Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on September 22, 2021

The Ten Days of Repentance/Return are bookended by Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, and so we easily connect them. They are even referred to as the Days of Awe.

But there are two other holidays paired in the month of Tishrei: Yom Kippur and Sukkot. In many ways, Sukkot is the other half of Yom Kippur.

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Individuals who observe Yom Kippur without Sukkot are getting only half the message.

There is another connection between Yom Kippur and Sukkot. While we end Yom Kippur with the Neila service, which speaks of the symbolic closing of the gates of heaven to our prayers of repentance and return, there is a tradition that says the period is extended through Sukkot.

Talmud professor Joseph Tabory writes: Hoshana Raba, the last day of the festival of Sukkot, is considered a day of judgment. According to the Zohar, although one is judged on the Day of Atonement, that verdict is not delivered until the last day of Sukkot, and until then a person may still repent (Zohar, Vayehi, 120a; Truma 142a).

However, according to the Zohar, the day on which the verdict is delivered is actually Shmini Atzeret, the final day of the festival, and not Hoshana Raba (the day before).

Hesed leAvraham explains the contradiction as follows: The last chance to change ones judgment is actually Hoshana Raba; whoever has not yet repented by then has his verdict handed down on Shmini Atzeret....

While we have examined the connection of Sukkot to Yom Kippur, Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, aka Reb Zalman, makes a connection between Sukkot and Passover. He teaches that on Sukkot we go into the mitzvah (the sukkah), while on Passover the mitzvah (matzah) goes into us.

Another connection between Sukkot and Passover: on both we invite guests. Each night on Sukkot we invite real guests, as well as symbolic guests from our biblical past Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Leah, Moses and Hannah, Miriam and Aaron, Esther and Joseph, Rachel and David.

Author Lesli Koppelman Ross writes, Maimonides admonished that anyone who sits comfortably with his family within his own walls and does not share with the poor is performing a mitzvah not for joy but for the stomach. In addition to extending personal invitations to the needy (in former times it was customary to have at least one poor person at a Sukkot meal; today donation of funds often is a substitute), we open our homes symbolically.

Relatedly, at the beginning of the Seder we say, Let all who are hungry come and eat.

This all points to the great concern Judaism has for the most vulnerable in society. In Leviticus (19:9-10) we are told:

When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap all the way to the edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. You shall not pick your vineyard bare or gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger; I am the Lord your God.

We also read, Give to the needy readily and have no regrets when you do so, for in return the Eternal your God will bless you in all your efforts and in all your undertakings (Deuteronomy 15:10).

When you are asked in the world to come, What was your work? and you answer: I fed the hungry, you will be told: This is the gate of the Lord, enter into it, you who have fed the hungry (Midrash Psalms 118:17).

As Rabbi Jonathan Sacks summarizes, [A] free society is a moral achievement. The paradoxical truth is that a society is strong when it cares for the weak, rich when it cares for the poor, and invulnerable when it takes care of the vulnerable.

ON SUKKOT we build a sukkah, a vulnerable structure that we are told to live in during the weeklong festival.

We do so to remind ourselves that any structure no matter how strong and, we assume, permanent (even our homes) can be vulnerable.

We extend the penitential period beyond Yom Kippur and into Sukkot to remind ourselves that sometimes the task is so great we need more time.

As we each sit in our sukkah this year, knowing that most of us will be able to return to stable homes, let us not only think of those less fortunate when it comes to a permanent, safe roof over their heads. Let us also develop and act in tangible ways so that we, as individuals and societies, can address this worldwide scourge.

The open-air sukkah invokes Sarah and Abraham, who, we are told, opened their tent on all sides during the day so they could see and welcome those on the move. The Talmud (Shabbat 127a) tells us, in the context of Abraham and Sarah welcoming those individuals, that receiving guests is greater than greeting the Divine Presence.

As we sit in the shade of our sukkah, let us remember that our response to refugees and the homeless is holy work.

The writer is rabbi emeritus of the Israel Congregation, Manchester Center, Vermont, and a faculty member of the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies and Bennington College.

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Sukkot, and the lesson of reaching out to help others - The Jerusalem Post

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Posted By admin on September 22, 2021

Marc Gellman| Monroe News-Star

Every year on the Jewish High Holidays I send you an edited version of my High Holiday sermon. The differences between this one and the one I preached is that this one lacks some jokes, but on the positive side, this one is too short to put you to sleep.

Today, we continue our four-year spiritual exploration of the klei kodesh, the holy objects that were in the Temple in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago.

Three years ago, I taught you about the mishkan the ark of the covenant, which as you know, was discovered by Indiana Jones and is now in Steven Spielbergs beach house.

Two years ago, we studied about the menorah the seven-branched candelabrum that was taken by the Romans after their conquest of Jerusalem and is now also in Steven Spielbergs beach house.

And last year, we considered the kior the washbasin of the priests, made of mirrors from Egyptian bondage and which is not in Steven Spielbergs beach house because the dcor was not right.

This year, the holy thing we shall study is the mizbeah the altar upon which the burnt offerings of animals were offered.

The mizbeah, the altar, was arguably the most important of all the klei kodesh. All the other holy objects on the Temple mount were either spiritual decorations like the menorah or spiritual relics like the ark of the covenant. The altar was different. The mizbeah was a spiritual tool. The altar was the device that made biblical Judaism work.

To be biblically Jewish one had to offer animal sacrifices and the altar was the place of sacrifice. Three times a year on Passover, Sukkot, and Shavuot, thousands of Jews made pilgrimage to Jerusalem to affirm their Jewishness by bringing sacrifices of animals and grain and fruits. The altar sustained the hereditary priesthood and the priesthood sustained Judaism.

What did the altar look like? The altar of sacrifice, the mizbeah ha-olah, the main altar is described in Exodus 27:1-8. You shall make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits broad. The altar shall be square, and its height shall be three cubits. And you shall make horns for it on its four corners; its horns shall be of one piece with it, and you shall overlay it with bronze.

The altar was the largest and most sacred Weber barbecue grill ever made.

When the Romans destroyed the Temple in the year 70, they also destroyed biblical Judaism. If it were not for the rabbis who invented rabbinic Judaism, our faith would have disappeared.

The key move of rabbinic Judaism was the substitution of animal sacrifices with prayers. The morning sacrifice, the shaharit, was replaced by the morning shaharit prayer. The afternoon grain offering, the minha, was replaced by the afternoon prayer and so on.

The truth is that long before the Roman armies of Titus ended forever the practice of sacrificing animals prophets like Isaiah spoke out against animal sacrifices.

Listen to the power of Isaiah 1:11-17:

I am sick of your sacrifices. Dont bring me any more of them. I dont want your fat rams. I dont want to see the blood from your offerings. Who wants your sacrifices when you have no sorrow for your sins? The incense you bring me is a stench in my nostrils. Your holy celebrations all are frauds!

In the spirit of the prophets, the rabbis did try to preserve the sacrificial spirit of biblical Judaism. For example, they preserved the biblical commandment of the meiser, which is a commandment to give away a 10th of your gross income. Christians call this tithing oneself.

I buried many Jews who lived a life of sacrifice.

The man who rented a coal bin at his apartment so he could save all his wages and bring his family over from the old country.

The woman who never ate any part of the chicken except the wings so that one chicken could feed her entire family.

The woman who when she made a pot of beans and meat (called cholent) before the Sabbath would cook an extra pot for a poor family.

The woman whose husband was stricken with Alzheimers and could not drive safely. To protect his dignity, she drove him to work and picked him up every day for over 20 years. It prevented her from working or traveling or having a normal social life, and it was a daily sacrifice for her. That woman was my mother.

Let us remember the words of Psalm 43:3-4:

Send forth Your light and Your truth; they will lead me; they will bring me to Your holy mountain, to Your dwelling-place, that I may come to the altar of God, God, my delight, my joy; that I may praise You with the stringed instrument, O God, my God (elohim elohai).

Elohim elohai…O God My God. Let the altar of sacrifice burn in our souls forever.

AMEN

Send ALL QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS to The God Squad via email atgodsquadquestion@aol.com. Rabbi Gellman is the author of several books, including Religion for Dummies, co-written with Fr. Tom Hartman.

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God Squad: The altar of burnt offerings Part I - The News Star

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Posted By admin on September 22, 2021

You may be familiar with a nebulous term called "the Judeo-Christian tradition, an attempt to unify principles of Judaism and Christianity under one banner. While they have a lot in common, we can more accurately speak of a trio: the "Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. These three faiths encompassand definemost of the Western world. How are the Abrahamic religions similar and different?

While Jerusalem is the disputed capital of the State of Israel, there can be no argument of its importance to all three of the Abrahamic religions. Indeed, this status undergirds much of the tensions surrounding it as a contemporary city. Jerusalem, where the First and Second Temples once lay, is the holiest city to the Jewish people, and is among the holiest sites to Christians and Muslims as well.

Whether you know him as God, Jehovah, Yahweh, YHWH, or Allah, all three religions worship what we call "the god of Abraham. As the patriarch of the Israelites, Abraham is one of the most influential figures in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. The manifestation of that god, however, is where we start to see the divergences in how the Abrahamic religions are similar and different.

Almost all denominations of Christianity believe in a triune God: a single being who appears as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Judaism and Islam differ in this respect. When they describe themselves as monotheistic religions, they mean itthe second of the Ten Commandments clearly states "thou shalt have no other gods before me, while the first pillar of Islam instructs that there is no God but God and Muhammad is his prophet. While Islam regards Jesus as another great prophet, and Jesus was, of course, a rabbi, these faiths have no theological allowance for a Holy Trinity.

Just like Christianity, Judaism and Islam have inspired great art. Conspicuous by its absence, however, is the human form. Once again, we find ourselves referring to the Ten Commandments, Exodus 20:4: "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. One glance at any Catholic or Orthodox church will tell you that there are plenty of graven images about. Ever since the wayward Israelites took to worshiping a golden calf, Judaism has borne a strict prohibition on anything one could remotely construe as idol worship. The paintings, stained glass windows, and statues of influential figures that define Christian artwork thus have no place in Judaism. While God the Father appears as a bearded man in Christian art, Judaism declares that Gods true form is unknowable and thus cannot exist in art. The same ban on idolatry exists within Islam. Without being able to represent human beings, mosques instead feature ornate geometric art and architecture.

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How Are the Abrahamic Religions Similar and Different? - The Culture Chronicle

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Posted By admin on September 22, 2021

I had to flee like a refugee to save my life, Ill be as iron as a lion in Zion, sings Bob Marley in his hit Iron Lion Zion. Another song by Marley is called Babylon System, in which he sings about the difficult life in Babylon and suggests that one should rise up against this unjust system.

What do the reggae artists from Jamaica have to do with the biblical stories that happened to the Jewish people?

Reggae music is a cultural expression of Rastafarianism, a religion based on Judaism, Christianity and Islam, but with its own interpretation of their scriptures.

The Rastafarian religion emerged in the 1930s when Haile Selassie became king of Ethiopia. He was thought to be a descendant of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. Their meeting is described in 1 Kings 1, where the Ethiopian legend adds that after her visit to Israel the queen founded a ruling dynasty with her child, whose father was Solomon. For the Rastafarians, Haile Selassie was considered the messiah,...

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Bob Marley and the Jewish Bible - Israel Today

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Posted By admin on September 22, 2021

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan are contributing $1.3 million to 11 Jewish groups,eJewish Philanthropy reported, citing a spokesperson for the couple.

News of Zuckerberg and Chans donationscomes as the couple has gradually emphasized its Jewish identity in publicin recent years. Privately, Zuckerberg and Chan have also been meeting with rabbis and scholars to discuss Judaism and the Jewish community, according to eJewish Philanthropy.

Mark and Priscilla have made some personal commitments in the past, but these new grants reinforce their interest in learning and deepening their connections with the community, a spokesperson was quoted as saying.

Two of the grantees are national organizations:OneTable, which supports Shabbat dinners hosted by young Jews, and PJ Library, which distributes Jewish childrens books and music for free.

But the rest primarily serve local needs in the San Francisco Bay Area. Three educational institutions received funding: Contra Costa Jewish Day School in Lafayette, Gideon Hausner Jewish Day School in Palo Alto and the Jewish Community High School of the Bay in San Francisco. Three summer camps in California, URJ Camp Newman, Camp Ramah in Northern California and Camp Tawonga, also were beneficiaries.

The Oshman Jewish Community Center in Palo Alto and the local Jewish Family and Childrens Services are also receiving funding to boost their local offerings. Meanwhile, agrant to the Jewish Community Relations Council will pay for a new social media campaign to educate the public on antisemitism.

Mark and Priscilla are proud to support the important work each of these organizations does in building communities, education, celebrating traditions and faith, and giving people a voice especially in fighting antisemitism, the spokesperson told eJewish Philanthropy.

The couple that controls much of Facebook became a major philanthropic power in 2015 when it launched the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, pledging to donate 99% of their Facebook fortune to charity. The recent spate of Jewish donations was made out of the couples family office, separately from the initiative, according to eJewish Philanthropy.

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Zuckerberg and Chan give $1.3m to Jewish orgs, mostly in Bay Area J. - The Jewish News of Northern California

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Posted By admin on September 22, 2021

It is not hard to be controversial. Anyone can call a circle a square, hurl a racist insult, make a sick joke, or defame, degrade, demean, or dehumanize. It is the calling card of attention seekers and class clowns since history began. But philosophers are supposed to be different. In their search for truth, their hatred of logical fallacies, and their adulation for the well-constructed syllogism, they are meant to firmly tread the lines of respectability right?

Well, not all of them. Many philosophers have lived controversial lives. Aristotle held some hugely misogynistic views, Schopenhauer pushed a woman down the stairs for talking too much, Heidegger was a card-carrying Nazi, and Seneca got rich by being the speech writer and apologist for one of the most brutal of Roman emperors.

And yet, their ideas are still read and enjoyed the world over. We separate their philosophy from their lives. So, if we are to judge the controversy of a philosopher, we ought to do so when they are doing philosophy. And in this, it is pretty hard to beat Friedrich Nietzsche.

(Note: I am treating only well-known and well-read philosophers, here. If we were to examine every person who ever called themselves a philosopher, of course we will find greater controversy amongst the racists, fascists, and hate-mongers of the world.)

Of all the world-famous philosophers, Friedrich Nietzsche is the one who probably evokes the strongest reaction. It is hard to read his work and not feel something be it revulsion at his iconoclasm or exhilaration at his rhetoric. His various aphorisms like, God is dead, and, What doesnt kill you makes you stronger, have entered common usage. Many folks, from angsty students to retired professors, can find something empowering in his writing. It is probably fair to say that Nietzsche offers little in terms of a coherent system, like a Descartes or Kant, but it is also true that this was likely never his intention.

It is difficult to talk about Nietzsche without a disreputable specter or scandal lurking in the background. Wasnt Nietzsche a Nazi? Doesnt he encourage cruelty and oppression? As is often the case, the truth is much more complicated.

There is no doubt that Nietzsche can make for hard reading. His talk of the bermensch (Overman) or the Will to Power will make many of us balk. After all, for every bermensch there must be an Untermensch or underman. And this was a specific term the Nazis used for those races they deemed inferior, which meant the Roma, Slavs, and, of course, the Jews.

Similarly, when Nietzsche lionizes the lion, might he not be validating the oppressor? He spends a lot of time proclaiming strength and power as being virtues, even at the expense of (or possibly because of) the weak. Even within its context, a line like, To witness suffering does one good, to inflict suffering does one even more good, is pretty unpalatable today. (Nietzsche admits this, but he sees it rather as a misplaced sentimentalism.) It is fair to say that a Nazi, a slaveowner, or a serial killer could find justification quite easily from dipping into Nietzsches books.

Yet, to call him a Nazi is a misreading both of Nietzsches works and what he stood for as a person.

No doubt, Nietzsche did attack Judaism and the Jews and is guilty, perhaps, of conflating the two for starting what he called the the slave rebellion in morals. But Nietzsche was an equal opportunity mischief-maker. Christianity gets the brunt of nastiness, but he also makes a point to attack German nationalism, populism more generally, and anti-Semitism, too. In one place, he says that all anti-Semites should be shot, and in another, he writes that he would eject them from all Germany.

Much of the damage to his reputation was done by Nietzsches noxious and highly anti-Semitic sister, Elisabeth. It was she who likely doctored his works to be more Nazi-leaning. (She was a Nazi supporter.) When Mussolini (the first fascist) discovered how much he could weaponize Nietzsches works, he wrote a letter to Elisabeth saying how much he admired her. She then organized an opera in his name, and it was there she met Hitler, gave him flowers, and said how much she loved him.

When Alfred Bumler, a Nazi ideologue who had organized the Berlin book burning, as well as Martin Heidegger, a famous philosopher and Nazi member, were placed in charge of the Nazi archive of acceptable textbooks and material, they discovered that Elisabeth already had done all the doctoring that was needed. Hitler often saw himself as a kind of philosopher-leader, and while we will never know if he ever read Nietzsche, the Fhrer definitely liked him enough to take his walking stick when Elisabeth gifted it to him on their second meeting. He even commissioned a statue of him in 1934, a year before Elisabeth died.

And so, we can hardly blame Nietzsche himself for how others would later misrepresent or appropriate his writing. Nietzsche himself wrote how much he hated his sisters views. He argued Jews had much to offer Germany, calling them the most remarkable people in history.

In the 1950s and 1960s, a lot of work had been done by the likes of Walter Kaufmann and Arthur C. Danto to rehabilitate Nietzsches reputation and his works. Today, he is one of the most popular philosophers in the world, with Pinterest boards and Instagram posts spilling out his various aphorisms.

But we can take revisionism too far. We should not overlook the fact that Nietzsche did indulge in racist stereotypes of Jews, and he was close friends with many fervent anti-Semites. While it is tempting to explain this away by saying he was living in an anti-Semitic time (which he was), we should not dismiss the fact that a lot of people did not choose to indulge or entertain racists.

We all live in the shadow of World War II, and in a post-Auschwitz world, Nietzsches descriptions of Jews come off as hugely unpalatable. And, in the Genealogy of Morals, especially, his tone can become fervently shrill in its disgust for Jews, Judaism, and Judea.

The question about how far we can rehabilitate Nietzsche depends on one question: Is being anti-Semitic (or at least anti-Judaism) okay if someone is equally anti any number of other things? And, is it okay to repeat and represent racist views if we also say nice things about that race, as well? It is, of course, difficult, not least because we are much more sensitive to these questions today.

Having said all that, one thing is rather certain: Nietzsche is still seen by many as being one of the most controversial philosophers in the world. Yet, that is almost entirely based on a gross misrepresentation of who he was and what he wrote.

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Friedrich Nietzsche: the most controversial philosopher ever - Big Think

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Posted By admin on September 22, 2021

When the US was attacked on Sept. 11, 2001, I was the same age as the current cadets at West Point are now.

After graduating from college, I assumed I would leave the dangers of Afghanistan to our military and focus on studying for the Jewish clergy. Growing up on the Upper East Side, Judaism was always defined more by comfort and fun than by difficult sacrifice. I was inspired by the music of Congregation Bnai Jeshurun and Central Synagogue, and I enrolled in the cantorial training program at Hebrew Union College with dreams of leading services in a similar environment. But the more I studied Judaism, the more I realized there are other places our clergy are needed as well.

Two thousand years ago, Hillel the Elder, one of historys most famous rabbis, urged Jews to choose the harder right over the easier wrong. In a place where no one is human, Hilleltaught, strive to be human.

As I planned my next career move, I had to concede that Hillel probably wasnt talking about Westchester or Long Island. I commissioned as a U.S. Army Chaplain in 2011 with one goal in mind to serve my country and its Jewish personnel in Afghanistan and the weeks I spent there in 2012 and 2016 were the most meaningful of my Army career.

Today, the Talibans complete reconquest of Afghanistan has challenged American society with difficult questions. How long should we have remained committed to our goals there, and at what price? What were our obligations to our Afghan partners? Was our national sacrifice of 2,500 dead and tens of thousands wounded ultimately rendered meaningless by the victory of our enemies?

As specific as these questions may seem, the larger issues behind them are not new to Judaism. And just as Jewish wisdom and experience guided me into Afghanistan, I believe they can guide us all as we depart.

Hillels most famous quote offers a helpful structure in which to further explore Jewish thoughts on our countrys withdrawal from Afghanistan.

If I am not for myself, who will be for me? he asked. But if Im only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?

Americas mission in Afghanistan was always driven by our own national security. Over time, however, it became harder to justify their costs in the name of our own interests.

In a place where no one is human, strive to be human.

Rabbinic thinkers pondered these very issues 20 years ago, when the State of Israel found itself in a similar situation.

During the 1970s, the country of Lebanon harbored Palestinians who committed terrorist attacks against Israel. In 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon to expel the Palestinians, which they accomplished in a matter of weeks. But rather than withdrawing at that time, Israel unsuccessfully attempted to install a friendly government in Beirut and train its fighters as the new South Lebanon Army.

These efforts only created bigger security problems than they had first set out to solve: the Israelis inadvertently unified a Shiite resistance in the creation of the paramilitary force, Hezbollah. And yet, despite continuous casualties and strategic failures, Israel remained in Lebanon for 18 years the longest war in Israels history. In the years that followed, the Lebanon War was often referred to as Israels Vietnam.

In debating whether to withdraw from Lebanon, Israeli political leadersfearedthat running and panic would damage national prestige, and that abandoning the friendly forces of the South Lebanon Army would repay their loyalty with betrayal. Israeli military leaders insisted that withdrawal would limit their deterrence of future attacks.

Rabbinic leaders, however, offered a different view.

For them, the loss of Israeli life in the never-ending occupation of Lebanon was too high a price to pay in the name of national honor and security. A war that had started in Israels self-defense had come to seem more beneficial for Lebanese opponents of Hezbollah than for Israel itself.

Rabbi Yehudah Amital, a highly influential leader of the Modern Orthodox community, argued this position when Israel ultimately withdrew from Lebanon in 2000. I do not belittle the value of national honor sometimes critical in deterrence, Amitalwrote. Yet, I dont accept the claim that our partnership with the South Lebanon Army was so strong as to prevent our exit from Lebanon. The value ofpikuach nefesh, saving a life, and especially the lives of IDF soldiers, supersedes the weight of national pride.

In debating whether to withdraw from Afghanistan, we have heard similar arguments. In an interview with NPR, former National Security Advisor John Boltoncalledthe decision to withdraw a national humiliation and advocated for a continued US military presence in Afghanistan. I want to keep America safe from terrorist attacks, he argued, and I think a continuing presence there would have been an insurance policy.

The rabbis warn against the sacrifice of life on the slippery slope of deterrence and insurance. As the great Medieval sage, Rashi,put it, In the case of a certainty versus a possibility, we prefer to follow the certainty. If I am not for myself, who will be for me?

But that is only half the story. While the decision to withdraw from Afghanistan was supported by Jewish values, the ill-coordinated and insufficient support of our documented Afghan partners is most certainly not.

Jewish law requires us torescue the vulnerablefrom their oppressors and resettle them in our midst, and todeal fairlywith workers by promptly paying what we owe them. We promised we would stand with our stranded partners in Afghanistan, in return for risking their lives to help us make their countryand oursa safer place.

But in the end our rescue efforts have proceeded too slowly, mired in a fog of bureaucracy, and our failure to uphold these most basic of Jewish values has meant more than simply overdue wages. For the thousands of Afghans stranded at the gates of the Hamid Karzai Airport, forced to return to their lives under Taliban rule, it has meant the threat of death.

Nonprofits and NGOs from across the religious spectrum have been working day and night to resettle our Afghan partners with the urgency they deserve.HIAShas mobilized staff to Fort Bliss, Fort Lee and other military posts around the country to assist in resettling Afghans who are currently arriving, and a host of other Jewish organizations are advocating for more responsive action from the federal government in support of those still awaiting evacuation. It remains to be seen whether their efforts will be enough, but their actions reflect the Jewish value of helping those in need, whether they are Jewish or not. If I am only for myself, what am I?

The third and most painful question still remains: was our sacrifice worth it?

As badly as we want to see the outcomes we hope for, the Book of Ecclesiastesteachesthat God makes everything beautiful in Gods own time, not in ours. This lesson is manifest in Judaisms encouragement to plant trees, not only for the environments sake, but also for the optimism and foresight it requires. The Talmud tells of a wise man who was once asked why he plants trees if we will not live long enough to enjoy their fruit. Just as my ancestors planted for me, he answered, I too am planting for my descendants.

Afghanistan in 2021 is not the same as it was 20 years ago, as Thomas Friedmanput it, precisely because of the social, educational and technological seeds of change [we] planted over the last 20 years. Had we waited for the Taliban to reform themselves into democratic enthusiasts, we would never have risked the difficult steps to start that process.

Therein lies the urgency of Hillels final charge to us: If not now, when? If we always wait for a guarantee of success, we will never take the first, difficult steps toward positive change.

The time may have come for us to leave Afghanistan, but thanks to our sacrifice there, the American values of equal opportunity and civil liberties will continue to inspire future generations of Afghans long after we have departed.

Last year, when Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin addressed the West Point graduates of 2021, he reflected that although the world had changed a lot since he graduated in 1975, he believed the solutions to its challenges were rooted in timeless lessons.

The same is true about Judaism. In some ways Hillels world of two thousand years ago was very different from ours, but in the most human ways it was no different at all.

Hillel may never have seen his country extricate itself from a 20-year occupation. But if he had, he would have likely turned to the same Jewish values that can guide us now: the value of our lives, the value of our obligations and the value of our best effort, no matter what the outcome.

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I served in Afghanistan as an Army chaplain. Jewish wisdom can help us process what comes after withdrawal. J. - The Jewish News of Northern...

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Posted By admin on September 22, 2021

(WSYR-TV) On Thursday, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America released a statement on religious exemptions and the COVID-19 vaccine.

His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America, the highest clergy member of the Greek Orthodox religion in the United States, met with Bishops from across the country on a video conference. The group unanimously affirmed that the Church not only permits vaccinations against diseases but encourages Her Faithful, after medical tests and approbations, to be vaccinated with the approved vaccines against SARS-CoV-2, according to a statement from the Archdiocese.

The statement continues on to read:

In addition, although some may be exempt from the vaccination for clear medical reasons, there is no exemption in the Orthodox Church for Her faithful from any vaccination for religious reasons, including the coronavirus vaccine. For this reason, letters of exemption for the vaccination against the coronavirus for religious purposes issued by priests of the Archdiocese of America have no validity, and furthermore, no clergy are to issue such religious exemption letters for any reason.

Today the Holy Eparchial Synod declared that there is no religious exemption from any vaccine, including the COVID19 vaccine. Any such letter written by any clergyman of the Holy Archdiocese of America is not valid. No clergy are to issue such religious exemption letters.

The head of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis, has urged people to get the COVID-19 vaccine and said that getting the shot is an act of love.

Thanks to Gods grace and to the work of many, we now have vaccines to protect us from COVID-19, The Pope said in the video below. He continued on to say that vaccines, bring hope to end the pandemic, but only if they are available to all and if we collaborate with one another.

Pope Francis received his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine back in January, according to The Vatican.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops shared in the fall of 2020 a statement clearing up confusion on the Catholic Churchs views on the COVID vaccines.

Neither the Pfizer nor the Moderna vaccine involved the use of cell lines that originated in fetal tissue taken from the body of an aborted baby at any level of design, development, or production. They are not completely free from any connection to abortion, however, as both Pfizer and Moderna made use of a tainted cell line for one of the confirmatory lab tests of their products. There is thus a connection, but it is relatively remote.

Some are asserting that if a vaccine is connected in any way with tainted cell lines then it is immoral to be vaccinated with them. This is an inaccurate portrayal of Catholic moral teaching.

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It is morally permissible to accept vaccination when there are no alternatives and there is a serious risk to health.

In March of 2021, the organization questioned the moral permissibility of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Pfizer and Modernas vaccines raised concerns becausean abortion-derived cell line was used for testing them, but not in their production. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine, however, was developed, tested and is produced with abortion-derived cell lines raising additional moral concerns. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has judged that when ethically irreproachable Covid-19 vaccines are not available it is morally acceptable to receive Covid-19 vaccines that have used cell lines from aborted fetuses in their research and production process.[1]However, if one can choose among equally safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines, the vaccine with the least connection to abortion-derived cell lines should be chosen. Therefore, if one has the ability to choose a vaccine, Pfizer or Modernas vaccines should be chosen over Johnson & Johnsons.

Mitzvah is one of the Torahs 613 Divine commandments; a good deed or religious precept, according to Rabbi Yehuda Shurpin. Rabbi Shurpin writes guarding your own health doesnt only make sense, its actually a mitzvah. That means that even if you dont want to do it, for whatever reason, you are still obligated to do so. The Torah is teaching us that our body is a gift from God, and we are therefore not the owners of it and we cant cause it any damage.

The three major branches of modern Judaism include Reform, Orthodox, and Conservative. Organizations and leaders across the three branches have released statements in support of vaccinations.

The Union for Reform Judaism is governed by a 253-member North American board of trustees that work with other URJ leaders and members of the professional staff. In 2015, the Resolution on Mandatory Immunization laws was adopted after being submitted by the Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism. The resolution states:

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVEDthat the Union for Reform Judaism:

The Central Conference of American Rabbis released a statement in April saying that the organization:

And the Orthodox Union released a statement in support of COVID-19 vaccinations:

As we look forward to the celebration of Pesach, we are profoundly grateful that many regions are beginning to see some lifting of the pandemic limitations, particularly due to the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines. We hope and pray that the vaccination campaign will gather even more momentum, allowing all of us to soon be afforded its protection and ultimately defeating the virus. We salute our shuls and communities for their efforts in vaccine education and facilitation of appointments and vaccine access.

The Assembly of Muslim Jurists of America said in a statement that there is no way to stop the pandemic besides reaching herd immunity. Herd immunity requires a certain percentage of a population have immunity to a virus. The AMJA says this can happen one of two ways:

The first way does not conform with the Sharia, because it risks the lives of people, particularly the weak, which is in direct conflict with the intent of the legislator with regard to preserving all human lives. Its harms go beyond the realm of public health to affect peoples worship and livelihood and other aspects of their lives.

The second way is through vaccination, which is congruent with the Sharia and reason. The permissibility of taking medicine to repel an existing disease or prevent an expected one is a matter of consensus among the people of knowledge. The point of contention is whether it is obligatory or not, and various fiqh councils have addressed this matter in detail, and one of the cases where taking medicine is obligatory is when the disease may harm others. This may apply to the case of COVID-19, which is extremely contagious.

Many Muslims who strictly practice Islam avoid pork. The National Muslim COVID-19 Task Force shared in December 2020 that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, contain fat, salts/buffer agents, and sugar (sucrose). The fat is not made from pork products.

In a joint statement with the National Black Muslim COVID Coalition, the National Muslim Taskforce on COVID-19 shared two points:

1. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines DO NOT contain pork products or alcohol and were NOT made using aborted fetal stem cells. They are made using novel mRNA technology.

2. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine works similarly to older vaccines. They do not have pork products, but have been manufactured using cell lines from aborted fetal stem cells. However, many juridical authorities have deemed them permissible to use given the societal and individual health needs to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

For 29 to 30 days each year, Muslims fast during the holy month of Ramadan. From sunrise to sunset, they do not eat or drink anything. In 2021, Ramadan was from mid-April to mid-May, a time when more people had become eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine.

The National Muslim COVID-19 Taskforce shared a statement from the Fiqh Council of North America prior to Ramadan stating that COVID-19 vaccines do not invalidate fasting.

All non-nutritional injections taken by the muscles are permissible to take during fasting, according to most Muslim jurists. It is permissible to take COVID Vaccine injection during fasting in Ramadan or at any time. It will not invalidate the fast because it has no nutritional value and it is injected into the muscle.

Buddhism has no central authority that determines doctrine, but The Dalai Lama received his COVID-19 vaccine in India in March which was shared on his YouTube page.

After receiving his shot, the Dalai Lama said, those other patients also should take this injection for greater benefit, calling the shot very very helpful.

The First Presidency, the governing body of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, urged Latter-day Saints to get vaccinated against COVID-19 in August.

To provide personal protection from such severe infections, we urge individuals to be vaccinated. Available vaccines have proven to be both safe and effective.

A small branch of Christianity, Christian Science, founded by Mary Baker Eddy released a statement on vaccinations and public health.

According to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, One of the basic teachings of this denomination is that disease can be cured or prevented by focused prayer and members will often request exemptions when available. However, there are no strict rules against vaccination andmembers can receive required vaccinations.

For more than a century, our denomination has counseled respect for public health authorities and conscientious obedience to the laws of the land, including those requiring vaccination. Christian Scientists report suspected communicable disease, obey quarantines, and strive to cooperate with measures considered necessary by public health officials. We see this as a matter of basic Golden Rule ethics and New Testament love.

As for the issue of exemptions for vaccination in the law, Christian Scientists perspective on this issue may be unique. In the past, many public officials have been broadly supportive of exemptions when these have not been considered a danger to the wider community. In more recent years, public health concerns relating to vaccinations have risen as exemptions from them have been claimed by larger numbers. Christian Scientists recognize the seriousness of these concerns.

Most of our church members normally rely on prayer for healing. Its a deeply considered spiritual practice and way of life that has meant a lot to us over the years. So weve appreciated vaccination exemptions and sought to use them conscientiously and responsibly, when they have been granted.

On the other hand, our practice isnt a dogmatic thing. Church members are free to make their own choices on all life-decisions, in obedience to the law, including whether or not to vaccinate. These arent decisions imposed by their church.

As there are many Christian denominations, not all were broken down in this article. According to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, the following Christian denominations have no theological objection to vaccination:

Vanderbilt University Medical Center says the following denominations do have a theological objection to vaccination:

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Posted By admin on September 22, 2021

Campus thoughts on this years celebration of the Jewish holiday

Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year, which was celebrated from Sept. 6-8 this year. This is an important holiday for the campus and our Jewish students, professors, faculty and staff.

The Jewish community on campus is quite small, but when talking about religion, it is not about the amount of people, but about the power of the amount. We still have an amazing opportunity to connect with each other, respect each others traditions and be inclusive when talking about religion.

Professor of Philosophy and Religious Studies Adrienne Krone explained some of the ways she personally celebrates Rosh Hashanah.

I celebrate Rosh Hashanah on campus with students here, although in my childhood we went to the Synagogue with my family and had lunch together, Krone said. We also ate apples and honey, which symbolize a sweet new year. We usually bake challah in a long strand, and on Rosh Hashanah, it is a round shape as a symbol of the annual cycle.

As a child, we were not very observant, but I attended a Jewish Sunday school, Professor of Biology Lauren French said. To celebrate Rosh Hashanah, we had a picnic where we ate apples and honey, talked about the Jewish New Year and wished each other a Happy New Year.

It is always important to feel like you are a part of a community, and thats why I am glad that at Allegheny College, you can always find your people, especially when talking about religion. Being Jewish, Christian or Muslim, you can feel free to follow your religion`s traditions and connect with people who understand you.

Its hard to live in a community where there is such a small Jewish population, French said. I try to block off at least one day to celebrate Rosh Hashanah. This year, the services at our temple in Erie were all virtual, so I was extra happy to celebrate it in person here at Allegheny.

Having your religious community to support you is crucial. I find it extremely hard to follow the traditions and holidays when there is almost no one to share your feelings and emotions with. That is why we need to appreciate and go for an opportunity to stay connected and close to each other.

Speaking of food, it is important to mention some traditional dishes.

Apples and honey are specific for the Rosh Hashanah, Syd Hammerman, 25, said. Apples have healing properties and the honey signifies hope for a sweet year.

Food depends on family and traditions, but staples for Rosh Hashanah are pomegranates, and apples and honey, Shula Bronner, 22, said. There are Jews from all around the world, so the more specific food we eat varies.

Food has always been a part of the holidays and what makes Jewish culture special is that each dish has a symbolic meaning. Whatever you eat on Rosh Hashanah symbolizes the goods of the coming new year.

Other major Jewish holidays include Passover and Tu Bishvat.

I love Passover in the spring because it focuses on the story of when Jews were enslaved in Egypt and then earned their freedom, Hammerman said. I also love Tu Bishvat a whole Jewish holiday dedicated towards trees, nature and what we get from it.

Have you ever heard of trees as an important symbol in Judaism? Jewish culture considers trees as people created by God and needed to be respected and appreciated. I find it interesting and crucial to treat nature with kindness, as you treat your parents or friends.

Passover is one more important holiday in Judaism, dedicated to the celebration of the freedom of Jews after being enslaved in Egypt. Passover is one of the major holidays in the Jewish culture because what, if not freedom, makes the nation or religious community itself?

I think learning about religion can help us to learn about culture, society and why people make decisions, Krone said.

Remember that religion is not only about God. First and foremost, religion is about us, our thoughts and beliefs, our actions or inaction. Treating each other with respect and understanding specific religious holidays is what makes us a community.

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Posted By admin on September 22, 2021

Progressives had threatened to tank the measure over the military support.

September 22, 2021, 1:45 AM

5 min read

House Democrats on Tuesday removed $1 billion in funding for Israel's Iron Dome air defense system from their stopgap government funding bill, after progressives threatened to tank the measure over the military support for Israel.

While Democratic leaders committed to approving the funding by year's end in another must-pass bill, the holdup was the latest episode in an ongoing intraparty debate over support for Israel.

Republicans quickly took to social media to accuse Democrats of undermining Israel's security. They also planned a procedural vote to highlight Democrats' divisions -- which was rejected -- even as they had planned to vote against the initial measure when it included Iron Dome funding.

An Iron Dome air defense battery on the outskirts of Jerusalem, June 15, 2021.

Moderate Democrats also criticized their colleagues for opposing the funds for the defensive missile system, which President Joe Biden promised to replenish after Israel's conflict with the Palestinian militant group Hamas in May.

While lawmakers from both parties have supported Israel's right to defend itself unconditionally for decades, a growing group of Democratic lawmakers have called on party leaders to revisit its relationship with Israel, and have accused its military of human rights abuses and blasted the treatment of Palestinians.

The dome of the Capitol Building is seen as the sun sets on Capitol Hill, July 26, 2019.

That tension has been exacerbated in recent years by the efforts of conservative Israeli leaders -- most notably former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu -- to align closely with Republicans and former President Donald Trump, after tensions with the Obama administration over the U.S. nuclear negotiations with Iran.

Still, Democratic Party leaders and Biden have been quick to demonstrate their support for Israel. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer on Tuesday spoke to Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid about the Iron Dome funding debate and reiterated Democrats' commitment to passing the measure.

Hoyer said the funding would be on the floor by the end of the week.

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House Democrats remove money for Israel's Iron Dome system in funding bill - ABC News

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