Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on August 29, 2021

Chabad Of Byron Shire, Australia

Like your typical secular Israeli, Inbar joined the Israeli Defense Forces as a teen. When she hung up her olive-green uniform and rifle for the last time, she headed east, trekking through the outlying towns and teeming cities of India and Nepal. Along her journey, Inbar encountered something she hadnt explored in her native land. Chabad centers along her route offered up a Judaism that was accessible and inviting. And Inbar was intrigued.

A decade later, after a stint in a Jerusalem seminary, Inbar now lives with her husband, Rabbi Tomer Ben Harosh (also a former IDF soldier), their three little boys, and eight chickens on a lush, sprawling property at the edge of Mullumbimby in the northeastern corner of New South Wales. The greater area, called Byron Shire, is the epicenter of counter-culture here in Australia. Many Israelis come for the surfing, the expansive nature and wildlife, and the vibrant arts scene. Knowing exactly what its like as a backpacker gives the Ben Haroshes an edge in helping Jews explore what they didnt know they were looking for.

Everyone comes here looking for something. Were here to present Judaism in a real, relevant way, Inbar says.

Shavuot marked the familys first anniversary living in the bush. In their one year here, they have hosted hundreds for Shabbat and holiday services and meals, established a small Hebrew school, and engaged visitors through classes and one-on-one conversations. They also help with all the practical hitches that accompany travelers. Rabbi Tomer can be found repairing guests motorhomes and cars or helping pitch tents as often as he expounds on the weekly Torah reading. On Fridays, Inbar prepares enormous amounts of dough to be shaped into challahs, the only kosher bread available, for her husband to distribute up and down the coast. When a new mother gives birth, or there is a similar need, Inbar stocks their fridges with fresh kosher meals. Their large freezers are filled with kosher meat and milk, shipped frozen from Melbourne, for the community. As the months pass, Inbar proudly notes more and more people dipping into their kosher stash.

Life in the remote bush isnt always easy. Mail isnt delivered to the Ben Haroshes door. They must trek into the nearby town to pick up the post. Living on the outskirts of civilization, their home is not attached to municipal water or sewage systems. Water is collected in giant tanks outside and pumped through the house. Until they devised a Shabbat-friendly way to use the electrical water pump, they went without tap water on Shabbat.

But its not these quirks that are the most taxing. Its not having a place to put my children in, Inbar shares. My biggest obligation is educating and caring for them and giving them what they deserve. Inbar imports educational materials from Israel and confers with colleagues in similar remote regions on best teaching practices under the circumstances. Ultimately, she assumes, her children will join the successful Chabad online school to both study and socialize with peers.My mom wishes we didnt choose the farthest place to live from her, with her grandchildren so far away. But she is happy when she sees us happy. And we are happy. We understand the visitors minds and hearts. We can feel them, where they are, where theyre coming from. And hopefully help them on their path where theyre going.

This article appeared in the Lubavitch International Magazine Summer 2021 issue. To subscribe and gain access to previous magazinesplease click here.

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Living in the Bush - Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters - Lubavitch.com

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Posted By admin on August 29, 2021

Dr. Phyllis Herman. Photo courtesy Pasadena Senior Center

The fall term of The Masters Series, with the theme Religions of the World, will be onsite at the Pasadena Senior Center Tuesdays, Sept. 14 to Oct. 19, from 2 to 4 p.m.

Religion has always played a role in human society, from nonverbal prehistory to the prominent place of religion in contemporary life. Living in a multicultural society, it is important to understand what is sacred in religions and the central myths, rituals, texts and scriptures that shape ancient and modern expressions of these traditions.

Dr. Phyllis Herman, professor of religious studies at California State University, Northridge, will introduce participants in The Masters Series to archaic and tribal religious practices, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

The cost for the six-week series is only $75 for members of the Pasadena Senior Center and $90 for nonmembers.

Sept. 14 The religious life of archaic and tribal traditions: examples from the Ngaju Dayak and the Hopi.

Sept. 21 Hinduism: from prehistoric finds to modern traditions.

Sept. 28 Buddhism: from its founders life to the many schools and countries that practice this religion.

Oct. 5 Judaism: the Hebrew Bible, the Talmud and the many forms of modern Judaism.

Oct. 12 Christianity: the life of Jesus and developments into and within this religion.

Oct. 19 Islam: from Muhammad to the world.

To register or for more information, visit http://www.pasadenaseniorcenter.org and click on Masters Series Lifelong Learning, call 626-795-4331 or email AnnieL@pasadenaseniorcenter.org. Everyone who registers will receive email instructions for joining each weeks Zoom class online.

Herman, who earned her PhD in the history of religion at UCLA, has been a professor of religious studies at CSUN for many years and served a term as chair of the Department of Religious Studies.

Her areas of concentration include world religions, Islam in India, South Asian religious traditions and women and religion. She has contributed chapters to several notable books and articles on nationalist and feminine theories, women and religion, and Hindu ideas of kingship. She also co-edited a book titled The Constant and Changing Face of the Goddess: Goddess Traditions in Asia that features essays written by established scholars.

Masks and social distancing are required for onsite activities. For more information about onsite as well as online activities and other programs and services of the Pasadena Senior Center, visit the website or call (626) 795-4331.

The center, at 85 E. Holly St., is an independent, donor-supported nonprofit organization that has been serving older adults for more than 60 years.

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Religions of the World will be Theme for Fall Term of the Masters Series at Pasadena Senior Center - Pasadena Now

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Posted By admin on August 29, 2021

The National Council of Jewish Women Arizona is among a handful of pro-choice advocates seeking to stop the states new anti-abortion law from going into effect.

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed SB1457 last April, which criminalizes some abortions and threatens abortion doctors with jail time.

NCJW AZ joined doctors Paul A. Isaacson and Eric M. Reuss, the Arizona Medical Association and the Arizona National Organization for Women in filing a lawsuit in mid-August in the U.S. District Court of Arizona seeking an injunction before restrictions take effect Sept. 29.

This bill jeopardizes the lives of pregnant people, potentially criminalizing them, and prohibits doctors from providing evidence-based medical care, said Civia Tamarkin, NCJW AZs president.

The lawsuit targets the bills ban on abortions based on diagnoses of fetal genetic abnormalities like Down syndrome and challenges a provision that gives fetuses the same rights as children and adults.

From the moment this bill (SB 1457) was proposed, NCJW AZ has vigorously fought to defeat it because it violates fundamental human, civil and constitutional rights, Tamarkin said.

Among the bills mandates, it would be a felony to perform an abortion solely because of a genetic abnormality, or accept or solicit money to finance an abortion because of a childs genetic abnormality. It does not apply to cases where the child has a lethal fetal condition and does not prohibit abortion sought for other reasons allowed by law, including the life and health of the mother.

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, along with county prosecutors across Arizona including Maricopa County Attorney Allister Adel the Arizona medical Board and a handful of state health officials are named as defendants in the lawsuit.

Ryan Anderson, a spokesperson for Brnovich, did not respond to a request for comment.

Theres immeasurable value in every single life regardless of genetic makeup, Ducey stated when he signed the bill. We will continue to prioritize protecting life in our preborn children, and this legislation goes a long way in protecting real human lives.

According to a 2014 Pew Research Center survey, 83% of American Jews believe that in all or most cases, abortion should be legal, making American Jews the fourth most pro-choice group surveyed behind atheists, agnostics and Unitarians.

In February 2021, Tamarkin wrote an opinion article for Jewish News about the bill, arguing the abortion restrictions are antisemitic.

Jewish law is clear that life begins at birth and that there is no personhood until birth, according to the Mishnah (Ohalot 7:6), she wrote. Judaism also teaches that the mothers life comes first and that the fetus may be sacrificed to save her life, unless the babys head has already emerged.

She went on to argue that the abortion restrictions enshrine Christian beliefs into law and they blatantly violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, which prevents the passage of any law that gives preference to or forces belief in one religion.

But Cecily Routman, president of the Jewish Pro-life Foundation, said Tamarkins argument is flawed.

Routman, who is not involved in the lawsuit, said Christian beliefs and values all came from the Hebrew Bible.

Judaism was the first religion in human history to sanctify human life from conception to natural death and the first religion to prohibit child sacrifice, she said. The abortion industry is antithetical to Judaism, which is based on compassion, protecting innocent life, respecting women, nurturing families and living our biblical commandments to choose life and multiply and bring a vision of Gods will into the world.

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are represented by the Center for Reproductive Rights, the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Arizona.

Politicians should not get to decide what is an acceptable reason for seeking an abortion, said Emily Nestler, senior counsel at the Center for Reproductive Rights. Patients are the ones best suited to decide what is best for themselves and their families, in consultation with their health care providers.

The Supreme Court agreed in May to hear Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization, a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, there have been 561 abortion restrictions, including 165 abortion bans, introduced across 47 states so far this year as of June 7, and 83 of those restrictions have been enacted across 16 states, including 10 bans. JN

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Jewish group seeks to stop Arizona's new abortion restrictions - Jewish News of Greater Phoenix

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Posted By admin on August 29, 2021

A young boy loves going to synagogue. He brings his family there, he jumps at participating, he becomes a regular. He lives and breathes Judaism. So whos surprised when he decides to become a rabbi? No one, especially the boy himself.

This has always been my plan. Ive known since I was 8 that I was going to be a rabbi, said Jacob Kaplan-Lipkin, 24, who starts a five-year course of study at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York next week.

To make it even more poignant, that boy now a man will step up to the bimah as the rabbinic presence for the High Holidays this year to stand alongside one of his longtime mentors, Cantor Doron Shapira, at his home synagogue, Peninsula Sinai Congregation in Foster City.

Its a tall task, Kaplan-Lipkin said. I feel Im privileged to be both leader and congregant. This is my community.

Kaplan-Lipkins journey from shul-loving kid to bar mitzvah to rabbi makes perfect sense to Shapira, who has known him since he was a child. He is wise beyond his years and was kind of a junior rabbi in a way, throughout the years, Shapira said. Nothing about this surprises me.

Kaplan-Lipkin said hes always been drawn to Judaism, partly through an inner drive that has been part of him as long as he can remember.

In elementary school I was the one who started dragging my family to shul on a regular basis, he said.

But that inner drive also has something to do with his background. His father is a Bay Area native, but his mother and her relatives immigrated from the Soviet Union in 1978. With the practice of Judaism repressed in that country, the open expression of faith was particularly important to his family.

This has always been my plan. Ive known since I was 8 that I was going to be a rabbi.

On his mothers side, Im the first person to pray freely, he said. I grew up with that as such a profound inherited memory.

He attended Jewish day schools on the Peninsula Wornick, Gideon Hausner and Kehillah and found deep community and a sense of home at PSC, something that, rabbi-like, he illustrated with an anecdote. When Kaplan-Lipkin was in eighth grade, he suffered a concussion that led to debilitating headaches. They were constant, except for when he went to services at his Conservative synagogue. There, they vanished.

It was just a supernatural sense of calm and comfort, he remembered.

After graduating from Stanford, Kaplan-Lipkin moved to New York, where he worked for Jewish nonprofit Dorot. Now, hes finally taking the step hes been anticipating all his life becoming an educator, learner and lover of Torah as a full-time job.

Im really excited, he said. Im beyond excited! Its something Ive dreamt about for 15 years now.

As an intern, hell be on the bimah at PSC during Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services, working and praying alongside his mentor Shapira. Longtime Rabbi Corey Helfand left PSC this year after 10 years with the synagogue. While Shapira has been holding down the fort since, he said it will be good to have help for the holiday season.

We felt that we did need some rabbinic presence, Shapira said. Its hard to be both rabbi and cantor.

While PSC did holiday services on Zoom last year, this year it will be in person, with a livestream option. Shapira said the uncertainties and stresses of the pandemic made it even more important for the community to have familiar faces leading the services.

Hes well known and a beloved person in our community, Shapira said. Hes not someone we have to introduce.

For Kaplan-Lipkin, this holiday will have special meaning, with his large Bay Area family in attendance and on the brink of taking this step toward the goal hes had in his mind for so long.

I do feel personally called, he said. This is what I want to do in the world.

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Posted By admin on August 29, 2021

Dear Dawn: Many years ago, under the guidance of a Conservative rabbi in Queens, New York, I converted to Judaism. My records have been lost and no one connected with the synagogue has been able to help me in recovering the document of my conversion. What am I to do in this situation? I am more than willing to undergo the process again, but I dont know if a rabbi would consider this appropriate. I am also currently living in a remote location; no Jewish community here. Jewish for a long time

Dear JFALT: Youve presented me with an interesting question Ive never confronted before so I did some research.

Heres what I found. No matter which movement an individual chooses for their conversion, it is best for that person to hold onto their conversion certificate! If you are a Jew by choice, make a copy, upload it to the cloud, save it to your computer, put a copy or the original in your safe deposit box.

The responsibility is primarily on you, the individual.

That said, heres how the three largest Jewish movements handle conversion records.

The Reform movement encourages its rabbis to send a copy of each of their converts certificates to the central archive in the American Jewish Archives in Cincinnati. Many of the Reform rabbis remember to do this, but not all of them. If you convert with a Reform rabbi, you should confirm that they do that for you.

The Conservative movement encourages its rabbis to send a copy of the certificate to the Rabbinical Assembly in New York. One Conservative rabbi I spoke with had never been told this information! The moral of the story: Speak up, ask for your records to be sent, and keep a copy for yourself.

The Orthodox movement has a few approved beit din (rabbinic courts) around the United States. This means that people seeking to convert must travel to the location of the beit din for an interview and, of course, mikvah. Each beit din retains its own records. Thus, converts who have worked with one of these courts must contact their court for a duplicate certificate.

Your inquiry, JFALT, led me to wonder: When have you actually needed to produce your certificate? I asked you, and you replied that while you have never had to show it, the certificate itself has great meaning for you.

In fact, its so important to you that youve decided if you cant get your certificate via the Rabbinical Assembly, you have found a rabbi who will take you to the mikvah again and give you a new certificate.

I take my hat off to your commitment and sentiment! Still, I hope the Rabbinical Assembly can help you.

All of this left me with a question: When do Jews-by-choice get asked to prove their status? I asked rabbis from the same three movements.

The Reform and Conservative rabbis I spoke with said theyve never asked someone to provide their certificate. Theyve never had occasion to question someones self-proclaimed identity as a Jew or as a Jew-by-choice, they said. (One Reform rabbi did get a call from a synagogue once asking if he had indeed converted a person who was applying to teach in their Hebrew school.)

It is different for the Orthodox community and rabbis. Halachah (Jewish law) is as binding for their community as American law is for U.S. citizens. Proof of Jewish status is required for people who want to be members of an Orthodox shul, put their children in an Orthodox day school, go to a summer camp or be married by the rabbi.

As a Reform rabbi said to me, For traditional Jews, this is simply law, not personal.Obviously, if you have chosen to convert to Judaism via Orthodoxy, you learn this and take it on as your way of life.

Ironically, I note that rabbis either dont ask about status or, if they are required to, they ask everyone, not just those who may have converted.

Let this be guidance to all members of a congregation: We lay people do not need to question another persons status.

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Posted By admin on August 29, 2021

This Rosh Hashanah, marking the beginning of the Jewish year 5782, will have a special significance. It will be a shmita (sabbatical) year a seventh year, a sabbatical year of rest for the soil.

Shmita literally means renunciation. We renounce the right to work the land, and let it lie fallow. The seventh year shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, (Lev. 25:4) and we renounce our right to collect debts. At the end of every seven years, thou shalt make a release. And this is the manner of the release: every creditor shall release that which he lent unto his neighbor. (Deut. 15: 1-2)

Seven has always had mystical connotations in Judaism.

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The most beloved generation was the seventh that of Hanoch And Hanoch walked with God.

The most beloved of the Fathers, was the seventh Moses And Moses went up to God.

The seventh son was the dearest: David was the seventh son of Yishai.

The seventh day was chosen above all others to be the Sabbath.

Until the destruction of the First Temple, every seven shmita years, a Jubilee year was sanctified.

Although the laws of the sabbatical remittance of debts apply to Jews everywhere, the obligation to let the land lie fallow is limited to the boundaries of Israel as these laws begin only when ye come into the Land which I shall give you (Lev. 25:2).

After wandering for 40 years through the barren desert, Moses gathered the Israelites at arvei Moav the plains of Moav and gave them a detailed law about the soil. For as soon as they entered the Land of Israel, they were to become people of the land with their whole lives bound up in agriculture.

For many generations (until the system of crop rotation was devised at the beginning of the 20th century), both Jews and gentiles saw the logic of letting the land periodically rest and even unwittingly followed the law of the Torah in agriculture.

There are many reasons for the shmita year. It teaches mankind that the earth does not belong to them, but only to God. It also teaches man to have confidence in God, for even though he rests from his work for a year, the Lord will invoke a blessing for him. Another reason is that once every seven years, man is freed just to study Torah, for he is not preoccupied with working the land.

During the Second Temple period, the Jews rigidly adhered to shmita in the Land. During the Hasmonean War, the fall of Beth Zur was attributed to a famine in the city since it was a Sabbatical year. Julius Caesar exempted the Jews from taxation in a shmita year since they neither take fruit from the trees, nor do they sow.

After the abortive Bar-Kochba revolt, however, the Jews were again compelled to pay taxes, causing grave hardship, which in turn convinced the rabbis to relax many prohibitions. In modern times, the problem of shmita in Israel, with its unbearably heavy economic load, became too much for the young state to bear.

Learned rabbis, like the late Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, agreed to the use of a heter (special dispensation) to sell the land to non-Jews during the Sabbatical year, to permit the land to be worked.

In recent years, there have also been perfected other methods of using a heter, such as early sowing of vegetables before the new year (relying on the view of Rabbi Shimeon of Sens) and the growing of crops by hydroponics or soil-less systems.

The Israeli botanist Meir Schwartz was the founder of the first fully automatic hydroponic farm at the Agudat Israel kibbutz Hafetz Chaim. There are now other hydroponic farms at Ein Gedi and Eilat which use water culture. And the prevailing medium used is gravel.

How does the shmita year affect the Orthodox Israeli consumer? Throughout the year, there are regularly published ads in newspapers, lists of shops from whom it is permissible to buy fruits and vegetables and there are chains of shops that market only Arab or imported produce.

Some Jews buy their fruit and vegetables in the Arab market in east Jerusalem, or in the past, they traveled to Arab cities where they were sure that the produce was not grown on Jewish soil, but that can be dangerous in these times.

There is also the option to subscribe to an organization, Otzar Haaretz, where you pay just for labor and maintenance (ukmei) as opposed to acts to enhance the produce. This is based on the following principles: supporting Jewish, Israeli agriculture, cultivating fields in a halachically permissible manner and bringing produce with kedushat sheviit to private consumers.

And six years you shall sow your land, and you shall gather in its produce. And the seventh year ye shall release it from work and abandon it, and the poor among your people eat. And what they leave, the beast of the field shall eat. So you shall deal with your vineyard and your olive grove.

Although different dispensations have been permitted in recent years to make it less difficult, they are really emergency measures as implied by Rabbi Kook in the introduction to his work on the shmita, Shabbat HaAretz (Sabbath of the Land), where he wrote: We today are charged with preserving the memory of the commandment until the time is ripe for it to be carried out with all its minutiae.

The writer is the author of 14 books. Her latest novel is Searching for Sarah. dwaysman@gmail.com

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Shmita the seventh year - The Jerusalem Post

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Posted By admin on August 29, 2021

The Beth Jacob Congregation in Columbus is trying to get teens more actively involved in religious studies through their second year of the experience of the Law of the Teens on September 12.

Rabbi Avi Goldstein, a senior rabbi in the congregation, developed the idea for the program after his parents approached him in search of something more attractive to his children, said Rabbi, Beth Jacobs assistant rabbi. Shlomo Eisenberg said.

According to Eisenberg, Teenage Torah eXperience opposes taking classes on Sunday mornings, which may conflict with other activities such as sports, and many teens who say that religious studies is boring. I am trying to deal with the assumption by.

Goldstein and Beth Jacobs reaction was a program that combined short 25-minute classes with games, prizes, and snacks to appeal to students in grades 5-9.

Goldstein first tried the program in 2020 with a two-week trial period, and after positive reactions from students and their parents, he decided to implement it completely, Eisenberg said. Told Columbus Jewish News.

It was a huge success, Eisenberg said. You know, the kids loved it it was a really great experience for everyone.

This years program runs for two semesters on Sundays from 7:15 pm to 8:45 pm. The first semester is from September to December and the second semester is from January to August 2022.

You dont have to be a member of the congregation to take the course, but its paid, Eisenberg said. Registrants can also take Bar Mitzwa or Bat Mitzwa lessons at no additional cost.

Its all about making it exciting and fun for them, Eisenberg said. Judaism needs to be something that people perceive to be inspiring, and it needs to be meaningful to them in their lives today.

Eisenberg added that the program not only invites teens to study in class, but also for students who are using law lessons elsewhere.

We believe that everything in the law means teaching us how to live our lives, Eisenberg said.

The goal of the program is also to give a positive impression that encourages students to explore Judaism throughout their lives by visiting Israel, participating in synagogues and continuing to study in general.

Eisenberg added that his parents supported the program. For example, parent Emily Kandel said in an email that she was looking forward to her daughter attending the class and that the program changed her view of Jewish education.

Parent Heidi Soloman said in an email that her child told her that the program was fun. Soloman said the class was a much brighter place in the past year.

Parents Seth and Leslie Hoffman said in an email that they were grateful for the program that kept their children interested.

Our kids want to go every week, but its not always easy in this age group, so its clear that the program is working properly, said Leslie Hoffman.

Contact Eisenberg for more information on the program. seisenberg@bjcolumbus.org..

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Beth Jacob uses fun to train teens to learn the Torah.Local news - Ohionewstime.com

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Posted By admin on August 29, 2021

Rabbi Michael Shields| Your Turn

There is a spiritual dimension to the pain, lossand anxiety so many are feeling. My fellow clergy and I have walked with our congregation members through the COVID wilderness.

Soon, the Jewish community will usher in the High Holy Days. It is a time of deep reflection during which it is saidGod is listening even more intently to our prayers. At this season, we direct our hearts in prayer to our neighbors throughout this city. In that spirit of love, I offer the following words.

Study of sacred text is central to Judaism. The People of the Book, as we are sometimes called, turn to texts for guidance, especially in times of trouble. How might we wrestle with this pandemic and how do we affirm the sanctity of life in a way that honors holiness?

In the book of Deuteronomy, it says one must make sure to put a guardrail around ones rooftop balcony. The great medieval doctor and rabbi, Maimonides, wrote: One must remove any obstacle that could pose a danger to life. He also cites from Deuteronomy:Take utmost precaution and guard your lives carefully," (Deuteronomy 4:9).

Spiritually, we are urged to take reactive and proactive measures. God certainly has a role to play in our lives, but it is forbidden to rely on a miracle for healing. Loving ones neighbor and oneself demands action.

COVID and faith:

Medical professionals bring holiness into the world through healing. The obligation to heal is spiritual. And you shall restore it to him (Deuteronomy 22:2), including even his life.

I believe faith guides us to a place in which a physician is commanded to heal and a person is also obligated to seek treatment and take it. Within Judaism, it is even spiritually appropriate in certain instances to mandate acceptance of treatment.

I humbly ask all to consider this spiritual approach to the COVID-19 vaccines and masks. These are proven medical remedies that protect both individual and community, small sacrifices for the greater the holy greater good. The benefit of a vaccine to millions of people mandates its use as a lifesaving medicine.

Writing in 1875 about the smallpox inoculation, an esteemed rabbi, Avraham Nanzig, reflected concerning the 1 in 1,000who died from that inoculation: We do not eliminate such a great benefit for the sake of such a tiny minority.All the more so today. Negative reactions to the COVID-19 vaccines are infinitely fewer and the current COVID-19 vaccines are more effective and rigorously tested than vaccines in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Our society has never been able to guarantee everyone 100% protection from infectious diseases. We must fulfill the spiritual obligation to avoid reasonable and foreseeable danger to life. For this reason, I feel that I honor God, holinessand the sacred scripture by observing public health guidelines.

Over these past 18 months we have wandered in an Exodus-like wilderness. Loneliness, discord, griefand loss must be countered with compassion and love. We can abundantly embrace our fellow human beings created in the image of God without actually physically embracing them. Holy love transcends, and holiness exhorts us to take utmost care and guard our lives and our neighbors.

In the spirit of this season in my faith, I bid you farewell with a traditional greeting: May the year ahead be good and sweet.

Michael Shields is the rabbi of Temple Israel. He was called to serve the Jewish community of Tallahassee in July 2019. Rabbi Shields and his spouse have an 8-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter who are elementary school students in the Leon County schools.

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People of faith can follow Scripture by protecting ourselves, others from COVID | Opinion - Tallahassee Democrat

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Posted By admin on August 29, 2021

After her daughter was killed in a drive-by shooting earlier this year and her son began using drugs to cope with the pain, one mother was overwhelmed. Unsure what to do or how to help, she posted about it on Wednesday in PRAYER WARRIORS, a Christian Facebook group with over 827 thousand members, requesting prayers for her son to get sober.

Within an hour, there were over 100 comments beneath her post, most reading simply prayers or praying, as the group rallied around her as they do each day for dozens of members requesting prayers for illness, help through hardship, or even good luck for taking a test.

PRAYER WARRIORS is far from the only one of these groups, but the comments are similar in every iteration: Praying for you. Sending prayers. Prayed.

Now, praying in these groups will be even easier with a new prayer feature the social media giant just rolled out, allowing users in Facebook groups to create special posts for requesting prayers that include a special I prayed button. Once a prayer request has been posted, group members can choose to indicate theyve prayed, react, leave a comment, or send a private message, a Facebook spokesperson explained; the company said the tool was inspired by increased use of the platform for religious purposes during the pandemic.

Most prayer groups on the site are Christian; even searches for groups using terms such as Jewish prayer, davening or tefillah which means prayer in Hebrew, tended to turn up Christian or Messianic Jewish groups, though a few small Jewish groups appeared. So, its likely that the tool was largely inspired by Christian prayer, though Facebook did not respond to questions about the tools development, and whether any religious professionals and clergy were consulted in the process.

The prayer tool seems to be built for a specific type of prayer, known as petitionary or intercessory prayer, in which someone prays on behalf of another person for them to receive a specific boon, whether that be good health or good grades.

That might not be the first thing you think of when you think of Jewish prayer, which often is about praising Gods greatness in a synagogue setting. But Rav Amalia Mark, Director of Programs and Partnerships at Mayyim Hayyim in Newton, Massachusetts, pointed out that Judaism has a wealth of specific petitionary prayers, whether praying to only have good dreams or guests to enjoy a meal, as well as the tradition of saying the mi shebeirach prayer for the sick or reciting passages from Psalms for the ill.

Still, theres an idea of what is appropriate to pray for. When I think of petitionary prayer, Im thinking much broader than pray for me, its my drivers ed test, I want to get my license, Mark said of the prayer tool.

Even though Jews may be able to make use of the new prayer function in theory, it seems that these kinds of prayer requests are less common in practice, given the dearth of Jewish prayer request groups on Facebook.

Rabbi Sandra Lawson also known as the Snapchat rabbi turned the feature on in some of the Jewish Facebook groups she runs, but she said no one has used it yet. While she sees some potential for its use in Jewish circles, she said she didnt see herself using it and would not have heard about it if I had not reached out to her for this piece.

Several people I spoke to had worries about the tool sapping meaning from religious practice by making it a rote, mindless action.

Its so 21st century American, this inability to put work into anything. I sound like Im 100 years old, but its that I can just click a button as opposed to the fact that prayer is really hard putting in kavanah and intention takes work, Mark said, explaining that petitionary prayer is usually part of a wider tradition of daily prayer that works to deepen ones relationship with God. Its a practice its active, its ongoing. Clicking a button is not.

This worry is not limited to Judaism, despite the popularity of prayer requests in Christian Facebook groups.

There is, in Christianity sometimes, this tendency to think of God as this cosmic vending machine, that if you put in the right kind of petition, that you get out what you ask for, said Matthew Ichihashi Potts, a professor of Christianity at Harvard Divinity School. (Potts is a former professor of mine.)

Potts emphasized that he doesnt want to denigrate the practice, and admitted he might be too much of a Luddite to fully appreciate the depth of experience that praying on social media might achieve. But he worried that the tool boils prayer down to its basest form, and removes it from its communal context and from a wider tradition of prayer that also praises God and offers service.

This is abstracting the relationships that are built through prayer, he said. Its abstracting just the petitionary from all these other kinds of Christian prayers, which just makes it a less rich experience as part of a community and a less rich prayer life.

Some Facebook prayer groups already have hundreds of thousands of members, however, and clicking an I prayed button is not very different from typing the same phrase in a comment; the new tool simply makes it easier to count the prayers youve received. If anything, the new button will make it even easier and more rote to pray on Facebook just like we mindlessly click the like button and later assess the success of a post by the resulting statistics of likes and comments.

Maybe God, too, will soon be ranking prayers via how many likes they got on Facebook.

The rest is here:

Facebook has a new prayer feature. But is it made for Jews? J. - The Jewish News of Northern California

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Posted By admin on August 29, 2021

Vital repair work began Sunday to a bridge that serves as the sole entry point for Jews and non-Muslim tourists to Jerusalems Temple Mount, due to a risk of collapse.

The start of maintenance work on the Mughrabi Bridge was announced by the Western Wall Heritage Foundation, which said it would take a few days to complete.

As part of the maintenance work, part of the womens prayer section of the Western Wall plaza will be closed off, said the foundation that administers the plaza and prayer arrangements at the site.

The tenuous state of the Mughrabi Bridge has raised fears of another disaster months, after a deadly crush at a religious festival in northern Israel killed 45 people.

Days after the tragedy in May, Ofer Cohen, a municipal engineer hired by the Western Wall Heritage Foundation, inspected the Mughrabi Bridge. Citing its poor condition, he urged its immediate replacement and authorized its use only until September.

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In a letter obtained by The Associated Press, Cohen said the hastily constructed bridges wooden beams were in a state of extreme dryness and severely cracked. He urged authorities to act immediately to replace the bridge in order to make safe its use.

In response to the engineers report, the state said it would conduct a gradual replacement of the wooden beams that are in bad shape, Channel 13 news reported earlier this month.

The move would allow the temporary bridge to continue being used, as Israel has no current plans for a permanent solution, the report said.

A general view of the wooden footbridge leading up from the Western Wall compound to the Temple Mount in Jerusalems Old City, December 11, 2011. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)

The Mughrabi Bridge leading from near the Western Wall plaza to the Mughrabi Gate of the Temple Mount compound was hastily constructed 15 years ago as a temporary replacement for an earthen access ramp that was in danger of collapsing at the time.

The structural engineer had recommended replacing the bridge with a metal one that would be more durable and fireproof. However, that would likely inflame tensions with the Palestinians and with Jordan, who view any building activity in the area as a provocation against Muslims.

The Temple Mount compound is considered the holiest place in Judaism as it is the site where the first and second Jewish Temples once stood. It also houses the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam.

Israel captured the Temple Mount, and the rest of the Old City and East Jerusalem, from Jordan in the 1967 Six Day War, and annexed it, but it allowed Jordans Waqf (Muslim trust) to continue to oversee the compound and other Islamic sites in Jerusalem. Israel allows Jews and other non-Muslims to visit the Temple Mount but not to pray there (though such instances have also been increasing).

In 2014, Israel dismantled a partially built wooden access ramp that had been under construction and would have replaced the bridge. But under heavy Jordanian pressure, then-prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered that the structure be removed, saying its construction was illegal and had never received the proper authorization, a government source said at the time.

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Work begins to partially renovate hazardous bridge to Temple Mount - The Times of Israel

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