Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on January 28, 2021

The Canadian Press

APELDOORN, Netherlands Jos Bieleveldt had a spring in his step when the 91-year-old Dutchman got a coronavirus vaccine this week. But many think that was way too long in coming. Almost two months before, Britain's Margaret Keenan, who is also 91 now, received her shot to kick off the U.K.'s vaccination campaign that has, so far, outstripped the efforts in many nations in the European Union. We are dependent on what the European Commission says we can, and cannot, do. As a result, we are at the bottom of the list, it takes far too long," Bieleveldt said of the executive arm of the EU, which, perhaps unfairly, has taken the brunt of criticism for a slow rollout in many of its member states. Onerous regulations and paperwork in some countries and poor planning in others have also contributed to the delay, as did a more deliberate authorization process for the shots. Overall, the 27-nation EU, a collection of many of the richest countries in the world most with a universal health care system to boot is not faring well in comparison to countries like Israel and the United Kingdom. Even the United States, whose response to the pandemic has otherwise been widely criticized and where tens of thousands of appointments for shots have been cancelled because of vaccine shortages, appears to be moving faster. While Israel has given at least one shot of a two-dose vaccine to over 40% of its population and that figure in Britain is 10%, the EU total stands at just over 2%. And it is not just EU citizens who are laying the blame at the bloc's door. Criticism is also coming from many nations that had hoped to see some live-saving liquid from the EU trickle through their borders. Amid concerns that the richer nations had snapped up far more doses than they needed and poorer nations would be left to do without, the EU was expected to share vaccines around. The rocky rollout is also testing the bloc's long commitment to so-called soft power policies that advance its cause not through the barrel of a gun but through peaceful means, like through the needle of a syringe. Today its harder to get the vaccines than nuclear weapons, said Serb President Aleksandar Vucic, who had been counting on a lot more help from the EU. Serbia sits at the heart of the Balkan region where the EU, Russia and even China are seeking a stronger foothold. Helping the Balkan countries with their vaccine rollout seemed an area where Europe, with its medical prowess and a willingness to prioritize such co-operation, would have an edge. Not so far. Vucic said weeks ago when he welcomed 1 million doses of Chinese vaccines that Serbia had not received a single dose from the global COVAX system aimed at get affordable shots to poor and middle-income countries that the EU has championed and funded. Instead, Vucic said Serbia secured vaccines through deals with individual countries or producers. Rubbing salt in the wound, Vucic went for the EU's social conscience when he said this week that the world today is like Titanic. The rich tried to get the lifeboats only for themselves ... and leave the rest. Other nations on the EU's southeastern rim have also been critical. It is a big turnaround from only a month ago when the EU's future looked pretty bright. It had just inked a last-minute trade deal with the United Kingdom, clinched a massive 1.8 trillion-euro pandemic recovery and overall budget deal and started rolling out its first COVID-19 vaccines. This is a very good way to end this difficult year, and to finally start turning the page on COVID-19, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said at the time. By this past weekend, though, her attitude soured as it became clear that the bloc would be getting vaccines at a slower rate than agreed upon for its 450 million people. AstraZeneca has told the EU that of its initial batch of 80 million, only 31 million would immediately materialize once its vaccine got approved, likely on Friday. That came on the heels of a smaller glitch in the deliveries of Pfizer-BioNTech shots. Both companies say they are facing operational issues at plants that are temporarily delaying the rollout. Italy is threatening to take legal action against both over the delay. Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte had been boasting that the countrys rollout was a huge success, especially when the millionth dose was given on Jan. 15. But after Pfizer announced the temporary supply reduction, Italy slowed from administering about 80,000 doses a day to fewer than 30,000. Bulgaria has also criticized the drug companies, and some there have called for the government to turn to Russia and China for vaccines. Hungary is already doing so. If vaccines arent coming from Brussels, we must obtain them from elsewhere. One cannot allow Hungarians to die simply because Brussels is too slow in procuring vaccines, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said. It doesnt matter whether the cat is black or white, as long as it catches mice. But supply isn't the only thing holding up the EU's campaign. The problem is partially that the EU Commission bet on the wrong horse and didn't get enough doses of the early success vaccines like Pfizer-BioNTech. The commission notes there was no way of knowing which vaccines would succeed and which would be first and so it had to spread its orders out over several companies. The EU rollout was also slowed because the European Medicines Agency took more time than the U.S. or U.K. regulators to authorize its first vaccine. That was by design as it made sure that the member nations could not be held liable in case of problems and in order to give people more confidence that the shot was safe. But individual countries also share in the blame. Germany, Europe's cliche of an organized and orderly nation, was found sorely wanting, with its rollout marred by chaotic bureaucracy and technological failures, such as those seen Monday when thousands of people over 80 in the countrys biggest state were told they would have to wait until Feb. 8 to get their first shots, even as vast vaccine centres set up before Christmas languished empty. The speed of our action leaves a lot to be desired, Chancellor Angela Merkel said. Processes have often become very bureaucratic and take a long time, so we have to work on that. It is no different in France, where there is a Kafkaesque maze of rules to get consent for vaccinating the elderly. In the Netherlands, which banked on the easy-to-handle AstraZeneca vaccine being the first available, authorities had to scramble to make new plans for the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine, whose ultracold storage requirements make it more complicated. We were proven to be insufficiently flexible to make the change," said Health Minister Hugo de Jonge. The Dutch have been particularly criticized since they were the last in the EU to begin vaccinations, more than a week after the first shots were given in the bloc, and they have been especially slow to roll doses out to elderly people living at home, like Bieleveldt, a retiree. Im already playing in injury time in terms of my age," he said. "But I still want to play for a few more years. ___ Casert reported from Brussels. AP journalists across the European Union contributed. ___ Follow APs pandemic coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine. Raf Casert And Mike Corder, The Associated Press

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Norway's aging king on sick leave due to pain in leg - Yahoo News Canada

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Posted By admin on January 28, 2021

Nature is not cancelled. Trees are still growing. Roots are still spreading. Flowers will bloom in a few weeks time. At this very moment, the inner workings of the world outside are as vast, colorful and magnificent as ever.

It goes without saying that the global pandemic has temporarily halted so much of our lives and changed countless aspects of our existence. We dont go to school like we used to, pray like we used to, see friends like we used to. We dont share meals or birthdays or milestones like we once did. Our mourning rites have changed. We have new ways of meeting, new ways of seeing doctors, and new ways of helping each other. The very thought of sitting in a synagogue sanctuary, brimming with people of all ages, suddenly feels as foreign as ever.

We could focus these days on all that is suspended. That would be easy to do. I too miss so many aspects of life right now. I love seeing live music, which I currently cannot do. I love running in local road races, which I currently cannot do. I love taking our kids to movies and shows, which I currently cannot do. And, of course, I so miss teaching my Talmud class in person, and celebrating big, festive bnei mitzvah every Shabbat morning. I miss Shabbat oneg and joining together on our most sacred occasions.

At times, it has been hard to hold on to hope and positivity for sure. I imagine I am not alone in this regard.

The sages of our tradition had a way of anticipating what we would feel in every generation. They knew that this is precisely the time of year when we would be most tempted to slip into a place of gloominess. Tu BShvat, when we celebrate the birthday of the trees, reminds us that the natural world endures every harsh winter, every cataclysmic weather event, every would-be disaster, and manages to persevere, often coming back stronger and more vibrant. Indeed, on Tu BShvat we are celebrating not just the trees, but the fact that the sun continues to rise, earth continues to spin, birds continue to fly, leaves continue to grow, new life continues to rush forth, and against all odds.

The Tu BShvat seder places in our very hands precisely those fruits that grow in the harshest of climates, like the date, which somehow thrives in the unrelenting heat of the desert. Or the carob, which takes years upon years to finally bear any fruit. The oft-told Talmudic story of the carob tree taking a full 70 years to bloom reinforces its remarkable endurance. In another famous Talmudic story, the carob tree leaps from its spot so as not to become caught up in rabbinic debate, a testament to its power and surprising ability.

Tu BShvat also serves to connect us as well not just to the land writ large, but to our beloved Homeland specifically, the State of Israel. Like the natural world, Israel is a place that manages to live on in spite of the cynics and those who would have long ago predicted her demise. The very existence of a modern-day Israel reminds us that our story is one of courage and survival, both as a people and as individuals. Fortitude is very much in our DNA.

While so many are tethered to their screens these days, I would implore you to remember the beautiful world outside. Get out there if you can. Breathe the cold air. Feel the quiet. Allow yourself to be present on our enormous and miraculous planet. Give yourself the gift of feeling connected to the great grandeur of life, all life. In so doing, you can also take a break from the news and social media, both of which often deaden the soul and only stir up anger.

I pray that this Tu BShvat connects all of us to something larger and eternal and reminds our kids especially of those terms we Jews have long held so dear: Patience, appreciation, perseverance, and compassion.

May the coming months bring us back to life in full bloom. May we join together under a bright yellow sun, in peace and health, and God willing soon.

The Religion column that appears in each issue of the Voice is presented in cooperation with the Tri-County Board of Jewish Clergy.

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Tu B'Shvat connects us to the beautiful world outside - Jewish Community Voice

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Posted By admin on January 28, 2021

The summer before seventh grade, I started wearing my dads Stetson hat and paisley bathrobe, which I believed approximated the bell-sleeved garment that Jimi Hendrix wore in the poster on my bedroom walla strange rendering in iridescent pastels, with Jimi looking like a dandified cowboy, playing a righty guitar lefty so that it was, fascinatingly, upside down. I wore the outfit for a class presentation that fall, brought in my own electric guitar and amp, and did the opening ten or twelve bars of Purple Haze. The amp was way too loud for the room, the window casings rattled, my classmates looked frightened. But I had put work into learning the song and was determined to share the entire solo. A vinyl copy of Are You Experienced?, found at the public library the year before, had led to hours spent hunched over a turntable, slowing down the r.p.m.s to make it easier to parse the solos on Hey Joe, Third Stone from the Sun, and The Wind Cries Mary. By going full Talmud on Hendrix, Id taught myself to play the guitar, and had become an indefatigable Hendrix proselytizer. Kids had spray-painted Clapton Is God on the walls of the London Tube station, I explained to anyone who would listen, but the real God was Jimi.

I knew that he had performed at Woodstock, that mythic experiment in living free from status-quo strictures held on a farm somewhere in New York (I tried to imagine the farms in the Wisconsin village where I lived holding such an event), and soon I was able to acquire a VHS cassette of Michael Wadleighs epic documentary of the festival. After all the footage of scaffold assembly, the interviews with stoned pilgrims, the endless P.A. announcements (watch out for that brown acid), the rain and mud, and the often great music, there came, near the end, footage of Jimi playing Voodoo Child (Slight Return), a tune I knew well, which then segued into The Star-Spangled Banner. There are lots of examples of song renditions whose power and uniqueness make them definitive versions: Miles Davis doing Thelonious Monks Round Midnight; John Lennons ecstatic run through Chuck Berrys Rock and Roll Music, from Beatles for Sale; Judy Collinss harpsichord-drenched take on Joni Mitchells Both Sides Now; Willie Nelsons near Sprechstimme Stardust; John Cales demolition of Heartbreak Hotel; Devos cubist (I Cant Get No) Satisfaction. (Feel free to make your own list.) What Hendrix did with The Star-Spangled Banner at Woodstock, in August of 1969, was something else altogether. It was, among other things, an act of protest whose power and convincingness were inseparable from its identity as a fiercely nonconformist act of individual expression.

Hendrix had been a paratrooper in the 101st Airborne (from which he was honorably discharged), and the young men fighting and dying in Vietnam are evoked in the sounds that start eating away at the tune at about the place the words rockets red glare would be sung. Bombs, airplane engines, explosions, human cries, all seem to swirl around in the feedback and distortion. At one point, Hendrix toggles between two notes a semitone apart while burying the guitars tremolo bar, turning his Fender Strat into a doppler warp of passing sirens, or perhaps the revolving blades of a helicopter propeller. A snippet of Taps toward the end makes explicit the eulogy for those left on the battlefield, transcending Vietnam and becoming a remembrance of all those lost to the violence of war.

The solo might also be registering a different war, one that had been going on at home. The previous year, Martin Luther King, Jr., had been fatally shot at the Lorraine Motel, in Memphis, and the blow delivered to the civil-rights movementcentrally inspired by Kings dream of a time when people will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their characterseems somehow part of the rage flying out of Hendrixs amplifiers. All the exalted ideals of the American experiment, and the bitterness of its contradictions and hypocrisies, are placed in volatile admixture through an utterly American contraption, a device you might say is the result of a collaboration between Benjamin Franklin, Leo Fender , and Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the mongrel machine that Hendrix made into a medium for a new kind of virtuosity. In the Woodstock performance of the national anthem, we find that an electric guitar can be made to convey the feeling that the countrys history could be melted down, remolded, and given a new shape.

The Star-Spangled Banner was at its inception already a mashup, already a rendition. A setting of the lawyer Francis Scott Keys 1814 poem, Defence of Fort MHenry, to a melody from a British gentlemens club sing-along, the anthem memorialized the battered flag (then with only fifteen stars) that flew over Fort McHenry during its bombardment by the British. Yet the freedom that the song celebrates tends to stop when it comes to unorthodox arrangements. Igor Stravinsky, freshly arrived in the United States in 1939, did his own orchestration, adding a quirky dominant seventh chord over the word landand was asked by the Boston police to desist. (He politely removed the arrangement from subsequent performances.) The contralto Marian Anderson sang the anthem with regal classicism at Eisenhowers second Inauguration, in 1957, the first Black woman to sing for such an occasion; her performance was doubly notable, as she had sung My Country Tis of Thee eighteen years earlier at the Lincoln Memorial, because the Daughters of the American Revolution would not let her perform at the D.A.R.-owned Constitution Hall. More recently, the tune has served as a provocation to adopt a position: to raise a fist or take a knee (or to protest those very actions). But songs do not reduce to statements of ideology. They are fluid, elastic atmospheres that allow for multiple inflections, hospitable to those contradictions that Walt Whitman celebrated when he said, in his own Song of Myself, that he contained multitudes. During a Dick Cavett appearance, in 1969, Hendrix was asked about his own unorthodox take on the anthem. All I did was play it, he said, sounding cool and abstracted, Im American, so I played it . . . its not unorthodox. I thought it was beautiful.

Jimis Woodstock anthem was both an expression of protest at the obscene violence of a wholly unnecessary war and an affirmation of aspects of the American experiment entirely worth fighting for. In If 6 Was 9, from his second album, Axis: Bold As Love, Hendrix sings that he has his own world to live through and I aint gonna copy you, finally deciding to wave my freak flag high, at which point he unleashes a spastic, flickering, birdlike spray of notes from a guitar soaked in reverb. His rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner turned it into a blazing freak flag, a protective shield for eccentrics, oddballs, weirdos, outsiders, marginal people of every sort. Precisely because the tyranny of opinion is such as to make eccentricity a reproach, John Stuart Mill wrote, in On Liberty, it is desirable . . . that people should be eccentric. Eccentricity has always abounded when and where strength of character has abounded. Mills use of character here should be heard with the emphasis that Dr. King placed upon it, and his warning about tyrannical conformism should be heard as of a piece with Hendrixs vow that he is not going to copy you.

My son is now about the age I was when I wore the Stetson and the bathrobe and frightened my classmates with the window-rattling version of Purple Haze. I made him sit down with me the other day to watch the footage of Hendrix playing the anthem. After some questions about the people in the audience (were they homeless?), he asked, with what struck me as real wonder, how someone could make all those sounds using just a single guitar. I began to explain how feedback worked, what tube amplification and overdrive were, but I was droning on over the footage; I caught myself and stopped, and we both sat and watched in silence. When it ended, he offered the taut verdict that the whole thing was cool, to which I agreed, and he went off to do something else. It was only then that I had a better answer to the question about how all those sounds could be made to come from a single guitar: because the guitarist was Jimi Hendrix.

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Rewinding Jimi Hendrixs National Anthem - The New Yorker

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Posted By admin on January 28, 2021

Seeing the Light

To the Editor:

In her review of Andrea Pitzers Icebound: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the Word (Jan. 10), Rachel Slade concludes by writing: Icebound is a reminder that there was once a time when things were unknown. And when their ships bumped up against the edge of the Arctic, the Europeans gazed with horror and awe at the sparkling ice and wondered what Edens lay beyond, waiting to be discovered.

Discovered? Is that what Icebound and the history of human conquest of nature reveal? Or is it rather plundered and annihilated? Before this interpretation, we read that the 16th-century Dutchmen didnt hesitate to shoot, maim, club, collar and impale whatever they saw. Slaughter emerged as the instinctive Dutch response to the Arctic landscape, a new theater that would see the same performance again and again with every European wave of arrivals, Pitzer notes.

But that was then, some still say, now we know a great deal more. What shall we then make of The Times Magazines section in the same week, Witness to an Extinction, by Sam Anderson? Mass extinction is the ultimate crisis, doom of all dooms, the disaster toward which all other disasters flow, Anderson writes. What could humans do that would be worse than killing the life all around us, irreversibly, at scale?

We do know more now, but obviously not enough to know that we are inextricably enmeshed in a great web of life; killing swaths of our biosphere will in time kill perhaps all of it, all of us.

Peter London Davis, Calif.

To the Editor:

In his review of Himalaya, by Ed Douglas (Jan. 10), Jeffrey Gettleman approvingly quotes Douglass statement, Its easy to see why a philosophy stressing the illusory nature of an individual consciousness, as Buddhism does, might prosper here.

But its even easier to see that it takes an individual consciousness to believe that individual consciousness is illusory.

Felicia Nimue Ackerman Providence, R.I.

To the Editor:

I am puzzled how anyone can review The Orchard, by David Hopen (Dec. 13), without mentioning the paradigm Orchard or Pardes story appearing in the Talmud. Clearly, Hopen had this reference in mind.

Phyllis ShapiroSt. Louis

To the Editor:

The first thing I read in the Book Review each week is the Letters page. It is such a lively, interesting and literate discussion.

This weeks letters (Jan. 10) made me wish I had paid more attention to Daphne Merkins review of Heather Clarks new look at Sylvia Plaths troubled life.

I was also delighted by Barbara Matusows confession, reflecting the feelings of many readers (including myself), that long books doorstops, she calls them put off readers and discourage potential readers of biography.

And I was nodding my head as I read David Myerss letter about the poetry in Michael Cunninghams essay on Virginia Woolf. I then wanted to go back and reread that essay after reading Richard Gerbers assessment of it.

David TillyerNew York

To the Editor:

Au contraire to Barbara Matusows lament about lengthy biographies. Would she ignore Robert Caros majestic volumes on Lyndon Johnson? Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.s 1,000-plus pages on the 1,000 days of J.F.K.? The 1,152 pages by Andrew Roberts that bring Churchill to life?

Rather than judgment based on a books heft, a read of the opening chapter provides a superior clue to the splendor that may lurk within.

David Smollar San Diego

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Individual Consciousness, Lengthy Biographies and Other Letters to the Editor - The New York Times

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Posted By admin on January 28, 2021

Who is the wise person? The one who foresees the consequences, the Talmud sagely tells us.

As Jews, we are taught to look ahead, to understand what the future holds and try and prepare for it.

The coronavirus pandemic has had many unforeseen consequences. One of them is to be given a taste of our future in the State of Israel if we continue to allow the growth of a state within a state, whose leaders teach their followers to take without giving, and not to heed the countrys laws. To see themselves as separate and not part of wider society, to maintain their way of life even if it costs others and themselves their health, livelihoods and lives.

From the very beginning, many ultra-Orthodox leaders would not countenance the closing of synagogues and yeshivas, even when it was clearly demonstrated they were a major source for the spread of the contagion.

They ignored medical and scientific warnings to continue holding mass gatherings, without masks or social distancing. Some of their leaders even said other members of the community were not welcome should they choose to wear masks.

Some haredi leaders told their followers not to take coronavirus tests because it could increase the numbers of positive cases in their communities, which would ensure they would come under even greater scrutiny. They even created a parallel health system, hidden from the authorities, with life-saving equipment inaccessible to those outside of the community.

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Nonetheless, I do not blame anyone in the ultra-Orthodox community for these ethical, moral and halachic errors. I blame a political leadership which assisted in these life-threatening ways at worst and looked the other way at best.

A case in point is that while the haredim currently represent 40% of new coronavirus cases, they have only received 2% of the fines for breaking the restrictions.

Although Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has talked frequently for over half a year about multiplying the fines for non-compliance of coronavirus restrictions, this was never done, because the ultra-Orthodox leaders told him not to and he duly obeyed despite his repeated promise to the general public.

Even now, Netanyahu plays games with the public by purposely lengthening the Knesset debate on raising the fines through law so it will only be passed after the lockdown, and thus be rendered irrelevant.

Over the last nine months, this government refused to use the traffic-light system of only closing down areas of high infection, as doing so would have shut down mostly haredi areas.

Thus, instead, the government shut down the entire country so as not to be seen as singling out the ultra-Orthodox.

Tens of thousands of businesses have been irretrievably harmed or forced to close, with hundreds of thousands of people sent to unemployment and children forced from their schools, solely to enable the prime minister to maintain his current and future political alliance with the haredi political parties.

We witnessed police coming on a daily basis to shut down businesses or distribute fines for non-compliance all over the country yet ignoring mass events that continue in the ultra-Orthodox areas, even when they were known to all.

After increasing public outrage, finally and belatedly, police officers have been sent to close down the odd school or yeshiva while dozens of others continue about their day completely untouched in a public relations exercise whereby our police officers are being attacked with feces and rocks and called Nazis.

Passersby and bus drivers have been assaulted and almost lynched, and to criticize this is to be called antisemitic.

Actually, it is antisemitic to allow this to continue. Thousands have died and the ultra-Orthodox have been disproportionately hit. Those who call out these outrageous, dangerous and violent events are people who care about the health and welfare of this community and beyond, and display a deep awareness of societal responsibility.

Even more so, they are sending a clear message of immunity and impunity to this community, and its leaders.

We, the general public, religious, traditional and secular, should also be learning our lessons.

We dare not forget what we are witnessing. While today it is about a pandemic that hopefully will be under control in a matter of months, we must start preparing for the future.

In a generation or less it will be too late to change the future, as the ultra-Orthodox population moves from 10% of the population to 20% and beyond. Today, around half of all Israeli children in the first grade are haredi. This will ensure a political reality which demographically will be exponentially harder to ignore.

We must use our voice and our vote at the ballot box. We need to vote for a party which will leave the ultra-Orthodox factions and their increasing demands in the opposition, a party which incentivizes contribution and declares openly that those who contribute more will receive more and those who contribute less will receive less, regardless of their community affiliation.

A fairer Israel today, a sustainable Israel for the future.

This future must be understood now, and we must be wise enough to foresee the consequences of the policies we formulate, the criminality we ignore, and the state within a state we allow to flourish to the detriment of all others.

The writer is an MK and the Knesset faction chairman of the Yisrael Beytenu Party.

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Israel's ultra-Orthodox and the future of the state - The Jerusalem Post

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Posted By admin on January 28, 2021

Parashat Bo recounts the harshest of the plagues that were inflicted upon the Egyptian people in the course of the Exodus story, but it also describes the beginning of our ancestors journey toward freedom. This is the pinnacle of the liberation narrative that has sustained the Jewish people for generations, a narrative that has been a beacon of hope and light for the world.

In a tale that is arguably the foundation of our tradition, a tale that we recite at our Passover Seders each year and which has been essential to our survival as a people, one might think that the world would be divided between the good Israelites and the bad Egyptians. After all, it is God who punishes the Egyptian people with plagues. Yet this is not, and was not ever, the truth.

The Torah tells us that when the Israelites left Egypt, they did not do so alone: And there was also a mixed multitude who went up with them. (Exodus 12:38) What is a mixed multitude? Rashi, the great medieval commentator, tells us that it is a mixture of converts of different nationalities. Some commentators say that it refers specifically to Egyptians who elected to join the Israelites.

Yes, you read that correctly. At the moment of liberation, it was not just the Israelites celebrating the birth of a new community, of a new world. It was the Israelites as well as Egyptians and those from other nations. It was people who chose the tradition officially, through conversion, and many who were merely moved to join the Israelites as fellow travelers. For the Israelites to welcome their former enemy into their world and, equally, for the Egyptians and others to lean into a leap of faith is but another miracle in a story full of miracles.

Several verses later, we come across a prooftext that clearly highlights this essential message of inclusivity: There shall be one Torah for the native citizen and for the stranger who dwells among you. (Exodus 12:49). As Jews, we must remember that we truly are descendants of a pivotal moment in time that spoke both of liberation as well as connection to others.

We are part of a world that is interconnected, dependent on one another. We know in our hearts, even when there is dissent and even when we sometimes forget, that we are all indeed one people. Parashat Bo is a reminder of the beautiful world that can be built in just an instant, even after destruction and heartache.

The word itself, bo, can mean either go or come. In this portion, we witness exactly that, the building of a nation for those who decided to come in and for those who decided to go. For both, this moment took courage and faith. It is these human connections that provide respite and hope in the darkest of times because we all know in our hearts that all of us are truly one people.

Read this Torah portion, Exodus 10:1 13:16 on Sefaria

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About the Author: Tova Leibovic-Douglas is a rabbi, spiritual counselor, educator, speaker and consultant based in Los Angeles. She has developed and implemented programs for communities, including Nu Roots, Community Mikveh at American Jewish University, Beit Tshuvah, Ikar, Miller Introduction to Judaism Program, Sinai Temple, Camp Ramah and Valley Beth Shalom.

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Parashat Bo: The Miracle of Mixed Multitudes - My Jewish Learning

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Posted By admin on January 28, 2021

(JTA) On Jan. 27, 1969, nine Jews were hanged in Tahrir Square in the center of Baghdad as half a million people looked on.

It was the climax of a campaign ofpersecutionthat followed the establishment of Israel, which in turn hastened an exodus of what had been a strong and flourishing community. Of the 160,000 Jews who had lived in what is today Iraq since the destruction of the First Temple, only a handful of Jews remain.

When the Jews fled, they were not allowed to take anything more than three sets of clothing and 50 dinars a pittance. Their communal and personal property was confiscated by the Iraqi regime.

For decades, the survivors and descendants of that community thought all records of their lives in that ancient land were lost.

For the Basri family, leaving Iraq meant leaving behind not only our own personal belongings but a vast collection of material belonging to the Frank Iny School, the last Jewish school to operate in Iraq. Frank Iny was my grandfather, and his school was an island of security for Jews as the fires of anti-Semitism raged around them. School records, photos and more were lost, we thought forever.

Meir Basri in the 1960s (Courtesy of the Basri family)

However, by a series of miraculous events, in 2003, the communal and personal property that had been stolen by the Baath regime was discovered in a flooded basement of the headquarters of Saddam Husseins secret police by US troops. The United States undertook to salvage and restore the collection. Presently, the collection is in the custody of the U.S. National Archives, where they were restored and displayed at various locations.

But now, this priceless collection is once more in danger of being lost forever.

The Iraqi Jewish Archives chronicles the 2,700-year history of the Jews of Iraq a history that ended when the Iraqi Jewish community was forced to flee. The collection contains tens of thousands of items, including a 400-year-old Hebrew Bible, a 200-year-old Talmud, Torah scrolls, Torah cases and other sacred books including manuscripts by the Ben Ish Hai, the late 19th-centuryBaghdadi scholar,as well personal and communal records.

Until Saddam Hussein was deposed, many Iraqi Jews were afraid to speak publicly about their heritage. Today, when we interviewed members of the community for our latest film, Saving the Iraqi Jewish Archives, one woman we spoke to told us how the discovery of the archives strengthened her desire to protect the remnants of their past for future generations. We filmed other Iraqi Jews touring the archives and, for the first time in 50 years, seeing images of themselves and their records as young students at the Frank Iny School.

Now, the historical record of this once flourishing community is in danger. The State Department plans to return it to Iraq in 2021. We are now in danger of losing the tangible proof of our very existence in Iraq. Only the Administration or U.S. State Department can prevent this from happening.

Frank and Muzli Iny on their wedding day (Courtesy)

The US State Department has signed agreements with various Middle Eastern states, including Iraq, Libya, Algeria and Syria, about sending Jewish cultural and religious artifacts back material that had been stolen from the Jewish communities when they were dispossessed of all their property (and sometimes of their lives). The Iraqi Jewish Diaspora is fighting against such a miscarriage of justice.

If the Iraqi Jewish Archives are sent back to Iraq, it will be another step in the ethnic cleansing of Iraqi Jews. These agreements could have far-reaching consequences for all Judaica that had been saved from these countries and are now in use in synagogues or in museums and cultural centers in the United States.

We commend the United States for saving the Iraqi Jewish Archives. But now, all that effort could be for naught. Due to the circumstances of the communitys flight from Iraq, there is very little documenting their history and the role they played for over two millennia in this part of the world. This archive is one of the only concrete links to that past and the reality of Jewish life in the land between the rivers.

I remember that day in 1969 when nine Jews were murdered. My family had already come to the United States, but even here we were too concerned about the potential consequences for our family still in Iraq to raise our voices in protest. Instead, we drove by the protest at the U.N. silently.

My uncle Meir Basri, the head of the Jewish community in Iraq at that time, was then being tortured, for three months, at the Terminal Palace, Qasar al Nehiya, by Saddam Hussein. During this same time, and at the same location, the Chief Rabbis son, Shaul Hakham Sassoon, was held and tortured for over a year. He was falsely accused of collusion with a spy ring. His elderly father was forced to publicly proclaim, through an interpreter, that the Jewish community was being treated well and had full freedoms even while his son was being tortured.

We cant erase their pain, but we can preserve their memory.

The Iraqi Jewish Archives are Jewish property stolen by the Government of Iraq. Returning the collection to Iraq is the very definition of the biblical rebuke by the Prophet Elijah in Kings 1: Have you murdered and also inherited? that is, seized anothers property. The United States must not be a party to this travesty.

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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52 years ago, 9 Jews were hanged in Baghdad. Today, their descendants risk losing everything they left behind. - JTA News - Jewish Telegraphic Agency

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Posted By admin on January 28, 2021

Is it ever appropriate to get drunk?

The Talmud (Megillah 7b) cites Ravas opinion that one must become drunk on Purim to the point that one is unable to tell the difference between cursed be Haman and blessed be Mordecai.

But the same passage goes on to report that Rabba and Rav Zeira became so drunk on Purim that Rabba slaughtered Rav Zeira with a knife. The latter was revived only by a miracle. When Rabba invited Rav Zeira to a Purim celebration the following year, Rav Zeira wisely declined.

Some people read this passage but stop right after Ravas opinion. Others correctly read the entire passage and recognize that the anecdote is a blatant refutation of this position. The Talmuds lesson is: Dont get drunk. Terrible things can happen if you do.

Drunkenness is a shameful state. Maimonides (Hilchot Deot 5:3) states: One who becomes intoxicated is a sinner and is despicable and loses his wisdom. If [a wise person] becomes drunk in the presence of common folk, he has thereby desecrated the Name.

In his section on the Laws of Holiday Rest (6:20), Maimonides rules: When a person eats, drinks, and celebrates on a festival, he should not allow himself to become overly drawn to drinking wine, amusement, and sillinessfor drunkenness and excessive amusement and silliness are not rejoicing; they are frivolity and foolishness.

Not only does drunkenness impair ones judgment; it demeans a person in the eyes of others and the eyes of G-d.

Rabbi Marc D. Angel, director of theInstitute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals

* * * * *

Chazal warn us about the dangers of drunkenness. Furthermore, the greatness of man is his self-control and intellect, so anything that undermines these aspects should be avoided. I assume, therefore, that the question strictly concerns getting drunk on Purim.

In answer to that question: If one knows himself and is able to get drunk appropriately without doing damage or saying things that are improper, I would be hard-pressed to say somethings wrong with it. But again, its only okay if the person knows he wont overstep any lines.

Rabbi Ben Zion Shafier, founder of The Shmuz

* * * * *

Wine is associated with joy and is incorporated in kiddush and kos shel berachah. But the two portrayals in the Torah of people getting drunk regarding Noach and Lot are (to be generous) negative.

As someone who makes kiddush on grape juice and only drinks wine (with low alcoholic content) for the four cups at the Seder, I lack the appreciation for drinking that others bring to this discussion. As far as I can tell, the loss of control and dignity accompanying getting drunk doesnt conform to any notion of human dignity.

Humans are meant to be dignified beings exercising self-control. The classic explanation of the Ramban to the command Be holyplaces getting drunk on the wrong side of this commandment.

Rabbi Yosef Blau, mashgiach ruchani at YUsRabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary

* * * * *

The Or HaChaim HaKadosh explains that Nadav and Avihu walked into the Mishkan in an inebriated state because of their spiritual aspirations. They had climbed as high as they could within the confines of their own physical limitations, and as a result of drinking wine they were able to remove whatever inhibitions remained in order to experience an ultimate expiration of the soul (kelayos hanefesh) and thereby cleave to the Divine.

The Shelah HaKadosh writes in this same context that many great rabbanim would drink significant quantities of wine on Shabbos for a similar reason.Nichnas yayin yatza sod the drinking would enable them to expand their intellectual horizons and share more Torah with their students.

In a similar vein, the Lubavitcher Rebbe offers a compelling explanation of the famous Talmudic story of Rabba and Reb Zeira drinking copious amounts of wine on Purim to the point where Rabba shechted Reb Zeira.

The Rebbe explains that Reb Zeira endured a spiritual experience, an expiration of the soul akin to the experience of Nadav and Avihu. (Its worthwhile studying this explanation in the original to fully appreciate its profundity and see the various proofs he offers).

The common theme of all of the above is that drinking can get one spiritually high. The term drunk implies loss of intellectual faculties, sometimes to destructive ends. That surely is of no benefit or value and must be frowned upon. But if the physical high releases deeper spiritual yearnings and aspirations, then make mine a double. Lchaim.

Rabbi Yitzchak Schochet, popular Lubavitchlecturer, rabbi of Londons Mill Hill Synagogue

* * * * *

It depends on the degree of drunkenness. If drunk means slightly inebriated light-headed and happy but fully in control of ones actions then this state is how one achieves simchas yom tov and is comforted during mourning and other difficult times.

If drunk means one cannot think straight and ones level of shame is lessened, then this state is one that reduces ones ability to make sound moral choices and, according to Rav Moshe Feinstein, is forbidden due to a Torah prohibition. In this state one would not be able to talk properly before a person of stature (a king) and would be prohibited from davening.

If drunk means like Lot totally wasted then getting drunk is definitely a Torah prohibition and could lead to all sorts of sins, and merely putting oneself in such a state is a serious sin.

Perhaps the only exception to this rule is getting drunk Purim, and that is only according to some opinions and definitely only for someone who is sure that when drunk he will not transgress even the slightest sin and will act in a manner befitting a Torah personality.

Rabbi Zev Leff, rav of Moshav Matisyahu,popular lecturer and educator

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Is It Proper? Is it ever appropriate to get drunk? - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com

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Posted By admin on January 28, 2021

For many in Israel and across the world who have been confined to their homes weary from a constant diet of political drama and itching to extricate themselves from coronavirus woes a new year is about to begin: Tu BShevat, the New Year for the Trees.

Many rabbis describe this as a particularly important time to appreciate the land of Israel. As Rabbi Eliyahu Kitov, writes in theBook of Our Heritage, Tu BShevat bespeaks the praise of the land of Israel for on this day the strength of the soil of the Eretz Yisrael is renewed and it begins to yield its produce and demonstrate its inherent goodness.

How does one appreciate the land of Israel?

First, taste it, or more precisely, drink and eat what it produces. Of the seven biblically mentioned species, five grow on Israeli vines or trees. Today, Israel grows 55,000 metric tons of grapes each year. Seventy major wineries and 250 boutique wineries use most of these grapes to produce more than 4.5 million bottles of wine, many of which are winning international awards.

Israel also grows 60,000 tons of pomegranates, 2400 tons of figs, 32,000 tons of dates and produces 16,000 tons of olive oil each year, also with award-winning varieties. This is in addition to delicious Israeli oranges, grapefruit, avocados, cherries, nuts, tomatoes, strawberries and so many more. Much of this holy deliciousness is available around the globe.

Second, appreciate the land by traversing it. This year, we will have to make do with virtual hikes and plan for future ones as soon as possible. Israel has miles and miles of trails from which to choose.

The 620 mile-long National Trail is listed byNational Geographicas one of the most epic in the world. Not only does hiking in Israel provide spectacular scenery, but where else in the world can you hike on the same paths where our biblical ancestors walked, and see the same species and mountains that they saw?

There are also breathtaking trails along the cliffs of the Mediterranean, through amazing hidden desert canyons and waterfalls of the Golan Heights. In case one needs additional motivation, the Talmud commenting on the Torah commandment to possess the Land and dwell in it (Numbers 33:53) states that a person who walks four amot (four steps or about seven feet) in Israel, it is assured to him that he is one deserving of the World to Come. (Ketubot 111a)

Third, appreciate those who came before us and reforested the land by planting a tree. In his 1869 travel book,Innocents Abroad,Mark Twain describes the Holy Land as a desolate country whose soil is rich enough, but is given over wholly to weedsa silent mournful expanse. There was hardly a tree or a shrub anywhere. Even the olive and the cactus, those fast friends of the worthless soil, had almost deserted the country.

In the early part of the 19th century, whatever trees were left from earlier over-harvesting were removed by the Ottoman Turks in their efforts to build and power a railroad. There is also photographic evidence of where ground level was a few hundred years ago, and where it is today. The ground in some areas is two meters (6.5 feet) lower than it used to be; the land of Israel had literally been pouring into the sea.

In 1901, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF) was founded. KKL-JNF looked for native Mediterranean pine species to help reestablish forests. It began planting in earnest with much help from Jews around the world, who donated and continue to donate via the little bluetzedakahboxes.

Its efforts have been wonderfully successful. The massive soil erosion that was occurring was arrested. Organic matter was returned to the land of Israel.

Reestablishing forests on denuded sites has to begin with species whose seedlings can withstand full sunlight. Since there was no dormant seed source left in the soil, seedlings needed to be planted. Once this was done, there were opportunities to plant the native broad-leafed species. This is exactly what KKL-JNF has been doing.

KKL-JNF tree nurseries today are raising the original biblical species: oak, pistachio, Aleppo pine, cedar and carob. Today, all these species have a much better chance of survival because the sites are forested.

To date, the KKL-JNF has planted somewhere around 240 million trees. It is responsible for caring for approximately 400,000 of Israels 5.45 million acres, or 7 percent of Israels land mass. It focuses its efforts on previously forested land or in specific areas where soil loss or the encroaching desert is a critical concern.

A satellite view shows Israel as an island of green in a sea of badly abused desert. The plentiful oaks of Bashan and the cedars of Lebanon described in the Bible, and the native species of Israel, are beginning to flourish.

One can only marvel at the transformation of the landscape described by Mark Twain to the Israeli landscape of today, and look forward to a future when the land of Israel has healed and the native forest species described in the Bible dominate the landscape.

Before I madealiyahseveral years ago, I had the opportunity to work on the U.S. House Natural Resource Committee. Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.), the only congressman who is also a practicing forester, was kind enough to send me a personal note hoping that when I arrived in Israel, I would have the opportunity to plant oaks of Bashan and cedars of Lebanon. Last year on Tu BShevat, my wife and I were able to do just that. After the COVID-19 crisis is over, we plan to plant again.

This Tu BShevat, Thursday, take the opportunity to taste, appreciate and plan a hike and the planting of a tree. This is the land that God chose for us. How thankful we should be. JN

Gary Schiff is a forester. He currently works as a consultant and guide connecting Israel and U.S. natural-resource interests.

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Tu B'Shevat: An annual reminder to appreciate the beauty of the land of Israel - Jewish News of Greater Phoenix

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Posted By admin on January 28, 2021

By Carol Goodman Kaufman| Correspondent

Millennia before Nebraskan J. Sterling Morton established Americas National Arbor Day in 1872, the Jews had an annual New Year for Trees. While not a well-known holiday like Passover, Tu B'Shevat is in fact one of four different New Years commemorated in the Jewish calendar. The other three are celebrated with the new moon, as Judaism follows a lunar calendar. Tu B'Shevat alone is observed in the middle of the month, the 15th, when the moon is full. Since the letters of the Hebrew alphabet also serve as numbers, the word "Tu" is actually an acronym made from the letters equaling 15.

So, while our timbers will still be shivering when we New Englanders celebrate the holiday on Jan.28, the pink-and-white blossoms of the almond tree will begin to bloom in the Holy Land, indicating that spring is springing. (FYI, our National Arbor Day is commemorated on the last Friday in April, presumably when temperatures have warmed a bit.)

Tu B'Shevat was originally designated in the Talmud around the year 200 CE for the purpose of calculating the age of trees, both for harvesting and tithing purposes. The Torah prohibits fruit from being eaten during the first three years of a tree's growth, but on Tu B'Shevat the first fruits of the fourth year are consumed, as well as samples of all seven species mentioned in the Torah (wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and dates).

As with the American National Arbor Day, it is customary to plant trees on Tu BShevat, and the Jewish National Fund has planted over 240 million of them in Israel since its inception in 1901.

The holiday evolved into something broader in the 16th century when Kabbalists in Safed developed a ritual meal called a seder. Participants in a seder read spiritual meditations and taste anywhere from 10to 30different fruits and nuts mentioned, all with symbolic meaning. The first group of fruits and nuts have hard shells that represent the physical world for which protection from evil is necessary. Fruits with inedible stones represent a lesser level of purity in that they recall both physicality and inner emotions that need protection. The third group consists of completely edible fruits, such as figs. They stand for the highest level of physical and spiritual perfection.

And what would a celebration be without wine? Seder participants consume wines ranging from pure white to solid red that symbolize both the changing of the seasons and the stages of creation. I would recommend drinking the wines only after planting, or your trees may lean like that tower in Pisa.

In modern times the holiday has developed yet again into an ecologically-minded one, featuring education and advocacy that teaches of our connection to and responsibility for the environment, and of our role as caretakers of the Earth. Coincidentally, vegetarianism has grown concomitantly with the popularization of the holiday.

Seven Species Muffins

Adapted from one by Tori Avey

Makes 9 large muffins

It is a land of wheat and barley; of grapevines, fig trees, and pomegranates; of olive oil and honey. Deuteronomy 8:8

This fruitcake-like muffin is one that will never get re-gifted. Including all seven of the biblical species, this bread is not only healthy, with lots of fiber, it is absolutely delicious.

Ingredients:

1cupsflour

cupbarley flour

cupsugar

cupbrown sugar

2teaspoonsbaking powder

teaspoonbaking soda

teaspoonsalt

1teaspooncinnamon

teaspoonallspice

1 cup unsweetened almond milk (you can use regular milk if you dont have this)

2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses

cupapplesauce

2largeeggs, beaten

cuplight olive oil

1teaspoonvanilla extract

cup raisins

cupdried figs (Mission figs are probably easiest to work with)

cupdates (I prefer the Medjool variety)

cupchopped almonds, toasted lightly

Nonstick cooking spray the kind with flour

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. and coat muffin tins pans with cooking spray.

In a large mixing bowl, mix together flour, barley flour, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamonand allspice.

Roughly chop dates and figs (removing the pits and tough stems first). Mix with raisins and almonds. Set aside.

Beat eggs and combine with almond milk,oil, applesauce, pomegranate molassesand vanilla extract.

Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients. Add the egg mixture, stirring well.

Mix in the fruits and nuts and fold until just incorporated.

Pour batter into the prepared muffin tins.

Place pans in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick/cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

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Tu B'Shevat the original Arbor Day: And a recipe for fruitcake that will never get re-gifted - Worcester Telegram

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