Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on May 8, 2021

Officially, the war for Palestine, which ended with the establishment of the state of Israel and the exile of three-quarters of a million Palestinians, began on May 15, 1948, with the termination of the British Mandate, the declaration of Independence by Zionist leaders, and the formal start of hostilities between the fledgeling Jewish state and the countrys Palestinian population and Arab allies.

Others point to the United Nations Partition Resolution passed on November 29, 1947, and the war that commenced soon thereafter, as the actual beginning of the conflict. But an equally plausible argument can be made that the War for Palestine began more than a quarter-century earlier, on May Day, 1921 not in Jerusalem but in a mixed neighbourhood along the sea between Jaffa and Tel Aviv.

It was on that May 1 that a group of Jewish Marxists loudly marched into the Palestinian area of the neighbourhood of Manshiyyeh after clashing with more moderate Labor Zionists. With flags waving and chanting loudly for workers solidarity, their march was met by warning shots by the British gendarmes hoping to disperse them. Unfortunately, the Arab residents did not understand their slogans; and fearing the gunfire signalled a Jewish attack on the neighbourhood, they attacked first, starting a riot that quickly moved down into Jaffa and killed 47 Jews and 48 Palestinians. Hundreds more were made homeless.

The violence shocked the British occupation regime which was still getting its footing four years after conquering Palestine, but it should not have. By 1921, Jaffas rapid economic and demographic growth had made it the undisputed cultural and economic capital of Arab Palestine, where according to British police officials you would get more information about political feeling than in any other part of Palestine. At the same time, Tel Aviv, which since its creation in 1909 as the first modern Jewish neighbourhood in Palestine had gone from Jaffas daughter to a powerful competitor, the cultural and economic capital of Jewish Palestine.

Indeed, Tel Avivs encroachment on land belonging to Jaffa and the surrounding agricultural villages was already worrying enough for its last Ottoman governor, Hassan Bey, to build a mosque well north of Jaffas Old City in 1916 in an attempt to block Tel Avivs southward spread.

Jaffas Palestinian Arab population described the storm of violence in early May 1921 as a revolt or revolution (thawra, the same word used by protesters during the Arab Spring). For their part, Zionist officials admitted in their reports that it was a result of the unnatural expansion of the Jewish community, whose seizing and spreading over the rest of Jaffa and into the surrounding orchards was deemed a leading cause of the mountainous hatred between the two communities.

But rather than trying to mitigate the growing anger of the indigenous population, Zionist leaders pressed for unlimited immigration into Palestine, even as thousands of Jewish inhabitants of Jaffa migrated across the now official border to Tel Aviv, which was granted official recognition as a separate town 10 days after the eruption of violence.

In the next three decades, Jaffa and Tel Aviv would continue to clash, and occasionally cooperate, as the two cities and their respective national communities developed into full-fledged national rivals. The Palestinian Great Revolt of 1936 also began in Jaffa, while the Jewish bombardment of the city at the start of the 1948 war precipitated one of the largest exoduses of Palestinians into exile.

A century after May 1, 1921, the borderlands between Jaffa, now a relatively poor but endlessly gentrifying mixed neighbourhood of Tel Aviv, and the modern Jewish centre of the united municipality, remain a constant source of tension and even violence. Just as in Jerusalem and throughout the West Bank, secular and religious Jews alike take over Palestinian properties, push out the local population, and continue a self-described process of Judaisation (Yehudit in Hebrew, an official Israeli government term) that has occurred without rest now for 100 years.

Indeed, the dynamics of Jewish-Palestinian relations in Jaffa have always been a harbinger and microcosm of the broader Israeli-Palestinian conflict, putting the lie to long-made claims by Israel and its supporters of a firm difference in how Palestinians are treated on either side of the Green Line. In reality, most of the techniques deployed in the occupied territories after 1967 were first developed and perfected inside the sovereign 1948 borders of Israel.

In the mixed areas of cities like Jaffa, Haifa and Jerusalem, enough Palestinians remained so that their presence could not simply be erased and replaced by Jews and their number was manageable enough so that the demographic balance could be shifted with some effort.

Those who have paid attention to the constant struggle over territory, identity and political and economic power in Israel since 1948, and especially during the last five decades, have long understood that the territorially defined two-state solution championed by the Israeli peace camp, which was ostensibly at the heart of the Oslo land for peace formula, was doomed from the start. Israel had more than enough power and foreign support to retain permanent control over and continue to settle the occupied territories.

As the chances for peace became remote with the collapse of the Oslo process and the eruption of the Al-Aqsa Intifada in 2000, various groups of Palestinian, Israeli, and international scholars and policymakers came together to think about alternative methods of cohabitation on this deeply contested land. They developed or repurposed ideas ranging from a secular democratic state to various forms of federation, confederation and binationalism.

One of these suggestions was the idea of parallel states, first introduced in 2010 and detailed in our 2014 book One Land Two States: Israel and Palestine as Parallel States. The ideas outlined were the result of years of informal discussions between Israeli and Palestinian academics and experts, with the support of international colleagues.

The basic idea was to divide sovereignty rather than divide the land, and build a new kind of political architecture with two separate state structures both covering the whole territory, with freedom for people to move and to live in the whole area, thus preserving the notion of two separate states, while at the same time integrating the land into one geographic entity, with a common external border, and a common economic space.

Such a structure would enable Israel to satisfy its security imperatives through a continued presence in the West Bank while enabling Palestinians to return to all of historic Palestine, and both peoples to share Jerusalem as their capital. Crucially, wherever they lived, Israelis and Palestinians would remain citizens of their respective states, ending the demographic threat that for decades trumped promises of democracy on either side of the Green Line.

In 2012, a group of Israelis and Palestinians put forward a similar concept was under the rubric Two States, One Homeland (now known as A land for all), promoting a more traditional form of confederalism. Such initiatives have shown enough traction for the confederation to be a central theme at the just completed 2021 conference of J-street, the liberal Jewish counterpart of AIPAC.

With its century-long history of Palestinian-Jewish cohabitation however forced and imbalanced Jaffa could serve as a starting point for a shared and more equitable future. Instead, Jaffa continues to be treated more as a de facto Jewish settlement than a fully-fledged part of Tel Aviv, with land expropriation and militarised policing a continuous reality for its 20,000 Palestinian residents.

Looking back a century, Sami Abu Shehadeh, a lifelong Jaffan activist, Knesset member and chairman of the Balad Party, explained to us: Of course 1921 happened in Jaffa; it was the centre of Zionist as well as Palestinian life, so we could see what was on the horizon by then. But even a century later, with Jaffas Palestinians only 1 percent of Tel Avivs population, there is barely an attempt to treat us as equal citizens. Because of that, the youth today continue to see themselves as part of the Palestinian nation, even if their ID card is Israeli.

The 100th anniversary of the 1921 revolt reminds us how deeply rooted this conflict remains. But only a few years before the violence, Jewish and Palestinian leaders came together to help put street lights in Jaffa, formed an export society for the famed Jaffa Orange, and built a new boulevard in the heart of Jaffa to match the newly built, tree-lined Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv. Cooperation and collaboration were possible then, and could be again in Jaffa, Tel Aviv and across this sacred but deeply scarred land.

But only if it is based on the kind of equality, mutual respect and recognition that are at the heart of the various post-territorial solutions that are finally being given the attention they deserve. With a seemingly insurmountable imbalance of power in its favour, Israel has little incentive to acknowledge, never mind support, such efforts. But as the events of May Day 1921 remind us, conflicts that seem manageable today can fester for a century without a solution, rendering pyrrhic even the greatest of victories.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance.

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Why the events in Jaffa of May 1, 1921 are important today - Al Jazeera English

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Posted By admin on May 8, 2021

A month ago, Amina Taher stepped onto an airplane for the first time in 14 months. As the vice president of brand, marketing and partnerships at Etihad Airways, Taher was used to flying four to five times a month pre-COVID.

Not being able to be in my home, in the skies, was difficult, she told Jewish Insider in a recent interview. Being able to get back on a plane, I was like a little kid whos traveled for the first time. It was very emotional, and it was very magical.

That flight on April 6 marked a series of other firsts: The first commercial flight between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv for the UAE-based Etihad, and the first time Taher had ever visited Israel.

Inaugurating a new flight, and for it to be [to] Tel Aviv, I couldnt ask for a better reopening, she told JI. And while Taher only spent 26 hours on the ground in Israel last month, she was instantly hooked.

I was only there for 26 hours, but I had 22 dishes that I wanted to try, food that I didnt have time to experience, she said, noting a jam-packed schedule with multiple events. But after her brief visit, the only one takeaway that I brought back was the people, and how hospitable and warm and welcoming the Israelis were. It was unbelievable, and that was my key takeaway from my very short round trip.

Taher also left a strong impression by giving a short speech at the flight launch in Hebrew, which went viral in certain corners of the internet.

Im very excited to be a part of this historic event and to inaugurate the new route between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv, she said in accented but clear Hebrew. The Abraham Accords are, first of all, about peace between nations, between the Emiratis and the Israelis. The Accords, brokered last year by the Trump administration, normalized relations between Israel, the UAE and Bahrain.

Taher, who speaks six languages, told JI that she has cultivated a lifelong interest in the Hebrew language, dating back to when she was a child.

The relationship I have with Hebrew was very much established at a very young age, since I was 12, she said. When I was in third grade, I was in an international school in Dubai. And there was a girl in my class called Tamar, and I really liked her name.

When she asked her mother about the name and researched it online, she discovered that it had Hebrew origins. That was the first time I realized that Hebrew existed, she said. I started to, as a kid, being curious, I love the language. Im very much into the typography and over the years Ive started listening to Israeli music.

But she never imagined that her few Hebrew sentences would gain so much traction online.

I didnt know that it would attract that much attention on social [media], she said, noting that the positive reactions far outweighed any negative chatter. The fact that people appreciated it I was very grateful, it was overwhelming in a good way.

Today, she said, she would characterize her Hebrew as being kindergarten material, but said each day she dedicates 30 minutes to reading the Sefaria app to improve her skills, as well as printing out her iPhone keyboard in Hebrew to study. She rattled off the names of her favorite Israeli musicians, including Evyatar Banai, Shlomo Artzi and Idan Raichel.

And her efforts in Hebrew, she said, were appreciated in Israel, even among those who suggested she sounded like she spoke with a French accent.

People encouraged it, she said, they like it and they appreciate it, which makes me happy and want to make an effort.

Taher has spent the past seven years at Etihad, working her way up through the ranks to serve on the airlines executive leadership committee. After getting her bachelors degree in Abu Dhabi, she earned a masters in public administration at Harvard and an MBA from the London Business School. She credits her drive for a top-tier education to her grandmother who never learned how to read.

She was illiterate, she didnt read and write, but she was so pro-education, and she was my biggest supporter and fan, she said. She encouraged me always to continue my education, and I felt, especially as a young girl, if you want to be out of your box, and out of your world, the best thing to do is learn and be curious and inquisitive.

Taher, who was featured on the cover of Elle Arabia in December as one of the Emirati women shaping the UAE, is the only female senior executive at Etihad. But she stressed that the company is a welcoming place for women.

I hope we get more females; its not something that Im proud of, she said. I think its a good example to set, but I really hope we get more women in leadership roles, especially in aviation. But Taher said she is largely fed up of being asked about being a woman in a male-dominated industry.

For me its not about gender or religion or your background, she said, its what you bring to the table and your experience and your leadership qualities. The UAE, she said, is a big supporter when it comes to women in leadership; youve got a lot of UAE women as ministers, as ambassadors, and even company-wise, were very open to women in key positions.

Taher said she plans to return to Israel in June for a slightly longer trip to strengthen tourism connections as well as position Etihad as a stopover airline for connecting flights. And she also has goals to see more museums and cultural sites and eat more food.

I just want to learn and embed myself more in the culture, not just the music, she said, noting that she has been embraced by the small but growing Jewish community in the UAE. I feel welcomed. I feel part of the community and I want to learn and give.

Taher said while there is occasional negative feedback from non-Emiratis, particularly on social media, about ties with Israel, she feels that overall there is excitement on the ground.

People are very supportive; everyone that Im exposed to, and Im exposed to a lot of people, are happy, she said. There are a lot of Emiratis who are excited and want to go to Israel. In the UAE, she added, part of our DNA is youve got coexistence, youve got tolerance, youve got all these skills everything that we say and you hear is embedded in the leadership, but also in the character of the country and the people.

And she hopes the newly inaugurated flight path will serve as a boon to tourism in both directions.

This is something exciting for us, not just for Etihad, but also for Emiratis as a nation, to be able to experience and come to Israel, she said. So obviously with launching the new route, this is incredibly exciting.

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The Etihad exec with a lifelong love of Hebrew Amina Taher, a vice president at the - Jewish Insider

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Posted By admin on May 8, 2021

An international team of researchers has discovered the answer to a long-standing puzzle within the scientific community, proving once and for all that D2O, or 'heavy water,' - a form of water which contains a different isotope deuterium (D), also known as 'heavy hydrogen' - has a sweet taste.

There is anecdotal evidence from 1935 that the taste of pure D2O is distinct from the neutral flavor in pure H2O, being described mostly as sweet. However, researchers in that study described their results as inconclusive.

The team, led by Masha Niv at Hebrew University of Jerusalems Institute of Biochemistry, Food Science and Nutrition and Pavel Jungwirth at the Czech Academy of Sciences, decided to examine whether the rumors of the water's taste were true using cell-based experiments, human subjects, mouse models and molecular dynamics simulations.

Moreover, the study also found that humans would likely be able to recognize the sweet smell, while rats would not.

Rats had been found in previous studies to show harmful effects when the D2O levels in their blood reached higher levels, though it has been deemed safe by scientists for oral ingestion in small doses by humans.

During the study, participants received 3 samples of water. Two samples were ordinary water and the third was heavy water.

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Participants were asked to sniff the water, then to taste it while their noses were closed with clips, and finally to sip the water freely, without nose clips.

When the researchers added the carbolic acid salt lactisole, which inhibits sweet taste receptor T1R2/T1R3, to the heavy water sample, it decreased the sweet taste for humans and blocked the activation of sweet taste receptor at the cell-level.

This demonstrated to the researchers that the sweet taste receptor T1R2/T1R3, which is activated in humans by sugars and artificial sweeteners, is also activated by heavy water.

While it is not radioactive, heavy water is highly coveted for its unique atomic structure and properties, which allow it to be used in the production of nuclear power and weapons.

In certain types of nuclear reactors, heavy water's heavier hydrogen isotope acts as a neutron moderator and coolant, allowing it to slow down neutrons so they are more likely to react with certain uranium isotopes.

Since the sweet taste receptors which the heavy water ilicits responses from exist in tissues other than the human tongue, the findings could have future implications in the medical field as well.

Our sweet taste receptor belongs to a very important family of receptors called GPCRs," Nev explained. "GPCRs are important drug targets and deeper insights into their activation mechanisms may deepen our understanding of this useful family of proteins.

The most notable difference in physical properties between D2O and H2O is the roughly 10% higher density, which results in a heavier molecule with slightly higher freezing and boiling points.

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Hebrew University researchers discover the taste of heavy water - The Jerusalem Post

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Posted By admin on May 8, 2021

sky bridgesThe Etihad exec with a lifelong love of Hebrew

A month ago, Amina Taher stepped onto an airplane for the first time in 14 months. As the vice president of brand, marketing and partnerships at Etihad Airways, Taher was used to flying four to five times a month pre-COVID. Not being able to be in my home, in the skies, was difficult, she told Jewish Insiders Amy Spiro in a recent interview. Getting back on a plane, I was like a little kid whos traveled for the first time. It was very emotional, and it was very magical.

Short visit: That flight on April 6 marked a series of other firsts: The first commercial flight for the UAE-based Etihad between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv, and the first time Taher had ever visited Israel. Inaugurating a new flight, and for it to be [to] Tel Aviv, I couldnt ask for a better reopening, she told JI. And while Taher only spent 26 hours on the ground in Israel last month, she was instantly hooked. The only one takeaway that I brought back was the people, and how hospitable and warm and welcoming the Israelis were. It was unbelievable, and that was my key takeaway from my very short round trip.

Say shalom: Taher also left a strong impression by giving ashort speech at the flight launch in Hebrew, which went viral in certain corners of the internet. Taher, who speaks six languages, told JI that she has cultivated a lifelong interest in the Hebrew language, dating back to when she was a child. The relationship I have with Hebrew was very much established at a very young age, since I was 12, she said. When I was in third grade, I was in an international school in Dubai. And there was a girl in my class called Tamar, and I really liked her name. When she asked her mother about the name and researched it online, she discovered that it had Hebrew origins.

Ivrit efforts: Taher never imagined that her few Hebrew sentences would gain so much traction online. I didnt know that it would attract that much attention on social [media], she said, noting that the positive reactions far outweighed any negative chatter. The fact that people appreciated it I was very grateful, it was overwhelming in a good way. Today, she said, she would characterize her Hebrew as being kindergarten material, but said each day she dedicates 30 minutes to reading the Sefaria app to improve her skills, as well as printing out her iPhone keyboard in Hebrew to study. And her efforts in Hebrew, she said, were appreciated in Israel, even among those who suggested she sounded like she spoke with a French accent. People encouraged it, she said, they like it and they appreciate it, which makes me happy and want to make an effort.

Coexistence DNA: Taher said while there is occasional negative feedback from non-Emiratis, particularly on social media, about ties with Israel, she feels that overall there is excitement on the ground. People are very supportive; everyone that Im exposed to, and Im exposed to a lot of people, are happy, she said. There are a lot of Emiratis who are excited and want to go to Israel. In the UAE, she added, part of our DNA is youve got coexistence, youve got tolerance, youve got all these skills everything that we say and you hear is embedded in the leadership, but also in the character of the country and the people.

Read the full interview here.

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Daily Kickoff: The Etihad exec who loves Hebrew + Interviewing immigrants painted by George W. Bush - Jewish Insider

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Posted By admin on May 8, 2021

Conan OBrien and Gal Gadot on CONAN. Photo: Screenshot.

Israeli actress Gal Gadot said her two daughters think of her as a typical mom, even though she plays superhero and princess of the Amazonians, Diana, in the Wonder Woman films.

In reality, Im the annoying mom who doesnt let them have enough screen time and says no all the time. Im that type of person, she told Conan OBrien while on his talk show Tuesday. To them, its not like Im Wonder Woman. Only when theres friends around Im still cool, but wellsee how long thats gonna last.

Gadot is pregnant with her third daughter and when the CONAN host asked how he could give her well wishes on her third pregnancy in Hebrew, she taught him how to say bhatzlacha.

OBrien also commended Gadot on her new National Geographic series IMPACT with Gal Gadot, which highlights extraordinary women making changes in their communities. OBrien praised the role models featured in the show and said he hopes his 17-year-old daughter, Neve, will look up to Gadot and other women who have made differences in the world.

May 7, 2021 4:29 pm

He said about Neve, I see how influenced she is by seeing and meeting other really impressive women. And whenever I get a chance I try to introduce her to anybody I can Michelle Obama, you anyone who my daughter can see, so that she knows she can accomplish pretty much anything in this life. And IMPACT is really a great idea. Youre highlighting women who are superheroes because they live in the real world and are making themselves excellent examples for young women out there.

Gadot replied, Whenever I speak to these women Im like Youre the true heroes. I read lines and Im being hanged on the wire and all that, but you are true, true life heroes and Im very grateful that they let us share their stories.Good stories have the power to [make] change.

Gadot also spoke about working with her husband Yaron Varsano, with whom she owns the Pilot Wave production company, and her upcoming role as late actress and inventor Hedy Lamarr.

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'I'm the Annoying Mom': Gal Gadot Talks Parenting With Conan O'Brien, Teaches Him Hebrew - Algemeiner

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Posted By admin on May 8, 2021

Marc Gellman Published 8:00 p.m. CT May 7, 2021

Marc Gellman(Photo: Tribune Content Agency)

Last week in response to M from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, who is a member of the Good Shepherd Lutheran Churchs Bible Study Group, I began a study guide for the 23rd Psalm. I may offer study guides for other Psalms and biblical texts but as I suspected, I only got through the first two words, The Lord is my shepherd before the column ran out of space! Today, I am hopeful to get through at least the next two words, I shall not want.

The King James Version translates these two Hebrew words (lo echsar) as, I shall not want but the Hebrew for wanting is hafatz not echsar, which would mean that the proper translation should be, The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not lack.

The first study question is obvious, What is the difference in your opinion between wanting and lacking? I will admit that this difference is not always as clear as it seems. In English when we say, I shall want for nothing we really are saying, I shall not lack. However, I still cling to the simple and obvious difference between wanting and lacking. To not want is to be free from desires. To not lack is to be filled with gratitude. Desires can be noble or base, but knowing that right now in your life, without adding anything to your life, you lack nothing you really need is always noble and always spiritually uplifting. The Psalmist is reminding us sheep that, despite the ever-present danger of wolves, because of the Good Shepherd we have all that we need to arrive home and happy. I shall not want is just not the same to me as I shall not lack.

I cannot believe that God prohibits us from wanting. Wanting is the engine of ambition and ambition is the engine of self-improvement. Is there anything wrong with wanting to become more educated or more successful or more healthy or more humble or more forgiving? I dont think so. Wanting foolish or trivial or material things is clearly wrong, but wanting itself is a natural and productive human emotion. If, however, we translate these two words, lo echsar, as a statement that we really do possess everything we need to live a happy spiritually contented life right now, then the verse becomes a transcendent affirmation of our gratitude, not our greed. Yes, most all of us would be happy to get more, but most of us would also acknowledge that we lack nothing important in order to make our lives a testimony to Gods grace today.

Father Tom Hartman once traveled to India and in Calcutta he visited a woman in a slum. She lived in an improvised shack and truly had nothing due to her crushing poverty. However, her poverty was not crushing to her. To Toms stunned amazement, she even offered him a cold bottle of soda when he entered her hovel. She was smiling at her joy at being able to offer Tom this precious gift that surely cost her weeks of menial work to afford. She had nothing but she also lacked for nothing. This is not a contradiction. Even in the dust, she was able to receive a visitor with kindness and sacrificial generosity.

So, let us ask: What do you really want and what do you really lack? Do you believe that getting what you want will make you happier? Studies show that once we have enough to avoid starvation and homelessness, our happiness index does not rise with our income. People who have won the lottery report that after about a year they are just as happy as they were before they fell into a bucket of cash.

What do you really want? Now ask yourself how much of what you want do you already possess. You want to be loved and you are loved right now. You want to be healthy and you are not dead yet. You want to have something to do that you love. You already love some things and it is within your power to weave them into the fabric of your life. Saying that you lack nothing is not just some foolish sentiment. It really is the truth and all that you need now is to embrace that truth. Embracing it will actually transform you from a sheep into an (assistant!) shepherd.

All human happiness and flourishing leads back to the Good Shepherd. We know that we are loved by God. We know that we are led by God and with those two beliefs we lack nothing.

Oops! Out of time again. Next week, I promise to finish our visit to the 23rd Psalm.

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

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God Squad: Psalm 23 the next two words - The News Star

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Posted By admin on May 8, 2021

A long-awaited construction project at our Manhattan synagogue, Ansche Chesed, is about to begin. Off in the distance we can glimpse our expanded lobby with improved safety and disability access, our renewed social hall, and our comfortable and professional offices.

Before we can build, we must demolish. For a century-old building with poor storage space, that means clearing out crannies stuffed with all sorts of oddities. (Our favorite find: a 1907 letter from the wife of the treasurer, whose numbers apparently were not adding up. She implored the board to leave her husband alone already, that he was out of town, finally attending to his own business and not the shuls affairs, and that he would explain everything when he returned to New York.)

Our biggest clearance job had to do with religious books. Jewish norms forbid tossing sacred writings into the trash. A worn Torah scroll should be buried with a sainted person. A text containing one of the principal names of God must not be destroyed, and even without divine names, sacred texts deserve burial in a dedicated hiding chamber, or genizah.

Ansche Chesed had an abundance of material needing genizah. Many were papers that our members dropped off for us to dispose of for them, like photocopied pages they used to prepare Torah readings, or learning materials from study sessions and Hebrew school lessons.

By far the largest share of our holy books were the hundreds of prayer books and Bibles that once served Ansche Chesed members well. (I know, I know: Youre thinking that some small synagogue somewhere would want them. They dont.) Some of these were random donations to our library, but the vast majority were purchased specifically for services, many with book plates noting who had donated them to our community. Some were ragged and torn. Some were intact, just forlorn, superseded by newer editions, no longer in demand.

So many were machzors, or High Holiday prayer books, edited by Herbert Adler, Morris Silverman, Phillip Birnbaum, ArtScroll, Rabbi Ben Zion Bokser and may he be singled out for long life Rabbi Jules Harlow. Dozens of Haggadot, some nicely bound, some Xeroxed and stapled, some edited by the revered Rabbi Maxwell House. Then there were the various Bibles: editions by Soncino and J.H. Hertz, Koren and the Israeli government, and many others.

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In February, in the snow, I brought more than 60 cartons of these sacred texts to the Ansche Chesed plot in the Riverside Cemetery in Saddle River, New Jersey. The staff had dug a burial place for our books the size of three full graves.

The workers asked me, respectfully, what Jewish law demanded this be done in the dead of winter. I can appreciate how this scene might have seemed absurd to these seven men. Burying a person is one thing, but venturing into the snow to bury paper and glue? I apologetically explained that our construction schedule, not the Torah, demanded we do this in February.

But I dont think I could have explained adequately my emotions as they laid these heavy boxes in the cold ground. I tried to summon in my mind the hands that held these texts, the eyes that read their print, the lips that said these words aloud.

The Harlow Machzor was first published in 1972, the Bokser in 1959 and the Silverman in 1939. (Ansche Chesed has been using Lev Shalem, the Rabbinical Assembly machzor, since 2009.) As we laid down those cartons, I tried to imagine how many individual prayers each copy of each book had stimulated. How many Jews held that very copy of that book, now lying in the earth, as they said on Rosh HaShanah: How many will pass away? How many will be born? Charity, prayer and repentance soften the bitter decree Human life begins in dust and ends in dust. It is like a broken pot, a faded flower, a passing breeze, a vanishing dream.

How many people held that very copy of that book on Yom Kippur as they recited Yizkor: May God recall the souls of my mother and teacher, my father and teacher, as I pledge charity in their memory? How many confessed their failings: ashamnu, bagadnu, gazalnu? How many held that very book when the fast ended and they proclaimed next year in Jerusalem?

How many children recited Four Questions from these very Haggadot? How many people followed the Torah readings from these very Bibles: the days of creation, the 10 Commandments, Lech Lecha, the Song of the Sea? How many sang Hallel on holidays from these pages?

As the workmen lowered the boxes into the earth, I tried to express my gratitude to the sacred paper and glue, to wish them farewell, by doing what Jews do at funerals: reciting psalms.

Blessed is God who has not taken away from me my human prayer, nor divine love. [Psalms 66.20]

I am my prayer to You Lord, coming before You at the right moment; God, in Your abundant love, respond with Your sure deliverance. [Psalms 69.14]

Blessed are You, God; teach me Your laws. [Psalms 119.12]

Your laws have been songs to me, wherever I dwelt. [Psalms 119.54]

Were not Your teaching my delight, I would have perished in my affliction. [Psalms 119.92]

Here I grow mystical (not a big stretch for me). I sense that these books have a spirit. I sense that over these many years these pages absorbed the prayers, tears, fears, sorrows and joys of the Jews who used them.

Yes, they were paper and glue. And they became vessels for Jewish experiences, carrying Jewish hearts.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of JTA or its parent company, 70 Faces Media.

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Hundreds of Jewish books buried as part of project at Manhattan synagogue - The Jerusalem Post

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Posted By admin on May 8, 2021

As we approach Mothers Day, children young and old will reminisce, poets will wax eloquent, and greeting card companies will enjoy a splendid spike in sales. The story we are about to share is true. It happened a very long time ago about 3,500 years, give or take, but it remains a remarkable example of two mothers whose love changed the world.

Their story is a familiar one for the most part. Much of it is told in the Old Testament book of Exodus. It is the story of how a birth mother and an adoptive mother saved the life of a baby boy and raised him to become a great leader and a godly man.

Jochebed was a Hebrew slave in Egypt. The family of the patriarch, Jacob, had moved to Egypt to escape a famine in their own country. They were treated with kindness and hospitality for more than 300 years until there appeared to be more Hebrews than native Egyptians living in the country.

Several generations had passed until a new administration came into power. The ruling Pharoah feared that the Hebrews, being greater in number, might one day band together to overcome his government. He mandated the infanticide of all Hebrew male babies. A death sentence also awaited any parents who were caught hiding their children.

Jochebed gave birth to a baby boy while the nation was under that edict. Exodus 2:2 explains that he was a beautiful child. She loved him and would not allow the Hebrew midwives to abscond with him. Neither were they inclined to do so.

For three months, she fed, sheltered, and protected him. When it became impossible to continue doing so, she wove a basket, waterproofed it, and placed the baby in it in a place along the Nile near when the kings daughter, Thermuthis, was known to frequent.

Instead of being drowned in the Nile as the king had decreed, the baby was discovered alive by Thermuthis and her attendants. The Bible tells us that when she found the child, she took compassion on him. The Jewish historian, Josephus, adds that she was greatly in love with it because it was strong and beautiful.

Having rescued the child out of the river, Thermuthis named him after the Egyptian god of water, Mo. She added to that the Egyptian word, Uses, which means to be saved out of the water. Thus, we have the transliterated name of Moses.

Knowing full well that he was a Hebrew child, Thermuthis determined to protect Moses from her own fathers decree.

To do so, she needed help. The Lord used Moses older sister to arrange for a Hebrew woman to nurse the baby until he was weaned. Of course, the Hebrew woman was Jochebed, Moses mother.

During that time, however long it may have been, the Lord kept Moses under the loving compassion and protection of two mothers who provided for his needs. After his weaning, Moses moved from a slaves hut into the kings mansion. Both Jochebed and Thermuthis knew that the palace was the safest place for him to grow and prosper.

Just prior to his martyrdom, Stephen described Moses as learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds, despite Moses excuses before the burning bush. (See Acts 2:19-22)

According to Josephus, surprised though he may have been, the Pharoah was quick to observe the beauty of the child whom his daughter proposed should be made next in line to the throne. And so, he was trained to be. He became known as an orator and a great leader of men as the general of the Pharoahs army.

Whether Thermuthis loved Moses as much as Jochebed did is a matter of frivolous debate. There is no question, however, that both mothers wanted to protect him and provide the very best things in life for him. Agape was not a word in those days, but it certainly existed in the compassion both had for this one special child.

These two women exemplify the agape love that so sets mothers apart. A mothers love is tuned to resonate with the beat of her childrens hearts. Mothers are often the first willing to sacrifice everything for the sake of their children. Aside from the love of God, there can be no greater love than that of a mother for her child.

The Lord used the love of Jochebed and Thermuthis to mold Moses into the person He needed to be to lead the Israelites out of bondage and onward toward the Promised Land. The Lord entrusted Moses to deliver and codify His rules for a godly life. Moses became known as the greatest prophet in Israel, the prophet whom the Lord knew face-to-face. (Deuteronomy 34:10)

Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible, including his infancy in Exodus 2.

It doesnt matter who you are. Most likely, your mother loves you. The important question this Mothers Day is, Do you love her? Clearly, Moses recognized the love of both of his mothers with a tender heart. We should do the same. Youll never have anyone love you as much as your mother does.

Read more news on Family and the Christian Living on Missions Box.

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Posted By admin on May 8, 2021

The 28th day of the Hebrew month of Iyar, which this year falls out on the evening of May 9 and the day of May 10, is the anniversary of the day that Israeli paratroopers captured Jerusalems Old City in the Six Day War.

Almost immediately following the Old Citys liberation, the soldiers who had participated in the battle piled some rocks together along Jericho Road outside the Lions Gate and planted a flag in the ground.

It was their way of honoring the memory of their fallen comrades, killed on that very same road, when soldiers made a fatal navigational mistake. Israeli troops had conquered the Jordanian outpost at the Rockefeller Museum, but two large obstacles remained: the Old City, and the well-fortified Augusta Victoria complex on the Mount of Olives, which offered a clear view of the Temple Mount down below.

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Soldiers heading for the Mount of Olives missed the turn onto the ascent and instead descended along Jericho Road. Unfortunately, from their position on the road, the Israeli forces couldnt see the Jordanian troops standing at the ready atop the Old City walls. Thus, the soldiers were hit hard when they reached the curve in the road which serves as a bridge above the Kidron Valley. A savage battle raged on the bridge, and other Israeli troops were called in to extract their comrades.

Years later, the impromptu monument, an extremely emotional sight, was moved from the location of the battle to its permanent home across from the ascent to Lions Gate. Replacing the rocks is a sculpted eagle with one wing reaching to the sky. A second shattered wing tilts sadly towards the earth.

Jericho Road in Jerusalem, where Israeli soldiers were killed in battle after making a navigational error. (Shmuel Bar-Am)

Everyone who has ever driven around the walls of the Old City has seen either the original monument or the newer one. But there are numerous monuments to soldiers killed in the Six Day War that are less well-known. Here are but a few:

The memorials for corporals Hanan Boch and Hanan Levine at Gmul Street in Jerusalem. (Shmuel Bar-Am)

Two memorial rocks sitting on the ground along tiny Gmul Street named for the Hebrew word which can mean retribution or reward lean against a fence directly across from what had been Israels border with Jordan from 1948 until 1967. The street, like others in the Arzei Habira neighborhood, had suffered constantly from enemy shells. Plaques on the rocks bear the names of two young men: Cpl. Hanan Boch and Cpl. Hanan Levine.

Born in Eastern Europe in 1944, Boch immigrated to Israel at the age of 14 and settled in Kibbutz Ein Shemer. He served as a paratrooper in the army, returned to the kibbutz, and had just begun long-term plans with one of the settlements young women when, at the age of 23, he was called back into the reserves prior to the war.

Levine, also a paratrooper, was born in Tel Aviv. At 21, he had completed his army service not long before he was returned to his unit in preparation for the coming war. Both young men were killed on its second day, June 6, 1967, very near Gmul Street during fierce battles for Jerusalem.

The memorial to Elhanan (Hanan) Geva, Yehuda (Dudu) Binyamini, and Yaakov-Mordecai (Yankele) Shahar at Haneviim Street in Jerusalem. (Shmuel Bar-Am)

One plaque, situated along Haneviim Street, a main road, should be clearly visible. But it is dwarfed by the massive Education Ministry building and Italian Hospital behind it. Inscribed on the plaque are the names of three privates from wildly diverse backgrounds who served in the 62nd Battalions Mortar Platoon.

Jerusalem-born Elhanan (Hanan) Geva, 32, fell on the first day of the Six Day War; Iranian-born Yehuda (Dudu) Binyamini, 23, on the second; Hungarian-born Yaakov-Mordecai (Yankele) Shahar, 27, on the third. All three were killed by massive Jordanian fire near the memorial that bears their names.

The Beit Nechemiah community center in Jerusalems Abu Tor neighborhood, named after Capt. Nechemiah Cohen. (Shmuel Bar-Am)

The beautiful community center in Jerusalems mixed Jewish and Arab neighborhood of Abu Tor, and a monument nearby, are dedicated to Capt. Nehemiah Cohen, one of the countrys most decorated officers. Born in Jerusalem in 1943 to parents who immigrated from Turkey after World War I, Cohen spent his regular army service in an elite commando unit.

The monument to Capt. Nechemiah Cohen in Jerusalems Abu Tor neighborhood. (Shmuel Bar-Am)

Over the course of his service, Cohen received five prestigious medals for actions whose circumstances have remained secret. And in 1973 he was honored with a posthumous medal for an action carried out with his brother, pilot and former Knesset member Eliezer Cohen, eight years earlier in Egypt.

In February of 1967, Cohen was appointed second in command of a paratroop division. During the Six Day War, after their commanding offer was killed in the Gaza region, Cohen led the men into battle. He was in the vehicle that spearheaded the advance, and that continued forward despite heavy fire. He fell on June 5, 1967.

The monument to Lt. Dan Givon across from the Mar Elias Monastery in Jerusalem. (Shmuel Bar-Am)

Across from the Mar Elias Monastery on Hebron Road, the road leading to Bethlehem, stands a monument to the memory of Lt. Dan Givon. A multi-talented young man and a natural leader, he volunteered to serve in the Israeli Air Force. On the second day of the war, only days after he received his wings, he flew above the monastery in an attempt to take out Jordanian artillery. His plane took a direct hit and crashed on the height we call Aircraft Hill. He was 21 years old.

The memorial in Jerusalems Valley of the Cross includes the names of lieutenants Yuval Bihem and Yigal Vilk. (Shmuel Bar-Am)

Established in 1919, the Hebrew Scout movement is the largest youth movement in Israel and was the first co-ed scouting movement in the world. Its headquarters are located in Jerusalems Valley of the Cross, so named for its location next to the 1,000-year-old Georgian Monastery of the Cross.

Many of the youngsters who attended Jerusalems prestigious Rehavia High School also belonged to the Masada troop. They joined as youngsters and grew up to become leaders, among them Israeli President Reuven Rivlin. A monument in the memory of several troop members killed in the Six Day War stands next to the pedestrian walkway within the valley.

One of them was Sgt. Yuval Bihem, who spent several of his childhood years with his family in the United States. As soon as he returned home to Jerusalem he joined the Scouts Masada troop. After completing his army service in the paratrooper corps and getting a bachelors degree in economics and statistics at the Hebrew University, Bihem began studying towards a masters degree. At the same time he worked in the Prime Ministers Office as an economic adviser.

Possessed of an extraordinary sense of humor and immense joie de vivre, he was felled by a snipers bullet during a battle for the Old City on the second day of the war. He was 27 years old.

The eagle monument to fallen soldiers of the Six Day War near the Lions Gate just outside Jerusalems Old City. (Shmuel Bar-Am)

Lt. Yigal Vilk was born in Jerusalem in 1947, attended the Rehavia Gymnasia and was active in the Masada troop, where he became its battalion commander. It was clear to everyone that Vilk was born to be a leader, and when he enlisted in the army and volunteered for the Paratroopers unit, he was sent to the officers course.

Known for the smile that rarely left his lips, Vilk didnt stand on ceremony with his men, who like the youngsters in the Scouts troops that he led revered their commander.

The war broke out while Vilk was in the middle of his regular army service. On the first day of the war, he and his company were ordered to attack a well-defended hilly outpost at the edge of Gaza. With no thought for his own safety, Vilk ran ahead, saving many lives but losing his own in the assault.

The monument to 25 fallen soldiers in the Six Day War located near the old American Consulate in East Jerusalem. (Shmuel Bar-Am)

Hugging the guard booth for the now-defunct American Consulate on Nablus Road in East Jerusalem, a plaza holds a spontaneous monument to 25 paratroopers of the 28th Battalion who were killed in action nearby. Although it stands close to historic remains of Jerusalems Third Wall dating back just over 2,000 years its location makes it one of the least visited, and least known, commemorative monuments in the city.

A second memorial wall stands above the original memorial. Who would have thought, in those heady moments when the first monument was erected, that there would be a need for a newer wall inscribed with the names of soldiers from the battalion who have fallen in Israels many wars since 1967?

Aviva Bar-Am is the author of seven English-language guides to Israel. Shmuel Bar-Am is a licensed, tour guide who provides private, customized tours in Israel for individuals, families and small groups.

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For Jerusalem Day, the humble memorials to those who died unifying the city - The Times of Israel

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By Bishop Anthony B. Taylor

Bishop Anthony B. Taylor

Bishop Anthony B. Taylor delivered this homily Holy Thursday, April 1.

My favorite response after mentioning things we plan to do is "God willing!" If you say "See you tomorrow!" I'll say "God willing!" I wasn't raised with this phrase, I learned it from my parishioners who in such situations would respond "Si Dios quiere!" meaning "If God wants" or "Primero Dios" ("God first").

Since I am God's servant, his will takes precedence over what I want. Arabic speakers say "Inshallah," which means exactly the same thing. In this we are, perhaps without knowing it, much closer to believing Muslims than to secular Americans who put doing their own will ahead of doing what God requires -- for instance in issues of morality.

All of the events of Holy Thursday are linked to the question of putting God's will ahead of our own. If doing God's will were easy, it wouldn't lead to the cross. So it is very significant that it is in this context that Jesus instituted the sacrament of the Eucharist, for which the worthy reception requires death to self. Jesus had died to himself long before he died on the cross.

Not just a good moral life and a few good deeds ... but rather an entire life lived in such a way that humble service has become second nature to us.

At the Last Supper Jesus was conscious of the fact that the original Passover meal described in today's first reading was followed by the death of the firstborn of all the houses of Egypt, the awful price paid to break Pharaoh's stranglehold on their oppressed nation. But the resulting liberation of the Hebrew slaves was not an emancipation but rather a transfer of ownership. They had belonged to Pharaoh, whom the Egyptians regarded as a god, and had to do Pharaoh's will. Now they belong to the one true God and have to do God's will. They were now his people and he was their God -- and a jealous God at that. And the law God handed down on Mt. Sinai revealed what their true divine master required of anyone who wanted to belong to his chosen people.

What the ancient Passover celebrated for a single nation, Jesus fulfilled, transcended and extended to the entire human race. This New Passover instituted by Jesus at the Last Supper in today's second reading was followed by the death of the firstborn of all creation, the son of God himself, which was the awful price paid to break Satan's stranglehold on every nation, not just Israel.

Moreover, our liberation by Jesus was not a transfer of ownership -- he really set us free. But we won't stay free for long unless we use that freedom as God intends, embracing the salvation Jesus offers us and living according to God's will as Jesus has revealed it to us. If we do so, we become his very body, so intimately united to Jesus that when he embraces his cross, we embrace our cross with him when he dies, we die with him, and so having died with him, he promises that we will share in his resurrection as well.

Jesus offers up his body and blood today in every Eucharist, which is the sacrament of his death to self and enduring presence among us, and he invites us to join our own sacrifice of self to his, offering up our body and blood to the Father, from the same altar, united to that of Jesus.

In John's version of the Last Supper in today's Gospel, Jesus washes the feet of his disciples to remind us that the union we claim with Jesus is genuine only if it leads to a life of humble service. Not just a good moral life and a few good deeds here and there, but rather an entire life lived in such a way that humble service has become second nature to us, which we rejoice to see so clearly in the life and example of Pope Francis. This certainly applies to the priesthood which Jesus institutes today saying "do this in remembrance of me."

But his message is not just for priests: it applies to all of us because by saying "Amen," which is Hebrew for "I agree" (not merely "I believe") at the end of the eucharistic prayer, you also agree to unite yourself, your body and blood, to that of Jesus offered to the Father from this altar. Your "Amen" does not merely acknowledge the truth of the words of the just-recited eucharistic prayer, as if faith mainly had to do with what we think. No, faith is also a commitment to act, a response of your whole self and in particular your will. By saying "Amen" you agree to do God's will in all things, putting God's agenda ahead of your own. "God willing! Primero Dios! Inshallah!"

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