Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on August 29, 2021

Recently I drove from San Francisco to Salt Lake City.

A couple of hours into my trip, as I drove through dense wildfire smoke near Lake Tahoe, I saw a WhatsApp message pop up on my phone from a friend in Haiti whom I had become close with when I lived there in 2013. He was OK, but he forwarded me a video of the devastation from the Aug. 14 earthquake in Haiti that had been making the rounds.

I thought it would let up, but the smoke continued into Nevada. Soon after I crossed into the state, a text from my sister popped up on my phone. I saw the word Kabul in it and I knew instantly what the news was. Kabul had fallen to the Taliban. Twenty years of war; good Afghans putting themselves on the line for democracy, womens rights and decency; and American blood and dollars all for nothing. A humanitarian disaster loomed.

As I drove across Nevada, the haze from climate changeinduced wildfires persisted.

I considered what music or podcasts to listen to. The day after Trump won in 2016, I had listened to the podcast Keepin It 1600, the predecessor of the clever, upbeat and funny Pod Save America.

I felt that the young former Obama staffers who made the podcast that day in 2016 were grossly ill-equipped to make sense of what had just happened. They were sad, shocked and apologetic about their mistaken predictions, but it somehow didnt feel like enough to me. This moment was deeper than they wanted to go. It felt as if the news was supporting Hegels assertion that history is a slaughter bench. Some days history can feel like idealism continuously being snuffed out by the evil, tragedy and entropy that lead to so much human suffering.

On my drive to Utah, my next stop was a gas station in Nevada. I glanced at the New York Times front page. Taliban Seize Afghanistan: U.S. Scrambles to Evacuate Americans.

I thought of an Afghan acquaintance from college who is a journalist in his home country. What will become of him? I thought of what it means that the United States is a top emitter of greenhouse gases and were so broken when it comes to collective action that we cant even get everyone vaccinated. I thought about the children I lived with when I taught a journalism program in Haiti in 2013. What will their lives look like?

There certainly werent easy sources of hope in a week like that.

What I do know, however, is that the only responses that hold water for me on such days begin with an understanding that we cant possibly conceive of all the suffering in the world.

As I sped across Utahs salt flats, with haze still in the air, I was reminded of the Hebrew Bibles book of Lamentations. Lamentations uses poetry to describe in gruesome detail the massacre following the destruction of the First Temple in Jerusalem.

Lamentations doesnt provide answers. But what it does do is express despair, anger and hopelessness while also evoking yud-hey-vav-hey, Gods unpronounceable name.

The Christian scholar of the Hebrew Bible Walter Brueggemann writes that praising yud-hey-vav-hey helps us imagine a human existence that dramatically reorients itself to prioritize justice. Brueggemann describes that with Moses evocation of yud-hey-vav-hey came the speaking of a new name [of God] that redefines all social perception.

In contemporary times it may seem trite to offer prayers for the people of Afghanistan, for our grandchildren or for the people of Haiti. And yet, in a week like last week, the only approaches that make sense to me involve a God that is mysterious and totally beyond us, but that helps us to imagine a world that is radically different.

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Is there an antidote for all this hopelessness? J. - The Jewish News of Northern California

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Posted By admin on August 29, 2021

SEATTLE An organizer of a neo-Nazi campaign to threaten journalists and Jewish activists in three states was sentenced Tuesday to three years in prison after apologizing for what he did and saying he's a changed man.

Cameron Shea was one of four members of the neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division charged last year with having cyberstalked and sent Swastika-laden posters to journalists and an employee of the Anti-Defamation League, telling them, You have been visited by your local Nazis, Your Actions have Consequences, and We are Watching.

The defendant wanted the victims to feel unsafe in their own homes, prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum.

Shea, 25, pleaded guilty in April in U.S. District Court in Seattle to two of the counts in the five-count indictment: a conspiracy charge that carries up to five years in prison and interference with a federally protected activity, which carries up to 10. Prosecutors sought a term of more than four years.

In a letter to Judge John C. Coughenour, Shea apologized, saying, I cannot put into words the guilt that I feel about this fear and pain that I caused.

Shea wrote that he was homeless, struggling with addiction and dealing with a friend's death when he began researching neo-Nazism. He said he has befriended detainees of other races while in custody and he now understands that journalists play a crucial role in holding institutions and individuals to account.

The only reason I disliked the media was because I was partaking in things I didn't want to be known to the public, because on some level I knew the things I was involved in were wrong, he wrote.

Motivated by negative news coverage of the Atomwaffen Division, Shea made clear in a November 2019 group chat that the point of the plot was to intimidate journalists and others.

On Jan. 25, 2020, Shea mailed the threatening fliers to two people associated with the Anti-Defamation League, which opposes anti-Semitism, and to a news reporter who had covered Atomwaffen. Conspirators in Arizona and Florida delivered or attempted to deliver the fliers to targets there, as well.

The other defendant accused of leading the plot, Kaleb Cole, has pleaded not guilty and is due to face trial in September. Seattle police seized Coles guns in 2019 under an extreme risk protection order that suggested he was planning a race war.

More than a dozen people linked to Atomwaffen or an offshoot called Feuerkrieg Division have been charged with crimes in federal court since the groups formation in 2016.

Atomwaffen has been linked to several killings, including the May 2017 shooting deaths of two men at an apartment in Tampa, Florida, and the January 2018 killing of a University of Pennsylvania student in California.

Two other members of the flier conspiracy have been sentenced after pleading guilty: Johnny Roman Garza, 21, of Queen Creek, Arizona, who affixed one of the posters on the bedroom window of a Jewish journalist; and Taylor Parker-Dipeppe, 21, of Spring Hill, Florida, who attempted to deliver a flier but left it at the wrong address.

Garza was sentenced to 16 months in prison. Parker-Dipeppe, who was severely abused by his father and stepfather and hid his transgender identity from his co-conspirators, received no prison time a judge found that he had suffered enough.

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Neo-Nazi who led effort to threaten journalists gets 3 years - theday.com

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Posted By admin on August 29, 2021

Lawmakers and Missouri residents discussed critical race theory at a hearing Monday in Jefferson City.

The informational hearing held by the Joint Committee on Education lasted roughly two hours, with seven witnesses testifying about their stances on the hotly debated topic to a panel of lawmakers. Witnesses advocated for critical race theory or supported reinforcing the concepts of diversity, inclusion and equity awareness.

Though similar to a hearing July 19, Mondays hearing included people of color from various backgrounds and statuses. Missouri NAACP President Nimrod Chapel critiqued the fact that no Black people testified at the previous hearing, according to the Missouri Independent.

Of 425 Missouri school districts, three said they used critical race theory or The New York Times' 1619 Project in curricula, according to a July survey by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Most of the witnesses at the hearing held in mid-July were in opposition to the theory. Witnesses at Monday's hearing, including teachers, civil rights leaders and rabbis, took a difference stance.

What children can learn proactively in school today about racism and otherness will minimize its negative impact on the future and lift up all, said Karen Aroesty, previous regional director of the Anti-Defamation League Heartland office.

Critical race theory does not have a concrete definition but focuses on race throughout history, how racism is embedded in our society and the contributions of Black individuals. That includes teaching sections of history that may be skipped over because of racial implications.

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Witnesses advocate for critical race theory to be taught in schools at Monday hearing - Columbia Missourian

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Posted By admin on August 29, 2021

Phoenix continues to search for an outside law enforcement agency to conduct a criminal investigation of police officers in connection with bogus gang charges filed against protesters.

The city manager said at a City Council meeting Tuesday that Phoenix may have to investigate its own police.

An independent criminal investigation was recommended by an outside firm that found Phoenix police worked backchannels with prosecutors to falsely charge protesters.

City Manager Ed Zuercher notified the council of five law enforcement agencies hes so far asked to do the probe. Council member Laura Pastor asked Zuercher what happens if conflict of interest means no Arizona agency can do it.

We would have to find a way inside the city of Phoenix to do the criminal investigation in a way that minimized or eliminated any conflict of interest, he said.

The Arizona Attorney Generals Office, the Department of Public Safety and the Yavapai and Coconino County attorney's offices have all declined to do the probe, or said theyre unable to.

The city of Tucson is considering Zuerchers request for its police department to step in.

The independent investigation into a Phoenix police memento with a neo-Nazi phrase was also formally presented to the Phoenix City Council on Tuesday.

The souvenir, called a challenge coin, also mocks a protester being shot in the groin with a pepper ball after a 2017 rally by former President Donald Trump.

Mayor Kate Gallego called on Chief Jeri Williams to have Phoenix police undergo training with the Anti-Defamation League.

I am deeply troubled by an organizational culture that would allow this speech to emerge, Gallego said.

Gallego also asked Williams to have every Phoenix officer start the training within four months.

Marc Krell, associate regional director of ADL Arizona, would like to provide this statement: We at ADL are looking forward to learning the results of the DOJ investigation once it is completed. In order to respect the process, we do not think it would be appropriate to intervene with our ADL Law Enforcement education at this time. That said, we stand ready to assist the department with any post-investigation reforms and professional development and are eager to learn if and how ADL can support these.

The independent investigation found that Phoenix police did not tie the language on the coin to hate speech.

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Phoenix May Have To Do Its Own Criminal Investigation Of Police - KJZZ

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Posted By admin on August 29, 2021

In 2013, the Supreme Courts decision in Shelby County v. Holder effectively gutted provisions requiring certain states and localities with a history of discriminatory electoral practices to obtain federal preclearance before implementing any changes to their voting laws. Without the full protections of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, many states and localities have brazenly pushed forward politically motivated and discriminatory changes to voting policies and procedures in order to disenfranchise and silence marginalized communities and obstruct full access to the right to vote.

Congressman John Lewis life-long commitment to actualizing a just and inclusive American democracy is exemplified by this crucial legislation named in his honor. The Human Rights Campaign which joined the NAACP, American Civil Liberties Union, Anti-Defamation League, and others in urging the passage of H.R. 4 in a letter organized by the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights now implores the bills immediate advancement for passage in the Senate.

Many in the LGBTQ+ community and especially LGBTQ+ people of Color endure and fear discrimination while accessing the right to vote. A 2019 HRC Foundation survey found that:

Fear of or experiencing discrimination led 22% of LGBTQ adults, 35% of LGBTQ adults of color, 49% of transgender adults, and 55% of transgender adults of color to avoid voting in at least one election in their lives.

An issue with meeting voter identification requirements prevented 24% of LGBTQ adults, 35% of LGBTQ people of color, 42% of transgender people from voting in at least one election in their lives. Furthermore, 46% of transgender people of color said they did not vote in one or more elections in their lives specifically because their ID had an incorrect gender marker, name, or photo.

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The Human Rights Campaign Praises Passage of the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (H.R. 4) by the U.S House of Representatives - Human...

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Posted By admin on August 29, 2021

(RNS) Israels Chief Rabbinate has written a letter to Pope Francis conveying its distress at comments he made suggesting Jewish law, as written in the Torah, is obsolete.

The letter, first reported on by Reuters, was sent by Rabbi Rasson Arousi, chair of the Commission of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel for Dialogue with the Holy See. Arousi was referring to a homily Francis made during a general audience on Aug. 11.

In that homily, or sermon, the pope reflected on the Apostle Pauls views in the New Testament that the Torah does not give life.

Speaking of the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, the pope said: It does not offer the fulfillment of the promise because it is not capable of being able to fulfill it ... Those who seek life need to look to the promise and to its fulfillment in Christ.

That statement comes close to supersessionism, also called replacement theology the belief that the Christian faith has replaced or supplanted Judaism, a view the Catholic Church repudiated. In a 1965 landmark Vatican declaration, Nostra Aetate, the church established a new rapport between Jews and Catholics.

In his homily, the pope presents the Christian faith as not just superseding the Torah; but asserts that the latter no longer gives life, implying that Jewish religious practice in the present era is rendered obsolete, Arousi wrote in the letter.

This is in effect part and parcel of the teaching of contempt towards Jews and Judaism that we had thought had been fully repudiated by the Church, he wrote.

Arousis letter was sent to Cardinal Kurt Koch, whose Vatican department includes a commission for religious relations with Jews.

Massimo Faggioli, a Villanova University professor of theology and religious studies who studies the Vatican, said there may have been a lack of care in checking the texts of of the popes homilies.

Im sure its not that Pope Francis is going back to pre-Vatican II theology, Faggioli said, referring the council that met between 1962-1965 to usher in church reforms such as its relationship with Judaism.

But its important because in this environment any minor signal that could suggest that the teaching of Vatican II should not be taken seriously is alarming.

Since Nostra Aetate, the church has taken several steps to improve Jewish-Catholic relations. In 1998 the Vatican apologized for its inaction during the Holocaust. In 2015, the Vatican released a document that for the first time explicitly advises Catholics not to attempt to convert Jews.

Francis, in particular, has enjoyed a close friendship with Argentine Rabbi Abraham Skorka. The pair co-hosted a television show when he was archbishop of Buenos Aires. They also wrote a book together about interfaith dialogue.

Arousi asked to convey our distress to Pope Francis and requested the pope act to ensure that any derogatory conclusions drawn from this homily are clearly repudiated.

Faggioli said he expected that either Cardinal Koch or the pope himself would respond to the letter.

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Pope Francis challenged by Israel's chief Rabbis over his comments on the Torah - America Magazine

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Posted By admin on August 29, 2021

Q: From L: God created us all the same and as his children. How has it gotten to the point where we are killing each other just based on the color of our skin being different. God is a loving and forgiving person who doesnt judge, why is it so hard for us to do the same?

A: I am sure that your question of God is also Gods question of all of us. The basic reason for our failure to see the divine spark in every other person and love our neighbor as we love ourselves is that we are made up of two very different substances. We are partly like angels and partly like animals. Sometimes our angelic nature prevails, and we produce acts of kindness, generosity and love. Other times our animal nature prevails, and we produce acts of jealousy, cruelty, bigotry and violence. There is an old Cherokee legend that the chief told his grandchildren about two wolves fighting within us. The good wolf and the bad wolf. A grandchild of the chief asked him, Grandfather, which wolf will win? He answered, The wolf that wins will be the wolf you feed. So, dear L, feed the right wolf and your question will be answered.

Grade: A

Q: From J: If reincarnation is real, then how come we wouldnt remember our old life? Thank you!

A: After you there are only three possibilities: either there is nothing and the worms eat you up and that is the end of you; or your soul goes to Heaven or Hell either directly or after a time and your soul remains there forever; or your soul is cleaned up and shined up and put into the body of a new baby and given a chance to live another life. That third possibility is called reincarnation. It comes with several obvious problems, one of which you have identified. If we remember our previous lives, we would freak out because we could never really live a new and unencumbered life. Fears from our old life would infect our new life. Also, if a newborn babys first words were, I want a pizza! that would freak out the delivery room staff. So that is why we cant be allowed to remember the other lives we may have lived. Hinduism and some Christians and Jews believe in reincarnation, but they are in a minority. I am not sure. I would like to believe that we get another chance to make a better life, but I am also fairly sure that we would make the same mistakes in our next life that we have made in this one.

Grade: A

Q: From L: What would you say is key to maintaining a healthy relationship with God? How can you become more sensitive to the voice of God?

A: Easy. Say 100 thank you prayers every day. Do not let a single blessing in your life pass unnoticed. Say thank you to God for everything. This habit of saying thank you for everything helps you to see everything in your life as gift. This transforms a life of entitlement and selfishness into a life of gratitude and thankfulness. The medieval mystic Meister Eckhart taught that, If the only prayer we ever say is thank you it will be enough. Thank you prayers are the best spiritual vitamins for a healthy relationship with God.

Grade: A

Q: From O: What made you believe that the teachings of Judaism is a core religious belief?

A: I love Judaism because I believe it teaches me how to live a good life, love God, and leave the world a little better than it was when I was born. I love that Judaism discovered and taught in the Ten Commandments the truth of how to live a good life that every other religion and philosophy also accepted as true. I believe in Judaism because it teaches that all people are made in the image of God and have equal sanctity and equal dignity. I believe in Judaism because it teaches that our souls go to Heaven after we die along with the souls of all the righteous people anywhere in the world. I believe in Judaism because it is the religion of my ancestors back to Abraham and Sarah in the Bible. I believe in Judaism because I believe that there is something bigger than us and that something is God. Judaism is my way of connecting to God. Albert Einstein once said that he was sad that he was born a Jew because it prevented him from choosing to be a Jew. I was born Jewish, but every day I choose to be Jewish.

Grade: A

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

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The God Squad: Still more questions from the theology class at Mercy High School in Middletown - New Haven Register

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Posted By admin on August 29, 2021

The Land of Israel is where Jewish identity was forged. It is unquestionably the ancestral homeland of the Jewish people.

But to read a Judaism Fast Facts page on the CNN website, one could be forgiven for thinking that the Jews connection to the Holy Land commenced only around a century ago.

CNNs fact sheets are typically split into three or four sections. Those about Christianity and Islam, for example, open with a section about Beliefs/Practices. Its page on Judaism does much the same, under a more general subheadline, About Judaism. The Judaism page then features sections about history and statistics. The Christianity page also includes these latter two parts. The Islam page is slightly different, and includes parts about Muslim denominations, Sharia law, other facts, and finally a brief timeline.

In the first section of the page about Judaism, CNN details the central texts of Judaism, religious practices, beliefs, the origins of Jewish faith, as well as the structure of Jewish life.

But absent is any mention of the Land of Israel.

Only in the following section, titled History, is any reference made to the Jewish homeland. There, it is written:

The creation of a Jewish state was discussed at the first Zionist Congress in Switzerland in 1897. In 1948, the state of Israelwas formed, afterWorld War IIand thegenocideof over six million Jews.

For this to be the first description of Jewish sovereignty is immensely misleading. By starting from modern Jewish attempts to achieve self-determination in the Holy Land, without any mention of the fact that Jews lived there consistently throughout the centuries, CNN makes it seem as if the State of Israel was only formed in response to WWII and the Holocaust, and thus erases the Jewish peoples millennia-long bond with the land.

According to Jewish tradition, all of creation began in Jerusalem. Abraham, Issac and Jacob all passed through the city. Kings David and Solomon built the Jewish temples there. The Land of Israel is subject to numerous biblical laws, observed by religious Jews to this day.

One of the best known is the Shmittah, which takes place every seven years. For an entire year, the lie must rest and lay fallow. Coincidentally, the current cycle is coming to an end now, meaning that Jews in Israel will observe the rules of this law starting from this Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish new year) in early September.

The Land of Israel is deeply significant in Jewish religious practice. For example, it is a religious commandment to live in the land of Israel. Many of those not able or not willing to move, however, have sought to be buried in Israel after they pass away.

For those unable to, there is a custom to symbolically sprinkle some earth taken from Israel into ones coffin.

Perhaps most notably, for centuries Jews around the world have fasted on two days each year (the 17th of Tamuz and the 9th of Av) to commemorate the destruction of the Jewish Temples in Jerusalem, as well as the various other calamities that occurred in the Land of Israel. And during the Passover and Yom Kippur holidays each year, as Jews around the world finish prayer services by singing the words LShana Habaah BYerushalayim, meaning next year in Jerusalem.

Jewish prayers speak of the Jewish yearning to return to Zion; the Talmud tells of stories that happened to Jews in the Holy Land; and for centuries Jews around the world have prayed facing Jerusalem.

Yet, CNN includes none of this in its summary of Judaism.

CNNs fast facts pages is a great idea in concept. People have a need for basic information on a broad range of topics and news outlets can provide a real public service with such background pieces. Unfortunately, HonestReporting has repeatedly found CNNs fast facts pages to be an unreliable source, with frequent omissions and distortions in those related to Israel and the Palestinians (see, for example, here and here).

This latest omission is even less excusable. Judaism is not a political issue. The basic tenets of Judaism are undisputed.

So why didnt CNN include the most basic facts?

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CNN's 'Fast Facts' Minimizes Judaism's Connection to Land of Israel - Honestreporting.com

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Posted By admin on August 29, 2021

According to critics, Palestinian leaders and Western supporters of the left are reinterpreting the history of the Bible as awakened activity in the Middle East expands. The Palestinian Authority (PA) has been bolded by some European and UN agencies and is trying to break the link between Judaism and the Christian sanctuary. Opponents of the campaign claim that they are trying to invent a new story that supports the claim to the region.

The erasure of PAs Jewish history, combined with the invention of Palestinian history, makes the Israelis a Zionist thief, occupier, foreigner, invader, and colonialist, that is, what is land. Used to define as unrelated people. Itamar Marcus, director of Palestinian Mediawatch, an Israeli-based organization studying Palestinian society, told Fox News.

Marcus points out many historically inaccurate statements made by high-ranking PA officials, including President Mahmoud Abbas, in a 2016 speech on Palestinian television. The Bible says that. The Bible says in these words that the Palestinians existed before Abraham. So why dont you recognize my rights?

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A series of questions sent to President Abbass spokesman and the Palestinian delegation to the United Nations were not returned for comment.

Jerusalem continues to be the main flash point of the battle to erase history. Senior Palestinian leaders have collectively dismissed Temple Mount, the most sacred place of Judaism, as a temple of suspicion. Zeev Orenstein, director of international affairs in the city of David, the ruins of ancient Jerusalem, told Fox News: United Nations and Palestinian leaders are trying to erase the Jewish and Christian heritage of Jerusalem.

Every day, excavations in the city of David, where Jerusalem began, confirm not only as a matter of faith, but in fact the connection between Jews, Christians and Jerusalem thousands of years ago. Orenstein added. This includes the discovery of thousands of years ago inscriptions confirming biblical events. Directly from the Bible page, including the name of King Hezekiah, a direct descendant of King David 2700 years ago. An ancient seal with the name of the person who came out written in Hezekiah.

By visiting the city of David, Orenstein says, people can touch with their own eyes, touch with their own hands, and walk with their own feet in this history.

Still, the elimination campaign has been prosecuted, especially around Jerusalem, but Israeli non-governmental organization Regavim has warned that the birthplace of Jewish history has been continuously attacked for years.

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The Palestinian Authority has embarked on a very carefully and deliberately organized program of historical revisionism in an attempt to obscure and eventually eliminate Jewish ties to the land of Israel, Regavim International. Spokesman Naomi Khan told Fox News. Since Jews and Samaria are the birthplaces of Jewish history, these areas are, of course, the focus of this insidious campaign.

The Palestinian Authority and its supporters have taken the physical relics of thousands of years of Jewish and Christian culture in an attempt to give way to a fictitious quasi-historical story that supports their political agenda. Proved to be willing to destroy.

The Oslo Accords require the Palestinian Authority to protect important places in Judaism and Christianity, and the PA protects free access for worship, research, tourism and scientific exploration, Khan said. We need to make it possible. PA has completely ignored these requirements, she said.

Kahn gave these examples:

Photo Credit Legavim(Regavim)

Sebastian is the name given by the Romans to Samaria and the capital of the Kingdom of Northern Israel, founded in the 9th century BC. Now an official tourist destination in Palestine, Regavim claims that visitors will not hear any mention of their connection with the Jews. An independent Jewish kingdom where Samaria was the seat of government.

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In the same area, Regavim once said there was a Byzantine building that he claimed to be the burial place for the head of St. John the Baptist, but added that the building had been destroyed and polluted. It is now in ruins. Regavim says the other cathedral, which was transformed into a mosque in Sebastian, was reinterpreted by a Pennsylvania tourist guide. Regavim said it has identified more than 300 such sites that are in the process of looting, damaging, completely destroying, or annihilating.

Photo Credit Legavim(Regavim)

Kahn concludes with a warning. Like the massive destruction brought to cultural artifacts by ISIS, the destruction of Jewish and Samaria-wide ruins is a tragedy of humanitys shared cultural and historical heritage, and the civilized nation is this barbaric. Should not be involved in.

Major Christian scholars say that attacks on Jewish history affect Christians. Rev. Petra Hert, director of Israels Ecumenical Theological Research Fraternity, told Fox News: Rewriting the history of the Bible in an anti-Israeli attempt could have a fatal blow to the Christian faith. There is sex.

Hebrew, a professor of church history in the Middle East at Jerusalem University College and working on mutual understanding between Christians and Jews in Israel, said that todays Christian society is often on the verge of forgetting the Bible and Christians. Said. tradition. Therefore, by rewriting the history of the Bible (especially by excluding Israel), she puts nominal Christians into the realm of deceivers related to anti-Semitism, secularism, or other religious agendas. Ill invite you, he added.

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Hebron, a historic city managed by Pennsylvania, is another flash point. Yishai Fleisher, an international spokesman for the Jewish community in Hebron, said the city served as an example of how the rewriting of historical records changed historical stories to support Palestinians. He said he voted in 2017 to place the Patriarchs tomb as a World Heritage Site in Palestine, which stated that UNESCO was under threat from Israelis. The vote left the Trump administration out of the UN agency.

A spokesman for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said in referring to the vote, All decisions made by the Board of Directors, the General Assembly and the World Heritage Committee are adopted by Member States, not UNESCO itself. I told Fox News. In Hebron and Jerusalem. A spokesman said, UNESCO will continue to oppose attempts to revise history. The legacy of historical complexity should unite people rather than divide them. This is UNESCOs main purpose. Continued. A spokesman concluded that the accusations and comments that UNESCO isanti-Israelare clearly inaccurate.

Fleisher talked about the importance of Hebron to Jews, Christians and Muslims in Fox Newss Chief Religious Correspondent Lauren Greens Lighthouse Faith podcast. Freisher explains that Israels first capital was Hebron, and Genesis bought land for Abraham to bury his beloved wife Sarah in Hebron 3,800 years ago.

He also said that Abraham was placed in the tomb with Sarah, and after their death his sons Isaac and Jacob, and their wives Rebeka and Leah, as well. They are all buried in the tombs of the Patriarch of Hebron and Matriac, making them one of the most sacred places in Judaism. King Herod built a building to mark the tomb 2000 years ago and turned it into a mausoleum. Later, the Al-Haram Al-Ibrahimi Mosque was built inside the building and serves as an active mosque for the majority of the Islamic community in Hebron.

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Fleisher has issued a warning about the result. Instead of defeating Israel on the battlefield, Jihad has launched an outlawed war aimed at eradicating international support for Israel, he said. In essence, its a large-scale slander campaign that systematically erases the ancient history of Israel on this land and replaces it with the invented Palestinian story. The main target of this campaign is to fight the facts. A young Westerner who is too ignorant.

Freisher said he would continue to protect history from what he called the Jihadist alternation story. We fight it, claim historical rights in Jewish, and do everything to fight historical erasure.

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Palestinians accused of erasing history, awakened history hits the Middle East - Texasnewstoday.com

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Posted By admin on August 29, 2021

Editors Note: Ed Asner, who starred in The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Lou Grant died Sunday at age 91. Today, we look back on the time he spoke with Simi Horwitz about Judaism, journalism and his final wishes.

Ed Asner was seated in a makeshift living room in a large, garishly lit rehearsal studio in the Snapple Theater on West 50th Street that formerly housed a beauty school. He had just emerged from a costume fitting and was eager to discuss Grace, Craig Wrights new play about the misadventures of an innocent young couple (Paul Rudd and Kate Arrington) who plan to open a chain of Gospel motels in Florida.

The drama follows their evolving relationships with a deeply troubled neighbor (Michael Shannon) and a German-born exterminator, Karl (Asner), who is attempting to come to terms with his own tormented past. Grace, now playing at the Cort Theatre, represents 82-year-old Asners return to Broadway after a 23-year absence following his appearance in a revival of Born Yesterday.

The play challenged my belief in God, Asner said of Grace. I dont believe in God, though Im not prepared to call myself an atheist either. You know the old phrase: There are no atheists in foxholes. Ive never been in a foxhole and if I ever find myself in a foxhole Ill let you know if I believe in God or not.

The Kansas Cityborn actor and activist, who is still best known as TVs crusty editor Lou Grant, is at once edgy and charming in person, speaking in a low gravelly voice that at some moments is barely audible. He grew up in an Orthodox Jewish home, albeit one with a decidedly Midwestern influence. My father was so religious he wouldnt even eat in the shul, Asner said. But we didnt walk to shul. We took the car.

As a teenager, Asner toyed with the idea of a career in journalism. But when a teacher said hed never make a living at it, he turned to acting. Not that this seemed to be that much of a viable prospect either. I was too much of a Jewish bourgeoisie and acting wasnt realistic, he said. I went into acting as psychotherapy, and its still a work in progress.

Asner is no longer a religious Jew, though he identifies with Judaism culturally, meaning I would hope if they began killing all Jews Id rise to the occasion to say, Im pretty tasty. Long pause. But if Im a good progressive human being Id say the same if they were killing all gypsies. Id put on a gold earring and scarf and say, hey, stranger, what about me?

At one moment during our conversation, Asners cell phone rang, interrupting us. He answered and spoke in a concerned voice: Hello. How are you? Is everything all right? Then, after a moment: I was watching a pigeon. Either he was too young or he had been hit by a car. He was hovering by the subway grate as if the warmth made him feel better. Its a funny thing about being around birds in the city and not trying to do something. I left him hopping around. And if your goose wasnt hopping around I wouldnt worry about it. I love you. Bye.

When he was done with the conversation, Asner explained that the caller was his youngest son, who was at the Southern Connecticut State, studying environmental science and feeling deeply concerned about his pet Canadian goose, who had disappeared.

During a career that has spanned almost six decades, Asner has appeared in nearly 300 films and TV programs, and has earned seven Emmys, five Golden Globes, and a Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award. From 1981 to 1985, Asner served two terms as president of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), during which time there were no strikes, and minorities and seniors gained visibility, he said. But it was the 12 years of playing Lou Grant that made him a household name, initially on the comedy The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970-1977) and then in the dramatic series Lou Grant (1977-82).

The demise of the latter still troubles Asner, who insists that it was cancelled not due to failing ratings but rather because of his politics. I was a spokesman for medical aid to El Salvador, so people thought I was giving commies money and I was branded a commie, he said. It was money for humanitarian purposes and it was blown out of all proportion. It was $25,000 from private donations. It was not taken from the union, which was how it was misrepresented.

Asner maintains he was blacklisted for a period of time because he was viewed as a political liability, though more often than not the producers rejected him on the grounds that he was ostensibly too old, too fat, or too overexposed.

Asner continues to weigh in on controversial issues. He is an outspoken critic of Israels settlements in the West Bank, asserting that the growth of global anti-Semitism is largely the result of Israels refusal to establish peaceful coexistence with the Palestinians. And he is the narrator of a 15-minute DVD, Solving the Mystery of WTC7, which rejects the official view that following the 9/11 terrorist attack, the 7 World Trade Center building imploded because of widespread fires.

Of course certain elements of the American government had to be involved, said Asner. Im not saying George Bush pulled the plug or even knew about it. But when government policies and programs are not going well, you create a casus belli, an incident and a cause for war.

At the moment, however, Asners thoughts are focused most intently on Grace and the challenges in bringing Karl to life, though he finds talking about how he gets into character distasteful.

Some things should not be verbalized, he said with a grimace. They say making laws is like making sausages. You shouldnt watch. Its the same for acting, especially for the actor who works unconsciously.

Looking back on his career, Asner contends that he would do nothing differently, though he might redo the way he lived. Short of sex, I viewed myself pure as the driven snow. My self-examination could have been more rigorous. I could have been braver, better, more rehearsed for life.

Asked if there was anything he wanted to add, he said, without missing a beat, Bury my ashes in Mount Scopus.

Simi Horwitz is a cultural reporter, whose previous credits include 17 years with Back Stage, and eight with Theater Week. Recently, she has contributed to Crains New York Business.

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Remembering a visit with the late Ed Asner, star of Mary Tyler Moore and Lou Grant - Forward

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