of re-building when the winds blow the makeshift walls down or we can be optimistic and remember that all we have is temporary anyway, and just plod on with hope.

It is by reflecting on such common aspects of life in a modern sukkah when we are safe and in good circumstances that we can generate the sort of positive outlook that stands people in good stead in times of crisis. And with the viral pandemic, the intensifying threat of war and terrorism, and the expansion of antisemitic and anti Israel prejudice. we are certainly in the midst of such a time right now.

The Festival of Sukkot has always been one of our most Universalist festivals. It is a time when the Priestly Nation of Israel turns its thoughts to the well being of all Nations, and offers its sacrifices for a global cause. We are no longer worshipping in a Temple and our sacrifices are now made through acts of tzedakah and especially through our prayers.

The contemplative Jew believes that prayer has a role to play in this situation of global crisis, even though it may not be so readily measured. Relying on Divine Providence does not mean that we expect magic to be performed on our behalf. Our prayers for the victims of natural disasters, for those trying to repair the damage done to our broken planet, and for those politicians, volunteers, and caring professionals who work to raise up the bodies and souls of the afflicted and persecuted are not an attempt to overturn the laws of nature. They are an attempt to generate positive thought and energy, and to make a plea for inspiration and comfort to descend into the hearts of those in the midst of difficult times, and to those In Power and those with influence to make positive and compassionate changes.

In this way, we are imploring HaShem to make his Compassion overcome His Strict Justice.

Our faith in Divine Providence is not quietism. Our belief that our prayers make a difference is part of our active community service. Our prayer is meant to encourage and to generate positive and creative events in ourselves and in other people. As the Yom Kippur prayer book has recently reminded us : Our prayer may not avert the harsh decree but it can transform it. It may actually give hope to those who have no hope. It may be one of the ways which the sukkah of G-ds Presence is extended over His wild and broken earth.

All of this is above national and partisan politics. All this is above vitriolic fighting over vaccination policy or quarantine regulations. All of this is above the criticism of governments or leading political personalities who we may have made into scapegoats for our our own failings or who we use to bolster up our escapism in the face of genuine anxiety and pain. All this is above the seeking of modern age conspiracy theory scapegoats to send to Azazel. There is no person or event or situation that cannot somehow be an agent of G-ds Providence, for all is in Him, both the light and the dark.

But, when all is said and done, and despite our attempts to develop our spiritual equanimity.. it is better to light a candle than to rant and rave at the dark, to be grateful for the Sukkah and its apparently flimsy protection. And to try to see its hidden beauty even in a storm.

Most of all, in Israel, our beleaguered and threatened country, may our prayers avert harsh decrees of disease and war, and protect us against the hatred of those who would destroy us.

May He shelter us all in the Sukkah of His Peace.

Nachman Davies is an author, copy editor, and Jewish Contemplative. After a lifetime working as a composer and school music teacher in UK, Jakarta, and Singapore: he became totally deaf, bought a cave house in Spain, and began a twelve year experiment in living an observant yet solitary life as a full time contemplative practitioner. He made aliyah in 2019 and now lives in Tsfat in Northern Israel. (His personal website "Jewish Contemplatives" can be viewed at https://jewishcontemplatives.blogspot.com )

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Chemi Peres, Chairman of the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation, addressed a rally of 300 Sunni community leaders and activists in Erbil, in Iraqs Kurdistan, calling for normalization with Israel.

The rally, the first such event of its kind, was organized by the New York-based Center for Peace Communications (CPC) this was the first such event of its kind.

Addressing the plenary virtually, Peres used the platform to call to advance the vision of his father, the late Israeli President and statesman Shimon Peres, of normalization and peace across the region. Calling the event historic and inspirational, Chemi Peres sait it was an opportunity to solidify the historical ties between Iraq, or ancient Babylon, and the Jewish people, whose culture was influenced significantly by the ancient Jewish community which once thrived there.

He also noted the recent normalization trends as a model which he hopes can positively impact Israeli-Palestinian relations and the prospects for peace.

Holding such a meeting alongside this initiative serves as an inspiration for many Israelis. As you surely know, many Israelis have deep historical and familial ties to Iraq, my own family included. There exists today, and there will continue to be, a deep connection between those residing in the Holy Land and those living in Iraq, the land of the two rivers, where the historic Jewish text, the Babylonian Talmud was written. This is a text which continues to play an enlightening role in the lives of our people to this day, Peres said.

During the event, Wisam al-Hardan, a Sunni tribe leader from the Anbar province in Iraq, declared: We demand full diplomatic relations with the State of Israel and a new policy of normalization based on peole-to-peope relations with the citzens of that country.

He criticized the law against delaing with Israelis and Zionists, saying it violates the fundamental rights human rights of Iraqis. The so-called ant-normalization law in Iraq are morally repugnant and have been repeateldly exposed by the international community as an assualt on human rights and freedom of expression and association, said al-Hardan.

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I have learned over the years that my High Holy Days experience was different from many Jews Id later meet. Growing up in my Orthodox bubble of New York and then Cleveland Heights, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur were mainly about the prayers.

Where are you going to daven (pray) was a far more likely question than, Whos coming over for Rosh Hashanah dinner? In fact, we usually did not have any guests for Rosh Hashanah dinner. The solemnity of the day didnt feel compatible with the celebratory atmosphere of guests. Yom Kippur break-fast was a small and unimpressive affair.

And then came Sukkot.

Sukkot was the moment to celebrate, to travel to New York to be with our grandparents, aunts and uncles, or to have them come to Cleveland to be with us. To cook and enjoy big, festive meals. To walk from shul to shul on Simchat Torah, reveling in the spirit of the day and enjoying all the festivities. Sukkot was the relief after the intensity, the calm after the storm.

On Rosh Hashanah, Judaism teaches us to rejoice with trembling. But on Sukkot, it tells us to only be joyous. How should we be joyous, the Talmud asks? Here are some guidelines from thousands of years ago: For men, enjoy meat and wine. For women, new clothing and jewelry. For children, treats and sweets. In other words, find things that make you happy physically to enhance and awaken your inner joy.

Whats the inner joy about? Its exactly about the calm after the storm.

For 10 days, from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur inclusive, weve been under a cloud of seriousness. The Book of Life is open; are we going to be written in it? Have we successfully repented for our mistakes? Have we apologized and cleared our slate toward others weve harmed? Not gonna lie, its a lot of pressure. And its supposed to be. Yom Kippur is really hard. Introspection and transformation are not for the faint of heart.

And fasting well, lets just say Id rather be eating. But when that shofar sounds at night, when all the prayers and tears are over, when we draw a collective ragged breath, smile and hug each other, whispering, Next year in Jerusalem! well, theres no relief like that. Theres no joy like a hard job well done.

The joy comes from the deep sense of satisfaction and love in the air that weve humbled ourselves and hopefully been forgiven. That weve done the grueling task of the annual audit and come out in the clear. That weve had the tough conversations and theyve ended well. Nothing feels better than doing something hard, and amazing.

So, Sukkot.

Try to find a Sukkah to visit if you dont have one of your own. Try to find a lulav to shake. Breathe in the clean air, drink in the sunshine. Celebrate this beautiful, underserved holiday with family and friends. Inhale the collective sense of relief, the relief of the family of Israel. Were in it together. Chag Sameach.

Read Ruchi Koval online at cjn.org/ruchikoval. Connect with her on Facebook at ruchi.koval and on Instagram @ruchi.koval.

The Cleveland Jewish News does not make endorsements of political candidates and/or political or other ballot issues on any level. Letters, commentaries, opinions, advertisements and online posts appearing in the Cleveland Jewish News, on cjn.org or our social media pages do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Cleveland Jewish Publication Company, its board, officers or staff.

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