Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on August 28, 2021

Beth A. Lee, a food blogger who digs deep into family recipes (her own and others), has organized some of them into The Essential Jewish Baking Cookbook, an easygoing but detailed book of sweets and savories for holidays and every day. Topping the special occasion list is Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, which begins this year 5782 at sundown on Sept. 6. Apples are a symbol of the holiday on the Ashkenazi table, and the book features recipes for a cake studded and topped with them and bits of ginger. A very basic challah recipe and the whole-wheat version are included without directions for shaping the bread round, instead of braided, as is customarily done for the holiday. Rather, challah rolls with apple filling make suitable stand-ins, and the dough can be used to make one large loaf. The recipe for pletzel, a Polish specialty thats also called onion board, deserves to be added to your flatbread collection. The book taps traditions, including those of Sephardic and Mizrachi cultures, in addition to Ashkenazic. It also gives details on making the recipes kosher.

The Essential Jewish Baking Cookbook: 50 Traditional Recipes for Every Occasion by Beth A. Lee (Rockridge Press, $16.99 paperback; $24.99 hardcover after Oct. 4).

Follow NYT Food on Twitter and NYT Cooking on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest. Get regular updates from NYT Cooking, with recipe suggestions, cooking tips and shopping advice.

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Recipes for Rosh Hashana, and for Every Day - The New York Times

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Posted By admin on August 28, 2021

MK Miri Regev has been making waves in recent days after calling on her Likud party to jettison its white DNA and elect a Mizrahi politician preferably herself as its next party leader.

I think the Mizrahim the Likudniks have long chosen white people to lead them. I think the day after Bibi Netanyahu, the Likudniks will have to make a reckoning, the right-wing lawmaker and former transportation minister told the Yedioth Ahronoth daily recently.

Regevs unabashed use of identity politics plays on the long-standing assumption that Likuds dominance of Israeli politics over the last 40 years depends on its base of Mizrahi voters. But political scientists and polling say the ties between the party and Mizrahi Jews Israelis who trace their origins to the countries of the Middle East and North Africa are more tenuous than conventionally thought.

Worse still for Regevs long-shot bid for the party leadership, support for Likud is waning among younger Mizrahim and among Mizrahi Jews with a higher education and a firm footing in the middle class, political scientists say.

There are some people who are happy to accept the stereotype and say that the Mizrahi vote is irrational, tribal and emotional, and doesnt reflect their interests, says Prof. Gal Levy of the Open University. Together with Maoz Rosenthal and Ishak Saporta, Levy has conducted a soon-to-be published survey showing that the Mizrahi vote is far more nuanced than Regev and others believe.

The Mizrahi-Likud connection goes back to at least 1977 and the electoral upheaval that brought Menachem Begins Likud party to power after 29 years of uninterrupted left-wing rule. The link grew stronger with the bitterly fought 1981 election, where ethnic polarization played a decisive role. Political wisdom has it that the party has kept its grip on power thanks to a reliable Mizrahi vote. Indeed, although it couldnt find enough partners to form a governing coalition, Likud was still by far the biggest party in the March election.

But for all that, there are no concrete figures on ethnic voting patterns in Israel because the Central Bureau of Statistics doesnt break down its data in a way that makes that possible. Instead, analysts can do their own statistical analyses to estimate the ethnic vote.

In addition, patterns are extrapolated simply by examining the vote in ethnic strongholds. Thus, in poor towns on Israels periphery with heavy Mizrahi populations, Likud captured 39.3 percent of the March 2021 vote 15 percentage points higher than its nationwide total according to figures compiled by the Israel Democracy Institute.

But outlying towns comprise only part of the Mizrahi vote. The research by Levy and his colleagues reached more finely tuned conclusions based on a survey taken ahead of the April 2019 vote (the first of Israels four back-to-back elections).

Rather than take Mizrahim as an undifferentiated bloc, the poll broke down the population by place of birth, religiosity and education the last two of which serve as a proxy for socioeconomic status.

What they found in results that will appear in The Elections in Israel, 2019-2021, in a chapter entitled Ethnic Demons and Class Specters: An Update on Ethnic and Class Voting in Israel was a wide cleavage.

There is a significant difference between those born here and those who were born abroad, and between those who are more educated and those who are less educated, Levy says.

Miri Regev and the way she talks reflects a very specific perspective of Mizrahi Jews and their voting patterns and interests she reduces them to a very particular group within the category of Mizrahim, in order to say something that conforms with her political interests.

A voter base in decline

The core Mizrahi voter base that Regev is talking about is in decline. The population of Mizrahim born abroad is aging and shrinking because there is no new immigration to replenish it. Although large socioeconomic gaps remain between Israels Mizrahi and Ashkenazi populations, both in terms of education and income, those gaps have narrowed over the years. Moreover, the Mizrahi upper middle class has grown, albeit at the cost of great income stratification among Mizrahim themselves.

In short, the Mizrahi voter base Likud most relies on is in decline.

What surveys do show, however, is that Mizrahi voters hold right-of-center views more than Ashkenazi voters: A survey by the Jewish People Policy Institute in 2019 found that 72 percent of Mizrahi voters regarded themselves as right or center right, compared with 58 percent of Ashkenazi voters. These days, though, voters have other right-wing parties to choose from, not just Likud.

Where Regev stands on firmer ground is her complaint that the Likud leadership is overwhelmingly Ashkenazi. The party has only had a handful of leaders over the decades, but all of them are of European ancestry. That includes its current leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, who Regev nevertheless praised in her Yedioth interview as a supposed opponent of Israels Ashkenazi establishment.

Although Netanyahu has not even hinted that he plans to step down from the party leadership anytime soon, the most talked-about candidates to fill his shoes when that day comes are all Ashkenazi men: Yisrael Katz, Nir Barkat, Gilad Erdan and Yuli Edelstein. One other candidate who is not a party member, but is rumored to be interested in the position, is former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen. Regev, in other words, is the only Mizarhi candidate in the mix.

Regev warned that if the party doesnt make way for a Mizrahi leader, a new Likud would emerge. If Likudniks keep choosing leaders with a white DNA, another Likud will arise a truly Mizrahi Likud that will give expression to the Mizrahi voice that has been excluded over the years, she said.

However, the Jewish People Policy Institute found that, given the choice, the overwhelming majority of voters said they dont care what a candidates ethnic origin is. Among Mizrahim, 63 percent said they would give no preference to a Mizrahi candidate.

The politics of emotion

Meir Amor, an associate professor of sociology and anthropology at Montreals Concordia University, contends that even the partys top Mizrahi politicians arent really taking strong stands on issues relevant to their constituencies. Rather, he claims, they are akin to vote contractors in the employ of the partys Ashkenazi leaders. The last Mizrahi politician to make a serious leadership bid in Likud was David Levy in the 1990s. He failed and eventually dropped out of politics.

The [Mizrahim] who came after him are puppets like David Amsalem, Miki Zohar and Amir Ohana,''Amor says, citing three Likud lawmakers best known as stalwart defenders of Netanyahu.''They dont have real power, but they do provide political benefits its machine politics, not democratic politics.''

On Regev's interview, Amor says that she speaks for a tiny minority, but not the great majority of people who are Mizrahi. Because she makes headlines, it seems like theres real politics behind it. But its a policy of public relations, a politics of incitement, instead of the serious politics that need to be done.

Both Amor and Levy say they have detected signs that Likuds adoption of free-market economic policies and a neglect of the welfare state, especially under Netanyahu, was quietly alienating the lower-income Mizrahim who do support the party for its right-wing, nationalist platform. While appeals from the left to switch sides have failed most notably, by the Moroccan-born Amir Peretz when he led the Labor Party political scientists note that turnout rates in heavily Mizrahi towns have fallen to very low levels.

In last Marchs election, for instance, the share of eligible voters who stayed home on Election Day was close to 52 percent in Bat Yam, south of Tel Aviv. In all 12 of the biggest majority-Mizrahi towns, turnover was never higher than 61 percent, lower than the national average of about 67 percent (which included Arab towns where the turnout was less than 45 percent).

Taking that factor into account, Hani Zubida, who teaches political science at the Jezreel Valley College, estimates that just 17.1 percent of eligible Mizrahi voters cast a ballot for Likud in March.

In Israel, there are large numbers of people who are becoming alienated from the system, and among them are Mizrahim who dont vote at all, Amor concludes. You have to pay attention to that there are indications that the lower classes are losing interest.

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Is Likud still the party of Israel's Mizrahi voters? These experts say otherwise - Haaretz

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Posted By admin on August 28, 2021

Sun, Aug 29, 2021 7:30 PM - 9:00 PM Central European Summer Time (UTC+2)

Tickets ($18) here.

Join us for a dynamic interactive journey through the rich heritage of the Jews of Kurdistan.

About this event

From the Neo-Assyrian era to the present day, learn about the Jews from Kurdistan and their enduring history. Today, there are hundreds of thousands of Jews from Kurdistan who look to their ancestral fatherland and its enduring Jewish heritage sites with affection, interest, and curiosity. For some, the support has even become political, and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq is celebrated as one of the most durable, stable, tolerant, and secure governments in the entire Middle East. Learn more about Kurdistan, its Jewish heritage, and the present-day efforts to support Jewish expression.

Wake up to the Trusted Mideast News source Mideast Daily News Email

With your contribution you will also be donating to theFoundation of Ours, which supports Jewish expression in the Kurdistan Region, and provides platforms for reconciliation and coexistence between all communities.

About Levi

Levi Meir Clancy was born into a mixed Okinawan and Ashkenazi family in Los Angeles, where he graduated from UCLA in Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics. Applying his minority background to issues of justice, equity, and equality, he moved to Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq in 2014 where he has worked in marketing campaigns, and software development. In 2019, he began his masters degree in Applied Demography, with a focus on tribal structures in the Kurdistan Region. He has spoken at TEDxDuhok, AMP Conf, and GSMA Mobile 360. In 2020, he incorporated Foundation of Ours, which supports Jewish expression in the Kurdistan Region, and provides platforms for reconciliation and coexistence between all communities. The Foundation has hosted seminars and exhibitions across the Kurdistan Region.

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Iraqi Kurdistan: A Land of Jewish Heritage, and Potential Reconciliation - The Media Line

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Posted By admin on August 28, 2021

Construction is moving forward on a $32.5 million educational complex housing the early childhood and boys elementary school at Hebrew Academy with completion expected in time for the school to open its doors Aug. 26.

The 103,000 square-foot educational complex sits on the 92-acre campus of the former Oakwood Country Club and golf course on Warrensville Center Road in Cleveland Heights. Hebrew Academy had already renovated the 100-year-old clubhouse for use as its co-ed kindergarten, boys junior high school, boys high school and financial offices.

The previous renovation, completed four years ago, entailed retrofitting the clubhouse and preserving the architectural details of the buildings four ballrooms.

We were able to maintain the architectural design and simultaneously retrofit it to serve the needs of the educational landscape of the school, Rabbi Simcha Dessler, educational director of Hebrew Academy, told the Cleveland Jewish News during an Aug. 4 tour of the campus. We wanted to maintain the historic anchor in the community and transform it from a dormant landscape to a vibrant landscape with a promising Jewish future.

Rabbi Simcha Dessler, education director of Hebrew Academy of Cleveland in Cleveland Heights, stands in the courtyard garden of the education complex on the Oakwood campus.

With the new building, which both attaches to and dwarfs the clubhouse, the school gains 41 classrooms in a two-floor, state-of-the art school building with elevators, technology hardwired into classrooms and a gymnasium and auditorium that can be split or combined with capacity seating for up to 1,000.

Weve been blessed with astounding growth in the last decade, Dessler said.

Upon entering the new building, there are windows that look into a courtyard garden. There is also an outdoor patio in front of the school.

The new building includes textured concrete made to call to mind Israel stone. That same feature was included at Hebrew Academys Beatrice J. Stone Yavne High School in Beachwood.

Youre going to see a theme of Israeli stone, Jerusalem stone, throughout the whole building, Dessler said. It still has that cool factor and that sentiment of everything that Israel brings, the rich heritage of Israel. You just feel it.

A ballroom has been transformed into a beit midrash at Hebrew Academy of Clevelands Oakwood campus.

Rabbi Simcha Dessler, education director of Hebrew Academy of Cleveland in Cleveland Heights, stands in the courtyard garden of the education complex on the Oakwood campus.

Students will have lockers within the classrooms.

The innovation lab will have decorative glass dividing the two rooms.

Hebrew Academy of Clevelands Oakwood education complex includes a gymnasium and auditorium.

This is the administrative offices on the day materials were moved.

Rabbi Simcha S. Dessler, education director of Hebrew Academy of Cleveland, points out the Israel or Jerusalem stone treatment that runs through the new building.

Rabbi Simcha Dessler stands in what he calls the indoor wonderland, which will be used by students in the Hebrew Academy of Clevelands early education center.

Students in the early childhood education program and the boys elementary school will use Hebrew Academy of Clevelands $32.5-million Oakwood education complex in Cleveland Heights when school starts Aug. 26.

Books line what was a ballroom of Oakwood Country Club and is now a beit midrash for the boys high school at Hebrew Academy of Cleveland.

The ballrooms have been preserved at the former Oakwood Country Club clubhouse and retrofitted for use by Hebrew Academy of Cleveland.

One wall in the clubhouse building is devoted to the history of the school.

A ballroom has been transformed into a beit midrash at Hebrew Academy of Clevelands Oakwood campus.

Rabbi Simcha Dessler, education director of Hebrew Academy of Cleveland in Cleveland Heights, stands in the courtyard garden of the education complex on the Oakwood campus.

Students will have lockers within the classrooms.

The innovation lab will have decorative glass dividing the two rooms.

Hebrew Academy of Clevelands Oakwood education complex includes a gymnasium and auditorium.

This is the administrative offices on the day materials were moved.

Rabbi Simcha S. Dessler, education director of Hebrew Academy of Cleveland, points out the Israel or Jerusalem stone treatment that runs through the new building.

Rabbi Simcha Dessler stands in what he calls the indoor wonderland, which will be used by students in the Hebrew Academy of Clevelands early education center.

Students in the early childhood education program and the boys elementary school will use Hebrew Academy of Clevelands $32.5-million Oakwood education complex in Cleveland Heights when school starts Aug. 26.

Books line what was a ballroom of Oakwood Country Club and is now a beit midrash for the boys high school at Hebrew Academy of Cleveland.

The ballrooms have been preserved at the former Oakwood Country Club clubhouse and retrofitted for use by Hebrew Academy of Cleveland.

One wall in the clubhouse building is devoted to the history of the school.

There is a beit midrash for 100 students in the elementary school portion; an innovation lab for arts, science, technology, math and engineering projects, with outdoor space for woodworking; and an intervention center for students who need remedial assistance either through tutoring or group work.

Each elementary school classroom will feature the same sort of front wall.

The front wall will have light boards and technology (from) Clevertouch all the ingredients for a child in 2021 to succeed, Dessler said.

There are two cafeterias, a library and offices for a nurse, social worker and administrative staff, as well as two receptionist areas.

In addition, the campus has five playgrounds and a retention pond rimmed with a wrought iron fence.

There is a main entrance to the elementary school, just north of the clubhouse. The early childhood center has a separate entrance further north on the campus.

More than 500 children will have elementary school or early childhood classes in the new complex designed by Ronald Kluchin Architects Inc. of Cleveland. The contractor is Great Lakes Crushing LTD of Wickliffe.

Hebrew Academy has 112 students in its kindergarten, and Dessler estimates 2021-22 enrollment at 1,340 for the entire school. At the Oakwood campus, there will be nearly 800 students.

The early childhood center has a multipurpose room, which Dessler called an indoor wonderland. It will have an indoor playground, riding toys and climbing areas especially useful in Clevelands cold weather.

Construction started in January 2020, and on Aug. 4, the movers arrived from Hebrew Academys Taylor Road campus in Cleveland Heights with classroom materials.

Over the next few years, that campus will undergo renovation for the 350 girls in Hebrew Academys elementary school.

When COVID brought the world to a halt, there was a time that people couldnt believe that we would be able to move on with the project so efficiently and so quickly, Dessler said.

Ivan Soclof, immediate past president of Hebrew Academy, is an alumnus of the school.

Its really a delight to see the vision of providing Jewish education for many, many youngsters. We dont even know how many, but many youngsters in these coming years, he told the CJN Aug. 16, adding he appreciates that one of Hebrew Academys firm commitments is to provide an education to every Jewish child thats interested, and this allows that to continue.

Dr. Louis Malcmacher, president of Hebrew Academy, said the expansion represents both a culmination and a new beginning.

It is a culmination of the incredible efforts of the entire Hebrew Academy family including our parents, administrators, teachers, students, donors and the entire Cleveland Jewish community led by the Jewish Federation of Cleveland to make it a reality, Malcmacher wrote in an Aug. 17 email to the CJN. It is a new beginning for thousands of Jewish children who will build their own future commitment to the Jewish people and carry on the beautiful legacy of their Jewish heritage. This is a momentous time for the Hebrew Academy of Cleveland and we are blessed to be able to continue our mission of excellence in Jewish education to build the future leaders of Klal Yisrael.

We are thrilled that despite the challenges caused by the world pandemic, this project, Vision 2020, is near completion, Amir Jaffa, Hebrew Academys Vision 2020 campaign chair, wrote in an Aug. 17 email to the CJN. It will be a shining star in our community. The success of the academys campaign and the growth in our school community are a testament to the commitment of so many individuals and the importance of Jewish continuity,

Rabbi Eli Dessler, financial director of Hebrew Academy, expressed gratitude for the support the school has received.

Weve been incredibly blessed from the outpouring of support from community members, supporters, parents and alumni towards this transformational Oakwood campus project, Eli Dessler told the CJN Aug. 17, adding the campaign of $32.5 million has raised nearly $31 million, and Hebrew Academy has taken financing until the redemption of the pledges.

The campaign goal of 32.5 million, he said, includes the purchase of the land of the former Oakwood Country Club and the repurposing of the clubhouse building which will continue to house approximately 250 students.

Rabbi Simcha Dessler also added his thanks.

Its really a tribute to our dedicated lay leadership ... to the schools board of directors and to the broad spectrum of supporters throughout Clevelands community and beyond, he said. We could never have done it without that support.

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Hebrew Academy unveils state-of-the-art building - Cleveland Jewish News

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Posted By admin on August 28, 2021

Abeles and Heymann Hotdogs Named 4th Best Hotdog While Leading Competitor Hebrew National Ranks 15th Best in New Article

HILLSIDE, N.J., Aug. 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Abeles and Heymann (A&H), maker of award-winning premium Kosher hot dogs, have been ranked higher than leading Kosher brand Hebrew National in a new article by Uproxx. A&H has been listed as the fourth best hotdog overall out of 22 brands.

"For over 60 years, it's been our mission to provide the best Kosher hotdogs on the market," said Seth Leavitt, CEO of Abeles and Heymann. "I'm extremely proud of our performance, and look forward to continuing the founding family's standards for quality, authenticity and mission to provide the finest kosher provisions available."

A&H hot dogs have been ranked the number one Kosher hotdog by hot dog lovers far beyond strictly kosher consumers. In 2005, A&H hot dogs were ranked best Kosher hot dogs by the New York outlet, The New York Daily News.

"It feels good to be the 'top dog'," Leavitt said. "Whether you're at the ballpark enjoying a game or hosting your next gathering, we look forward to continuing our part in your family traditions. We hope you will choose to 'seek out' A&H hotdogs for your upcoming Labor Day festivities!"

Abeles and Heymann now operate in a state-of-the-art facility in New Jersey and produce over 1,000 tons of quality Kosher deli a year. In addition to its uncured, reduced-fat and lower-sodium hot dogs, the company produces an array of kosher hotdogs, sausage, and deli meats.

About A&H

Founded in 1954 in Bronx, NY, by Oscar Abeles and Leopold Heymann, Abeles and Heymann is consistently voted as the "Top Dog" in America. Using only premium quality ingredients and are slow-cooked to perfection. Purchased in 1997 by Seth Leavitt and his attorney cousin David Flamholz, Abeles and Heymann now operates in a state-of-the-art facility in New Jersey. For more information about Abele's and Heymann, please contact Claudia Marvin, account coordinator at HeraldPR at c.marvin@heraldpr.com.

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View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/abeles-and-heymann-out-dogs-hebrew-national-as-top-tier-kosher-hotdog-301362215.html

SOURCE A&H

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Abeles and Heymann Out Dogs Hebrew National as Top Tier Kosher Hotdog - Yahoo Finance

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Posted By admin on August 28, 2021

Mike Fink| Guest columnist

Mike Fink has been an instructor at the Rhode Island School of Design since 1957.

This is the time for the reading of the famous letter that George Washington wrote to the Newport congregation of Touro Synagogue. The letter is read by a local celebrity in a special ceremonial salute to freedom of religion, the legacy of our founder Roger Williams and the Rhode Island contribution to the national Bill of Rights.

Well, RISD offers to its faculty a chance to order books related to our courses in advance of the start of September semester. I asked for the Princeton Press research text titled "The Jewish World of Alexander Hamilton" by a professor currently on the faculty of the University of Oklahoma.

AuthorAndrew Porwancher reviews theusual account of how Hamilton was born intheCaribbean island of Nevis,where he learned Hebrew andstudied theTorahin a Jewish school. He proposes that Hamilton was both anti-slavery and also profoundly concerned for the principle of religious freedom, especially for Jewish Americans. It is a remarkable, informative, and thorough account throughout the text.

He focuseson the usual bigotry against Jews from both, indeed from all, political groups and claims that Washington's favorite line from the "Old"Testament, theTorah, was "Everyone shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig-tree, and there shall be none to make him afraid." Although the general was not connected to the Hebrew communities among the colonies, he was, according to Porwancher, deeply influenced by his aide and ally, Hamilton.

Hamilton's mother, Rachel, had in alllikelihood converted to Judaism for her first marriage,and thesynagogue accepted the son Alexander to recognize the legitimate legacy of themother's lineage; this much is common knowledge. What the professor explores goes into fascinating detail about the ironies,"poetics," and nuances of the brief but intricate life of our first secretary of thetreasury. His values were such that he befriended and remained ever loyal to what he had learned in the Caribbean.

I commend this book to all students of Americanhistory,especially inthis new school year,when patriotism is a controversialissue,and when divisiveness rules thecampus realms.Give this wandering professor your eyes and mind and recognize thecomplexity of our narrative and thegood will and high hopes for thenew world towhich Hamilton invested thebest years of his short lifetime but long list of accomplishments.

It just came out this very week, late in August, in time for me to use in my Bible elective.

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Opinion/Fink: The Jewish world of Alexander Hamilton - The Providence Journal

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Posted By admin on August 28, 2021

The rate of new COVID-19 patients being hospitalized in serious condition has slowed significantly as a result of the booster vaccine, experts said on Friday, anticipating that the current outbreak has been curbed.

After surpassing 700 concurrent serious cases earlier this week, Health Ministry data on Friday showed there were 689 patients hospitalized in serious condition, in what appeared to be the start of a decline in the countrys fourth virus wave.

Researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem said in a Friday report that Israels drive to administer widespread third COVID-19 vaccine shots had caused the change of trend, along with some reimposed restrictions. They added that in the coming days, the number of daily infections was similarly expected to start slowing down.

The government launched its latest vaccination campaign earlier this month, urging Israelis over 60 (since lowered to over 30) to get their third dose of the vaccine known as a booster shot which officials hope will help protect Israels most vulnerable from the highly contagious Delta variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19.

The current virus wave has been curbed thanks to a combination of the booster drive and soft restrictions, the report said.

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As of Friday morning, 1,872,056 Israelis had been given the third dose.

Eran Segal, a COVID expert and one of the top government advisers to the coronavirus cabinet, said the rate of serious cases out of all new infections dropped from around 2 percent to 1.4% in recent days.

Meaning, for the same number of infections, there is 30% less serious cases, Segal tweeted.

The Hebrew University researchers said that among those over the age of 60, the unvaccinated were five times more likely to be hospitalized in serious condition due to COVID-19 complications.

According to the Health Ministry, the rate of serious cases among unvaccinated Israelis over the age of 60 as of Friday morning was 267.6 severe cases per 100,000. Among the fully vaccinated in that age group, the figure was 19.2 per 100,000, and among the partially vaccinated it was 58.7 per 100,000.

Fully vaccinated refers to Israelis who have received two or three doses, while partially means just a single dose.

But with the opening of the school year next week, the researchers warned that the number of daily infections would slightly rise again. However, with the booster vaccine, a rise in serious cases is not expected, they said in the report.

Israeli students going to school in Tel Aviv, on April 18, 2021. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Of the 689 seriously ill on Friday, 149 were on ventilators, according to Health Ministry figures. In total, there were 1,086 people hospitalized with COVID-19.

The data showed 8,078 new infections were recorded on Thursday, with an additional 1,220 cases identified by Friday morning, taking the number of active cases in the country to 78,342.

The ministry said that 147,184 people were tested on Thursday, with the positivity rate showing a further rise to 6.71 percent the highest level since February.

The number of people who have died of the disease since the onset of the pandemic rose to 6,943 on Friday.

The Climate Crisis and Responsible Journalism

As The Times of Israel's environment reporter, I try to convey the facts and science behind climate change and environmental degradation, to explain - and critique - the official policies affecting our future, and to describe Israeli technologies that can form part of the solution.

I am passionate about the natural world and disheartened by the dismal lack of awareness to environmental issues shown by most of the public and politicians in Israel.

I'm proud to be doing my part to keep Times of Israel readers properly informed about this vital subject - which can and does effect policy change.

Your support, through membership in The Times of Israel Community, enables us to continue our important work. Would you join our Community today?

Thank you,

Sue Surkes, Environment Reporter

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Experts say current COVID outbreak being curbed thanks to booster vaccines - The Times of Israel

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Posted By admin on August 28, 2021

Reviewing the Rev. Wil Gafney's new A Women's Lectionary for the Whole Church (Church Publishing) has filled me with gratitude and delight. This long-awaited resource is a rare combination of impeccable scholarship and pastoral usability. A Hebrew and rabbinic scholar and professor of Hebrew Bible at Brite Divinity School, Gafney also happens to be an Episcopal priest who preaches regularly. In the introduction to the new Lectionary she asks,

What does it look like to tell the Good News through the stories of women who are often on the margins of scripture and often set up to represent bad news? How would a lectionary centering women's stories, chosen with womanist and feminist commitments in mind, frame the presentation of the scriptures for proclamation and teaching?

Her questions led to two years of intensive labor developing Year A and Year W of the new Lectionary with Years B and C still to come. Year W is a composite single year lectionary for denominations that do not use a three-year cycle of lectionary readings.

Why is a women's lectionary needed? Gafney counts the ways. Citing statistics from the Pew Research Center she notes that of the nearly 2.3 billion Christians in the world, about 1.4 billion engage Scripture from denominations that regularly use lectionary texts. An estimated 60% of U.S. Christians attend churches that regularly use lectionaries.

Because of the androcentric nature of biblical texts there are only an estimated 205 named female characterscomparedto an estimated 1,181 named men. But androcentrism is more than numbers. In a recentWomen Erasedpresentation for FutureChurch, Gafney pointed out that because of male authorship, "Even when a woman is present, her story is serving a male story. If it's focused on her, the larger arc is still a male story." Given these realities and the fact that the lectionary is a catechetical (teaching) text it is unsurprising that in her introduction Gafney writes "not many of my students or parishioners can name even 10 women in the biblical canon."

Since lectionary committees guided in part by the Scriptures themselves have selected predominantly male-oriented texts, people rarely learn about biblical women on Sunday or any other time for that matter.

For Gafney, "Androcentrism, sexism, and misogyny in the scriptures, in their translation, and in their preaching and liturgical use, hurts men and boys and nonbinary children and adults as much as it does women and girls." Exclusively male God language reinforces the idea that men image God and women do not. Most women and girls have never experienced their gender as being associated with the divine. Yet for those who have had that experience, writes Gafney, "it has been profoundly moving, rare, and even sometimes profoundly disturbing."

Centering the stories of biblical women and girls whether named or unnamed in a lectionary requires no small amount of scientific creativity. Text selection was second only to translation as Gafney's most time-consuming task. To this end, she prioritized passages in which women and girls were explicitly present while also selecting texts in which they were present but "obscured in plurals and other groupings, e.g., 'children,' 'Israelites,' 'people,' 'believers,' etc."

To establish a "female canon within the broader canons of scripture," Gafney usedAccordance Bible Softwareto identify passages containing "explicit language for female persons." She also designed a second search to capture singular and plural constructions for feminine terms such as mother, daughter, sister, wife, mistress, etc. While the results were "not necessarily exhaustive" she found them "more than sufficient for the task."

A consummate Hebrew linguist, Gafney translated all of her own texts. She is well acquainted with Hebrew words and grammatical constructions connoting the female gender. To construct the new lectionary she matched themes from each of the liturgical seasons with texts from her newly created female canon. She then searched for "readings that shared thematic language or specific words that related to the liturgical season and first lesson" ("reading" in the Catholic context). Search results were saved according to location Hebrew Bible (including the seven deuterocanonical books)*, Psalms, New Testament which facilitated the selection of appropriate texts for each week's readings and psalms. She also used specific passages from the Psalms, Gospel or Epistles that came to mind.

Gafney's lectionary translations are accompanied by "text notes" that identify the original language and translation choices and "preaching prompts" that suggest ways to connect the biblical text to the experiences of contemporary believers.

The new lectionary always uses a female pronoun for the Holy Spirit. In her text notes for Pentecost, Gafney writes that in the Hebrew Bible, the Spirit of God (ruah) is grammatically feminine, a fact that has been obscured because "translators have historically avoided grammatical constructions that would require a pronoun for the Spirit in the First [Old] Testament." In the Septuagint (the first Greek translation of the Old Testament) and the Christian Scriptures, the Greek word for "spirit" is neuter (pneuma).

The upshot, writes Gafney, is that "In the breadth of the scriptures the spirit is anything and everything but masculine." This changed when Jerome translated the Bible into Latin.

Gafney politely continues:

The deliberate choice to render the spirit in masculine terms in Latin texts such as the Vulgate reflects theological commitments apart from the grammar of the texts. If we were to hear Jesus speak John 14:17 in Aramaic, we would most likely hear: This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees her nor knows her. You know her, because she abides with you, and she will be in you.

To help women and girls "encounter God in explicitly feminine language," Gafney used mainly feminine pronouns for God in the Psalms as well as occasional nonbinary pronouns. Here is an example:

you who seek God let your hearts flourish.

For the FAITHFUL GOD hears the needy,

And those who belong to her and are imprisoned,

She does not despise.

Let the heavens and earth praise her.

The seas and everything that moves in them. (Psalm 69:32-34)

Following the practice of respected earlier translators, Gafney uses descriptive titles for God rather than the artificially constructed "LORD" (with large and small caps) used in mainstream translations to denote the untranslatable holy name, YHWH. She eschews this "common male human slave holding title," choosing instead to "preserve the ancient biblical and rabbinical practice of substituting something that can be said for that which cannot."

Thus, diverse, biblically rooted titles for God recur throughout theLectionary. Here is a small sampling: ONE WHO IS, SOVEREIGN, WISDOM, HOLY ONE OF OLD, CREATOR, GOD WHO HEARS, SHE WHO IS HOLY, WOMB OF CREATION and YOU WHO ARE.

Gender-expansive translations are another Gafney innovation in which named collections of people in the scriptures"Israelites," "children," "people" are expanded to include their gendered subgroups. For example, "Israelites" is translated to "the women, children, and men of Israel." She also commonly includes the matriarchs in genealogies, for example Abraham [and Sarah], Isaac [and Rebecca], Jacob [and Rachel]. Gafney's selections and translations avoid anti-Semitism using "Judeans" rather than the pejorative "the Jews" and she carefully modulates "dark/black" negative language to become "shadow" and "bleak/ness." Slave/slavery language is maintained, "rather than weaken or minimize" this horrific historical reality with the word "servant."

In developing her project, Gafney involved 63 "conversation partners" from 14 English-speaking denominations around the world. None were Catholic. This is sad but unsurprising given the Catholic hierarchy's well-publicized ban on female liturgical leadership. She also sought feedback from Protestant clergy, seminarians and lay leaders with a range of gender identities. This widespread consultation aided text and translation choices as well as Gafney's many practical suggestions. The latter are specifically designed to help ordinary congregations engage the Scriptures in new and personal ways even as they become more biblically literate.

Some practical suggestions for Protestant denominations include using the full lectionary for a three-year cycle or replacing a year in the three-year cycle currently in use. Practical suggestions for both Catholic and Protestant groups include using the lectionary for Bible study, as a resource in the theological classroom, and for personal prayer and devotional reading. All are encouraged to access the list of biblically rooted divine names for God to enrich theological language in liturgy and corporate or personal prayer.

Gafney dedicated her new lectionary "For those who have searched for themselves in the scriptures and did not find themselves in the masculine pronouns."

As one who often cannot find herself in the masculine pronouns of today's liturgical offerings, I am profoundly grateful for this beautiful, scholarly rendition of texts I have loved since childhood even if I didn't always see myself in them.

As I and many women and men like me mature in contemporary consciousness, too many lectionary selections no longer adequately convey God's dynamic, eternally relevant Word. Instead they risk becoming a painful countersign to the Holy One in whose image all of us are made. I have written elsewhere about possible solutions to these pressing concerns within the Catholic context.

Of one thing I feel quite certain: Gafney's paradigm-shifting scholarship will influence biblical preaching and teaching for generations to come.

It is time for Catholic liturgical leaders to follow her lead.

*This column has been updated to specify that the seven deuterocanonical books were included in the Hebrew Bible, and to properly format small and large caps for God names.

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A paradigm-shifting lectionary for the whole church - National Catholic Reporter

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Posted By admin on August 28, 2021

JERUSALEM, Israel - Could a simple drug that's been on the market for decades successfully treat COVID-19? A year ago, CBN News shared with you that an Israeli research team believed that a drug on the market since 1975 could reduce the threat of the virus to that of the common cold.

And now, the Israeli scientists have the results of two clinical trials to back up their claims.

Prof. Yaakov Nahmias, director ofAlexander Grass Center for Bioengineering at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and his research made a significant breakthrough in understanding how the coronavirus reproduces in the lungs.

Viruses are parasites. They cant replicate on their own. Theyre essentially a box of protein with a single strand of genetic material inside, Nahmias told CBN News at the time. In order to make more viruses you have to get inside human cells.

Nahmias, who worked together with Dr. Benjamin TenOever at New Yorks Mount Sinai Medical Center, saw how the virus prevents the routine burning of carbohydrates in the lungs causing fat to accumulate.

That led them to screen drugs that could potentially block the virus, not by targeting the virus itself but by going after fat accumulation, Nahmias said.

That search led them to the lipid-lowering drug TriCor (fenofibrate) as an effective anti-viral, showing it both reduced lung cell damage by helping the cells burn fat and suddenly the virus production stopped.

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During the first trial, patients who were taking the drugs to speed up the breakdown of fats were recovering from the Covid-caused lung infections in a matter of days. The evidence even showed that there was zero mortality among these patients.

Now the Hebrew University team is reporting promising results of an investigator-initiated interventional open-label clinical study led by Nahmias and coordinated by Prof. Shlomo Maayan, Head of the Infections Disease Unite at Israels Barzilai Medical Center with support from Abbott Laboratories.

Fifteen COVID-19 patients, hospitalized in severe condition with pneumonia and requiring oxygen, were treated with TriCor for 10 days.

The results were astounding, said Nahmias in a press release. Progressive inflammation markers, that are the hallmark of deteriorative COVID-19, dropped within 48 hours of treatment.

Moreover, 14 of the 15 severe patients didnt require oxygen support within a week of treatment, while historical records show that the vast majority severe patients treated with the standard of care require lengthy respiratory support, he added.

Nahmias stressed that there are no silver bullets. But he said fenofibrate is much safer than other proposed drugs and its mechanism of action makes is less likely to be variant-specific.

According to Maayan, all the patients were discharged in less than a week after the treatment began and continued the 10-day treatment at home without any drug-related adverse events.

Further, fewer patients reported COVID-19 side effects during their 4-week follow-up appointment, Maayan said.

The investigators stressed that more studies needed to be conducted and they are actively recruiting patients for two Phase 3 studies already being conducted in South America and the USA.

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Israeli Trials with Already-Approved Drug Give 'Astounding Results' in Severe COVID Cases - CBN News

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Posted By admin on August 28, 2021

Beginning in 1985, a series of national surveys showed that Americans were evenly divided on the question of evolution between 1985 to 2007 when they were asked to agree or disagree with this statement: Human beings, as we know them today, developed from earlier species of animals. However, over the last decade, the percentage of American adults who agreed with this statement increased from 40% to 54%.

Protestant religious fundamentalism was the strongest factor leading to the rejection of evolution. Surprisingly many of those who scored highest on the scale of religious fundamentalism shifted toward acceptance of evolution, rising four-fold in the last three decades, from 8% in 1988 to 32% in 2019.

But there is now a widening gap between Republican and Democrat acceptance of evolution.As of 2019, 34% of conservative Republicans accepted evolution compared to 83% of liberal Democrats. This is the same kind of political division that we see over gay marriage, immigration, and abortion

Without successful reproduction no species can flourish, or even survive. HS were as subject to the biological imperative (commandment) to be fruitful and multiply as all other species. But the intelligent minds of HS knew the dangers of childbirth. Infant mortality rates in most tribes were more than one in four. The maternal death rate for every four births was more than one in ten. Pregnancy was highly desired and birth anxiously awaited. Pregnant women naturally sought the physical help of their mothers and grandmothers who in turn sought the spiritual help of their now departed mothers and grandmothers.

Among the earliest Gods were birth Goddesses. Small stone figures of very pregnant birth Goddesses often referred to as Venus figures go back 30-40,000 years. They are the first examples of iconic religion. The worship of spirits within natural phenomena does not need iconic representation. But birth rarely took place in the open or in public. The birth Goddess needed to be present in some tangible way in order to ease the anxiety of women in labor.

Even today in some African countries the maternal mortality rate is 2%+ per birth. A woman who gave birth to 8 children had a one in six chance of dying from giving birth. Any band would benefit even if the presence of Goddesses reduced that mortality rate by only 5%. Carvings in wood of birth Goddesses probably preceded stone statues by many millennia and may have originated 50-100,000 years ago.

Shamans also found that visual aids helped their patients relate to the mysterious struggle that the Shaman fought in the foreign spirit world. Since the spirits of animals were often involved both as friend and foe, much of prehistoric rock art (especially in difficult to access caves) probably relates to Shamanistic healing rites. Eventually iconic representations of gods and spirits would become almost universal. In historic times these icons would be viewed by increasing numbers of people as representatives rather than incarnations of the Divine.

There was no reason to limit activities of spirits to the realm of the dead or the diseased. All natural phenomena could be motivated by spirit minds. Self aware intelligent minds that can read the intentions and motivations of others can also project all kinds of motivations on to other people, animals, objects and events.

Gifts and offerings should be able to influence these spirits (intelligent minds do not like to admit to impotence) and so regular offerings should be made by a group/clan/tribe, to keep the natural forces friendly. Western anthropologists influenced by Christian thinking refer to these offerings as sacrifices. The Hebrew term Korban and the Arabic word Qurban are both more accurate and more insightful.

The verb lkarayv in Hebrew means to draw near or come close. A Korban is a way to reattach, reach, reengage or reconnect the human realm to the Divine realm. The Quran states Qurban has little to do with blood: It is not their meat nor their blood that reaches Allah. It is your piety that reaches Him (22:37) and the Biblical God doesnt want grain or meat offerings (Psalm 40:7).

Rather, Qurban is done to help the poor and in remembrance of Abrahams willingness to offer his son Ishmael at Gods command. When food and drink are offered to another it is not a sacrifice. Food and liquid offerings are an invitation to a closer relationship. Especially during ceremonial occasions food and drink serve to bring people together, including those who have been estranged from one another because of transgressions that have occurred.

Thus offerings to God can help people who feel estranged from God return to a closer (karayv) relationship. Offerings help people reunite or reconcile with God. The food offered to a God is usually eaten wholly or in part by those who contribute it or by the priests who offer it. Humans offer them, especially when they feel estranged from the Divine, in order to reattach and draw closer (karayv) to the Divine.

Only human sacrifice should be called sacrifice. While human sacrifice was widespread in the past it was usually relatively rare.

Ritual specialists, who unlike charismatic Shamans are more likely to be administrator types, usually direct these offerings. As time goes on the rites tend to get more complex and the necessary skills require more training. Those people performing the complex rites easily become a hereditary cast of professional priests. They sometimes also offer an alternative type of leadership to that of the hunter/warrior types.

Priests can become the custodians of the customary law of the tribe. Priests can offer advice to help in making important decisions by consulting the gods to determine their will. Fortune telling enables decision-makers to avoid the backlash of wrong decisions while claiming credit for the good ones. Divination also reduces many peoples anxiety about difficult decisions in unclear situations. Even today millions of Americans still consult astrology charts and in Asia people in many Buddhist temples still cast their fortunes.

Most people feel better when they are in control of the important factors in their life. The strong desire for control coupled with belief in good and evil spirits eventually leads some HS intelligent minds to attempt to force a spirit do what an individual wants it to do. Magic is an attempt to subjugate a force in the spiritual world for another persons weal or woe. Magic is always dangerous because people believe that the spirits do not like to be enslaved by humans and power tends to corrupt even those with good intentions.

Yet many tribal religions still have lots of room for defensive magic and even those religions that condemn magic have occasional practitioners. Again, the mind-body placebo effect makes magic effective in some societies where belief in magic and superstitions is widespread and well accepted.

Accusations of magic and witchcraft are also widespread in some tribal societies. They can be the result of paranoia or scapegoating as often, if not more often, than the actual incidence of magic. Magic and superstitions are the dark side of HS spirituality.

So when all of the polytheistic priestly classes began to work for the rulering military and wealthy classes; God sent his Prophets to warn the rulers and the general population of their sins and their crimes against orphans, widows, strangers and immigrants, and the poor people among them. Prophet Moses is the best example of this.

When Prophet Moses was sent by Allah, he comes not primarily to warn or rebuke the enslaved Children of Israel (his own people) but he is sent to Pharaoh (20:24, 51:38, 73:15 and 79:17), to Pharaoh and his chiefs (al-mala) (7:103, 10:75, 11:97, 23:46, and 43:46) and to Pharaoh and his people (27:12).

Prophet Musa is sent to Pharaoh to warn him of the destruction that will fall on Egypt if he doesnt stop setting himself up as a God and doesnt let the Children of Israel go free. Prophet Musa comes to rebuke Pharaoh and to rescue the Children of Israel. Only when the Jewish nation is free from Egyptian bondage do they receive the Torah from God, by the hand of Prophet Moses, without any mediation from an angel.

Only then can the Jewish nation enter into a covenant with the God of Prophet Abraham the Hebrew, at Mount Sinai. Prophet Abraham was the first person to be called a Hebrew in the Hebrew Bible (Genesis 14:13). The term Hebrew comes from the verb to go over a boundary, like the Euphrates or Jordan river, so to be a migrant.

Prophet Abraham was the first Muslim Hebrew as Quran 3:67 states: He (Abraham) was not Yahuudiyyaun, a Jew, nor Nasraaniyyaan, a Christian, but rather a Haniifaam, a Muslimaan, i.e. a monotheistic Hebrew believer submitting (Islam) to the one imageless God who created all space and time; and who made Prophet Abrahamsongoing descendants through Prophets Isaac and Jacob (Israel), into a great multitude of monotheistscalled the People of Israel-Banu Israel.

For1200+ years after Prophet Moses, the Banu Israel was the only ongoing monotheistic community in the world. Unlike the other monotheistic communities that rose and fell during those centuries; most, but not all, of Banu Israel remained loyal to the covenant God made with them at Mount Sinai.

But as the centuries passed the ongoing need to protect the Jewish way of life became increasingly the focus of their efforts; and after the deaths of Prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah, Banu Israel became more and more inclined to building a fence around the Torah, and making the rules more numerous and restrictive.

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Qur'an And Torah Are Pro Religious Evolution (Part II) OpEd Eurasia Review - Eurasia Review

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