Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on September 23, 2020

Jewish representative Nancy Khedouri (second from left) and other Bahraini officials meet with foreign representatives, including U.S. Ambassador Justin Siberell (far left). JTA photo courtesy of Khedouri.

Ebrahim Dahood Nonoo, the leader of Bahrains tiny Jewish community, was among the Gulf countrys approximately 50 Jews who thought peace with Israel would never arrive in our lifetimes.

It just didnt seem possible, Nonoo told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency from Manama, the capital city where he lives with his wife.

The signing of the agreements called the Abraham Accords is expected to open up routes for collaboration, trade and travel between Bahrain and Israel, which had all been restricted. It will have a significant impact on Bahrains Jews, many of whom have relatives in Israel they have not been able to visit.

Bahrains Jews werent the only ones shocked when President Donald Trump announced that he had brokered peace agreements between Israel and two Arab states, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, within a month of each other.

Israel only has relations with two other Arab nations in the region, and most of its neighbors have long isolated the Jewish state and at times even gone to war with it.

EBRAHIM DAHOOD NONOOfamily has been in Bahrain since the late 1800s. JTA photo courtesy of Nonoo.

We can talk to our relatives and we can feel more comfortable now about going and coming. It actually changes quite a lot, said Nonoo, a businessman who in 2001 became the first Jewish person appointed to serve on the countrys Shura Council, the upper chamber of its National Assembly.

The Jewish community in Bahrain, an island nation of some 1.5-million people, dates back about 140 years to the late 1800s, when a group of Iraqi Jews arrived in search of economic opportunities. Many were poor and lacked education but found jobs, and eventually success, in the clothing industry. Nonoos grandfather came as a 12-year-old together with his uncle and found a job picking silver threads out of discarded dresses and selling them.

They were kind of misfits coming out of Iraq, Nonoo said of the first arrivals. In other words, they werent getting anywhere in Iraq, so they decided to try their luck in Bahrain.

A smaller number of Jews also settled in Bahrain from Iran at around the same time. At its height in the 1920s and 30s, the community had about 800 members, according to Nonoo, though others have said the number was as high as 1,500. Though community members mixed socially with Bahraini Muslims, they mainly married within the community and lived close to each other in Manama. Members continued to speak a Jewish dialect of Iraqi Arabic and still do.

In 1935, a member of the Cartier family, the Jewish clan who founded the eponymous jewelry company, passed through on a business trip and ended up donating money to build a synagogue and bring in a rabbi, according to Nonoo. Over the next 10 years, the community continued to flourish economically and gathered in the synagogue for services.

[That] was a fantastic time for all of them, Nonoo said.

But things took a turn for the worse following the 1947 U.N. Partition vote, which recommended the creation of a Jewish state in then- Palestine alongside an Arab one. The move led to anti-Semitic riots throughout the Arab world, including in Bahrain.

A group of riotersNonoo said they were migrants from other Arab countriesburned the synagogue to the ground and stole the countrys only Torah scroll. Most of the community left after the attack or in the decade and a half following, settling in Israel.

The few who remained or their descendants make up the 50 or so Jews living in the country. There is an active Jewish cemetery, but the synagoguerebuilt by Nonoos father in the 1980snever officially reopened and most of the community continues to pray at home. Nonoo is renovating the building and hopes to reopen it next year as a house of worship and museum.

Jared Kushner, Trumps Jewish son-in-law who serves as his senior adviser, gifted Bahrains King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa a Torah scroll for the synagogue.

Most of the community members today are financially successful and continue to be represented in the Shura Council, which has designated a seat each for representatives of the countrys Jewish and Christian populations. Nonoos successor was Houda Nonoo, who later went on to serve as Bahraini ambassador to the United States. She was succeeded by Nancy Khedouri, a relative of the powerful Kadoorie family, a Hong Kong-based Jewish family of Iraqi origin who went on to become one of the wealthiest families in Asia (and transliterated the surname differently). Houda Nonoo and Khedouri are Ebrahim Nonoos cousins.

It is indeed a privilege to be part of the Lawmaking process with my multifaith Colleagues, where we all enjoy Equality and Freedom of Expression and where we continue to strive to draft out Laws to be implemented, that will be fair, serving in the best interests of our Country and to all Citizens, regardless of Religious differences, Khedouri told JTA in an email.

Still, the local Jewish community is aging, as many young people leave to study abroad and often choose to remain in other countries after their studiesincluding Nonoos children, who both live in the United Kingdom.

Hopefully theyll be back soon, he said.

Nonoo hopes the new agreement with Israel will turn around the trend and that plans to build the Abrahamic Family House, a site that will host a church, mosque and synagogue in the nearby United Arab Emirates, may draw more Jews to settle in the Gulf.

We are very, very happy to see that thats going to be a place that many Jews can stay in the UAE and build up families there, so were hoping that with that we will get Jews coming to Bahrain, he said.

For his part, Nonoo doesnt see himself settling anywhere else.

Our religion is Jewish, but really our culture is very Arabic, and we feel very at home, he said. I honestly could not see myself living anywhere else.

The rest is here:

Peace deal changes the lives of 140-year-old Bahrain Jewish community - Jewish Community Voice

Category: Synagogue | Comments Off on Peace deal changes the lives of 140-year-old Bahrain Jewish community – Jewish Community Voice
Tags:

Posted By admin on September 23, 2020

(JTA) Within hours of Ruth Bader Ginsburgs death on Friday evening, an obscure Jewish tradition began circulating online: Someone who dies on or just before Rosh Hashanah is a righteous person.

A Jewish teaching says those who die just before the Jewish new year are the ones God has held back until the last moment bc they were needed most & were the most righteous, NPR legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg tweeted just after midnight. And so it was that #RBG died as the sun was setting last night marking the beginning of Rosh Hashanah.

Others had made similar claims on Twitter earlier in the evening. By Saturday afternoon, Reuters had published a story about the significance of the timing of Ginsburgs passing, citing no less a source than Rabbi Rick Jacobs, the head of the Union for Reform Judaism.

But where does this idea come from?

This might be part of one of those cosmic games of Torah telephone, said Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg, scholar in residence at the National Council of Jewish Women, who validated the Rosh Hashanah righteousness thesis on Twitter after one of her many followers asked her to confirm it.

The idea seems to derive from a creative reading of a passage in the Babylonian Talmud, which relates that humanity is split into three groups on the Day of Judgment, which can be understood to mean Rosh Hashanah. The wholly wicked are immediately consigned to their fate in Gehenna, the Jewish correlate of hell. The middle-of-the-road folks are sent to Gehenna as well, but just for a time. And the wholly righteous are immediately granted eternal life.

If you die at the end of the year, literally on the cusp, which is exactly when Ruth died, that means in a sense that youre assured for that whole year because youre one of the righteous people, Jacobs told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, though he noted that he personally finds the notion theologically problematic. Thats the only source that really gives this any kind of credibility, but its hardly what Id call a matter of Jewish law. Its in the realm of legend.

There are, in fact, much clearer Jewish teachings about the significance of dying at particular times. Elsewhere in the Talmud, it says that dying on the eve of Shabbat is a good omen. Since Rosh Hashanah coincided with Shabbat this year, Ginsburgs death also met that criteria.

Other sources teach that dying on ones birthday is a mark of righteousness. According to the Talmud, Moses, the greatest teacher of the Jewish people, died on his birthday, the seventh day of the Hebrew month of Adar.

The idea that a Rosh Hashanah death is a mark of righteousness is much less explicit in traditional sources. Yet it appears to have wide currency.

Hours before Totenbergs tweet, the author Ruth Franklin tweeted that Jewish tradition teaches that someone who dies on Rosh Hashanah is a tzaddik, a Hebrew word for a righteous person that shares a root with the word for justice.

Caroline Mandell, a Canadian lawyer who runs a legal consulting business, put a slightly different spin on it, tweeting that only the most righteous die on the eve of the new year.

And Brad Silver, who identifies himself on Twitter as a retired physician, explained that Ginsburgs status as a tzaddik meant she had superhuman abilities to make the world a better place.

How an obscure Talmudic passage morphed into a belief that Ginsburgs passing is a heavenly sign that shes a superhuman justice spreader is anything but clear, but to some thats in the nature of Jewish teachings.

It is entirely possible that there is a Hasidic reading of this passage that takes us there, but I dont know it, Ruttenberg said. There may be a more known Torah link that I dont have in my hand that somebody got, or somebodys bubbe or zeyde used to say this. Who knows? Torah gets shared in all sorts of ways.

Whats undeniable is that Ginsburgs death came at the start of a holiday where Jews are enjoined to contemplate ultimate matters of life and death. The liturgy of Rosh Hashanah describes it as a day when all of humanity passes before God, who prescribes a judgment for the year that is sealed 10 days later on Yom Kippur. It is a day when questions of how one lives are very much pushed to the forefront.

Everything was teed up for there to be these associations, Jacobs said.

He added: What theres no debate about is the significance of her life, the impact of her jurisprudence and the way in which the Jewish tradition was exemplified by her character. Her death on erev Rosh Hashanah sent a shudder, certainly through the American Jewish community and beyond. Her life and her legacy cast an enormous light and at the same time a shadow that were all still trying to make sense out of.

See the rest here:

A viral tweet said RBG dying on Rosh Hashanah made her a 'tzaddik.' Where does that idea come from? - JTA News - Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Category: Talmud | Comments Off on A viral tweet said RBG dying on Rosh Hashanah made her a ‘tzaddik.’ Where does that idea come from? – JTA News – Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Tags:

Posted By admin on September 23, 2020

By Rabbi Steven Graber

In the Talmud, Masechet Berachot, Rabbi Levi presents to us this problem: It reads in Psalm 24, The earth and its fullness belong to the Lord, but it also reads in Psalm 115, Heaven is the heaven of the Lord, but the earth He gave to the sons of men.

How do we reconcile these two statements? Does the earth belong to God or to man? The rabbis tell us that before we have recited a blessing over something, it belongs to the Lord. After we recite the blessing and acknowledge its true ownership, then it is made available to us.

God has given us a wonderful world and He wants us to enjoy every good thing in His world. So, every day of the year we acknowledge Gods beneficence. But on the High Holy Days, with their emphasis on ending one year, and beginning anew, our sense of awe and gratitude is even more heightened.

The High Holy Days are a time to take stock of who we are, to be appreciative of what we have, to measure our strengths and weaknesses, successes and failures and to be hopeful for our futures. It is also a time for thanking God for everything you have and asking Him to help you to be all you can be.

This has been an extremely difficult year for everyone. We have lost loved ones, we have suffered illness, we have had our jobs, our family life, our social life and our religious lives altered by the Covid virus. I pray that times will get better sooner than we expect. Let us thank God that we are alive when so many have perished.

May this be a good year, a sweet year and a year of heath for all of us.

Rabbi Graber leads Temple Hillel in North Woodmere.

Go here to read the rest:

Appreciating and taking stock of our lives during the High Holidays - liherald

Category: Talmud | Comments Off on Appreciating and taking stock of our lives during the High Holidays – liherald
Tags:

Posted By admin on September 23, 2020

This coming weekend we will celebrate Rosh Hashanah, our Jewish New Year. During the Musaf prayer service on the second day of the holiday, apiyyut, or sacred song, is chanted, which begins with the words:

Never miss the best stories and events for families, children and teens! Get JewishBoston Plus Kids.

Today is the birth of the world

What is this phrase referring to?There is a debate in the Talmud about when exactly the world was created. Rabbi Eliezer claims that it was during the month of Tishrei, the Hebrew month we are in right now, the month where we celebrate Rosh Hashanah.Rabbi Yehoshua believed that the world was created during Nissan, the month later in the spring when we celebrate Passover. One possible resolution to this debate centers aroundthe idea that the pregnancy of the world took place during this time; its conception took place in Tishrei and the actual birth of the world in Nissan.

Drawing on curiosity, one of the seven JCDS Habits of Mind and Heart, I attempted to make sense of this debate. Leaning into this obscure discussion, I wondered what our sages were trying to teach us about the relationship between the world being conceived in Tishrei but born in Nissan. Commentators have offered that its possible to understand this debate as a metaphor for understanding the need to wait for a period of time between a thought and an action.

While an idea is conceived at a particular moment, in actuality, we must wait for this idea to come to fruition. This takes (to draw further from the Habits) problem-solving, perseverance, resilience, reflection and patience. This gestation allows for imagination and planning. What might happen during this long period of wait time? What might we be thinking about? Imagining? This week marked the end of the sixth grade Tfillah elective run by alumni parent and artist Noni Armony. The students worked to conceive their own creative interpretations of the imperative that God placed on man in the Garden of Eden. In Sefer Breishit(Genesis) we read that God placed man in the garden:

To till the land and tend it.

This led the sixth graders on a journey of discussion and reflection regarding this directive. What does it mean to till the land and tend it? How might we express the meaning of this phrase through art? How might we take those words from the Tanach and give them color and meaning? Next time you drop off your children, be sure to take an extra moment to observe the fruit of this intellectual and creative endeavor. Take a look at the graffiti art sitting just outside in the friends and family parking lot. Exercise your curiosity; ask questions of what you see. What were these sixth grade artists trying to share with us about their interpretation of what it means to protect the world?

Back in early summer, a grand and challenging idea was necessarily conceived: to create a new version of ourselves at JCDS so that school could open in September. This idea gestated into a complex multiplicity of challenges, frustrations and accomplishments. Ultimately, on Aug. 31, this tremendous community effort of creative thought and incredible industriousness culminated in the birth of JCDS reimagined, both Babinyan (in the building) and Mekuvan (online). Each day, as I walk through the halls and peek into the classrooms (and tents!), I am more and more moved by the abilities and fortitude of our incredible faculty and staff. I am continuously renewed and filled with joy by the smiling eyes of our beautiful children and take my strength from them.

Wishing you a healthy and meaningful New Year! May this be a year of briyut, areyvut and shleymut.

Shira Deener is the head of school at JCDS. Learn more aboutJCDS, Bostons Jewish Community Day School.

This post has been contributed by a third party. The opinions, facts and any media content are presented solely by the author, and JewishBoston assumes no responsibility for them. Want to add your voice to the conversation? Publish your own post here.MORE

Excerpt from:

Today Is the Birth of the World | JewishBoston - jewishboston.com

Category: Talmud | Comments Off on Today Is the Birth of the World | JewishBoston – jewishboston.com
Tags:

Posted By admin on September 23, 2020

The blowing of the shofar, traditionally done on Rosh Hashanah. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

The Jewish year, and thus the annual cycle of the Torah reading, is coming to an end. As we reach the latter half of the concluding book of the Torah Deuteronomy Moses knows that he is soon to die without being able to enter the Promised Land. But he is determined to leave us with the disposition, ideas, and attitude we will need to survive and thrive.

In Chapter 27, Moses says that we will see two mountains upon entering the Land. There will be a mountain of blessing, Mount Gerizim, and a mountain of curses, Mount Ebal. Why does he associate blessings and curses with different mountains? The Torah, which privileges the unseen over the seen and hearing over sight, is too sophisticated to have a physical place of goodness and one of badness. But God knows us well. He knows that people have a remarkable capacity to either mischaracterize or justify cursed ideas and actions. He is encouraging us enough with that, you can tell the difference between a blessing and a curse as easily as you can between two mountains.

And the consequence of our choice of blessing or curse is everything. The listing of blessings is a catalog of delight. The curses include drought and floods, military defeat, robbery, madness and blindness, fever, lesions, and marriage followed by infidelity. Then there is: You will grope at noontime as a blind man gropes in the darkness.

What could this mean?

The experience of being blind is one of perpetual darkness. There is no difference for the blind between noontime and the dead of night. Why, then, would a curse be that of a blind person groping in the darkness?

Rabbi Yossi Bar Halafta stated, as is recorded in the Talmud, that he spent his entire life troubled by this verse. Then he saw a blind man walking at night and holding a torch. He asked the blind man why, given that he couldnt see, he was carrying a torch.

The blind man answered, So long as I carry this torch, other people can see me and they can save me from the pits and thorns and thistles.

In a good community, a blind man never has to grope. There are always people around, by natural or artificial light, who will identify his suffering and seek to diminish it. A community is Biblically cursed when suffering goes unnoticed, unrelieved, and unredeemed. An individual is cursed when he has to suffer in silence.

There is nothing theoretical, anachronistic, or necessarily ancient about this curse or anything else in the Bible. The Torah is our great guidebook, specifically designed for [our] benefit to help us live better today. Life expectancy in the United States has declined three years in a row (and that is pre-COVID-19) and is nowhere near the global top 50. This is a consequence, as numerous studies in the past several years have demonstrated, of the deaths [or diseases] of despair that afflict people in a state of loneliness, hopelessness, and desperation.

On the other hand is what my wife Rabbi Erica Gerson and I have seen at the Evangelical churches where we have spoken in the past couple of years: tissues in front of every pew, and often blankets in the front. Their purpose: to provide relief to those for whom the existential confrontations of worship bring pain in the moment, and subsequently an infrastructure of volunteers to begin the hard work of helping the congregant through the issue. This is the antidote to the curse of Deuteronomy 28:29 a community where every persons pain can be voiced, validated, and eased.

As we look around our communities and perform our own existential contemplation on Yom Kippur, Moses gives us the question to ask: Who might be the blind man suffering at noontime? The aforementioned American life expectancy statistics suggest that he is ubiquitous and the Talmud suggests a way to help. If one is suffering in silence (emotionally, physically, spiritually, psychologically), like the blind man groping at noontime, he is in such a prison. A prisoner, the Talmud teaches, cannot free himself from prison.

So we can ask: Am I sufficiently helping to ensure that my communities are those where a blind man would never need to grope at noontime? Or am I the blind man groping at noontime who should seek the guidance that a Biblically construed community will provide? What, per Deuteronomy 21, are the structures and measures of accountability that ensure that each member of the community is provided the recognition, dignity, and focused support that such acknowledgment confers? In answering that question, we just might be able to turn a curse into a blessing.

Mark Gersonis co-founder of African Mission Healthcare and co-founder and Chairman of United Hatzalah of Israel.

View original post here:

Like a Blind Person Groping in the Darkness: A Lesson for the New Year - Algemeiner

Category: Talmud | Comments Off on Like a Blind Person Groping in the Darkness: A Lesson for the New Year – Algemeiner
Tags:

Posted By admin on September 23, 2020

Chag HaSukkot (the festival of Tabernacles) is one of the three pilgrimage festivals, along with the holidays of Passover and Shavuot. Yom Tov (holiday) begins with candle lighting in the Sukkah, in conjunction with the Shabbat, Friday, Oct. 2, 18 minutes prior to sundown. The eight-day festival continues into the following week when Shabbat is celebrated with Shemini Atzeret. Sukkot is a time of great joy! During the time period of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem, the Simchat Beit Hashoayvah (Water Libation Ceremony) was performed. The Talmud states that to witness this sight was incomparable to any other joy in the entire world! Dance and song filled the air in happiness and in honor of the holiday.

Additionally, on Sukkot we are surrounded by several mitzvot. We recite a blessing each day on the four species, the lulav, etrog, hadasim and aravot, throughout the entire week. The blessing of Shehechiyanu, is said on the first day, along with the blessing of Netilat Lulav). Furthermore, we dwell in the Sukkah, (some people even sleep in a Sukkah!) all week long. We recite the blessing Leyshaiv Basukkah each time we partake of food in the Sukkah. Also, each evening we welcome one of the seven UshpizinBiblical Guests, into the Sukkah. Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaacov, Moshe, Aharon, Yosef and David. Each of the seven personalities reflects a unique dimension of G-ds interaction with the world.

On Sukkot we dress in our finest attire, as we enjoy meat, wine and delicacies. Family and friends share this weeklong joy in the Sukkah, together. Therefore, I am presenting some unique recipes to enhance your upcoming holiday celebration.

My best wishes for a Happy, Healthy and Sweet New Year, 5781, filled with blessings, peace, and success, to all of the children of Israel!

Chag Sameach!

AUTUMN APPLE VEALROAST5 lb. veal roast1 cup kosher white wine,divided1/8 cup thyme, chopped1/8 cup rosemary, chopped2 cloves garlic,peeled andminced1/4 cup extravirgin olive oil2 Roma apples,peeled, coredand slicedDash of freshlyground blackpepper

Preheat oven to 325F. Marinate veal roast in 1/2 cup kosher wine for two hours. Discard wine. Place veal into a roasting pan coated with oil spray. Pour an additional 1/2 cup of kosher white wine over roast. In a small bowl, whisk together thyme, rosemary, garlic, and olive oil. With a pastry brush, coat veal roast on all sides with herbed oil. Roast veal in oven for 2-3 hours. During last half hour of the baking process, add apples into pan. Place apples alongside of the veal roast. Brush apples with reserved one Tbs. of herbed oil. Remove veal roast from oven. Set aside to cool. Slice when thoroughly cooled. Place sliced veal roast onto a serving platter. Garnish with apple slices.

Serves 8-10.

ORZO SALAD1 box orzo1/2 bag craisins(soaked until soft)1 red onion, peeled, andcubed1/4 cup parsley, finelychopped1/2 cup pine nuts1/2 cup sugar1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil1/2 cup vinegar1/2 tsp. salt1/4 tsp. black pepper

Cook orzo according to package instructions. Drain and set aside to cool. Saut onion in olive oil for 2-3 minutes. Mix all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Refrigerate for four hours prior to serving. Serve room temperature.

Serves 6-8.

GRILLED ROMAINE WITHCITRUS VINAGRETTE4 romaine hearts2 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil1/2 tsp. sea saltDash of freshly ground blackpepper

Preheat grill. Prepare dressing (recipe follows) and set aside. Slice hearts of romaine in half, lengthwise. Brush the cut surface with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Grill lettuce on a heated grill, three minutes per side.

Remove from grill and serve on a platter. Drizzle with dressing. Optional: Top with seasoned croutons.

CITRUS VINAGRETTE2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice1/4 cup fresh lime juice3 Tbs. freshly-squeezedorange juice1 Tbs. red wine vinegar1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil1 clove garlic, peeled andminced1/4 tsp. sugar1/2 tsp. saltDash of black pepper

Place all ingredients in a jar and shake vigorously. Allow to stand for 30 minutes prior to use.

Optional: Garnish with pecan halves.

Serves 6-8.

CHOCOLATEDECADANCE1 lb. 70% cocoa, bakingchocolate bar1/2 cup safflower oil4 eggs1 Tbs. flour

Preheat oven to 425F.

Combine chocolate, oil and one Tbs. of hot water in a small bowl. Heat in microwave until chocolate is melted. Mix. In a mixer, place eggs, and beat for 3-4 minutes. Add flour and chocolate mixture until well blended. Spread evenly in pan. Bake 12-15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool. Serve slice of cake topped with seasonal berries.

Serves 4-6.

deb.epst@gmail.com

Continued here:

The rebbitzin's recipes: Festive dishes for the holiday of Sukkot - Jewish Community Voice

Category: Talmud | Comments Off on The rebbitzin’s recipes: Festive dishes for the holiday of Sukkot – Jewish Community Voice
Tags:

Posted By admin on September 23, 2020

MIAMI, Sept. 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Victor Center for the Prevention of Jewish Genetic Diseases, which offers preconception screening and genetic counseling for prospective parents, has recently expanded services to offer genetic screening and virtual clinical consults to couples and individuals in New York, New Jersey and Maryland.

The center, which also serves Florida, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, helps future parents identify whether they are at risk of passing on genetic diseases, including those common among people of Jewish ancestry.

"Not everyone knows their full ancestral heritage, so we encourage anyone planning to start a family and their partner to undergo screening," said Debbie Wasserman, Outreach Coordinator/Genetic Counselor for the Victor Center.

Jewish genetic diseases are a group of recessive, inherited disorders that occur with significant frequency in the Ashkenazi Jewish community (those of eastern or central European descent). Individuals of Ashkenazi descent have higher carrier rates for diseases such as Tay-Sachs, Canavan, familial dysautonomia, and Gaucher. Many of the diseases are severe, and some are fatal in childhood.

One in two of those of Ashkenazi descent is a carrier for at least one Jewish genetic condition, and Sephardic and Mizrachi Jews are also at increased risk for certain genetic disorders. More than half of participants in the Victor Center screening program are carriers for one or more of the 225 plus conditions on the expanded screening panel, which also includes disorders found in other ethnicities.

The Victor Center offers a convenient screening process during this time of social distancing. Upon request, a genetic counseling session is scheduled and a screening kit is mailed to the home. Recipients provide saliva samples and return the kit to a lab for processing. Once results are available, a video consult is coordinated to convey understanding and address questions.

There is a fee for Victor Center screening services. However, most medical insurance plans cover the service. For more information, please call 786-897-9587 or visit http://www.victorcenter.org

About the Victor Center The Victor Center was founded in 2002 by Lois B. Victor in partnership with Einstein Healthcare Network in Philadelphia. Ms. Victor lost two children to a Jewish genetic disease before a test for the disorder became available. The experience galvanized her commitment to ensuring that no family endures the heartache of a preventable illness by making certain that Jews of childbearing age are screened and get the information they need to have healthy children. Nicklaus Children's Hospital was appointed the National Office for the Victor Center in 2017. The Nicklaus Children's Hospital Victor Center maintains the nation-wide collaborative work of the center in promoting education related to preconception screening while increasing knowledge, awareness, and access to genetic services.

About Nicklaus Children's HospitalFounded in 1950 by Variety Clubs International, Nicklaus Children's Hospital is South Florida's only licensed specialty hospital exclusively for children, with nearly 800 attending physicians and more than 475 pediatric subspecialists. The 309-bed hospital, known as Miami Children's Hospital from 1983 through 2014, is renowned for excellence in all aspects of pediatric medicine with several specialty programs routinely ranked among the best in the nation by U.S. News & World Report since 2008. The hospital is also home to the largest pediatric teaching program in the southeastern United States and has been designated an American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) Magnet facility, the nursing profession's most prestigious institutional honor. For more information, please visit http://www.nicklauschildrens.org.

For more information: Nicklaus Children's Hospital Rachel Bixby, 305-663-8476

SOURCE Nicklaus Childrens Health System

Get your inside story.

See the original post:

Victor Center for the Prevention of Jewish Genetic Diseases Now Serving New York, New Jersey and Maryland - PRNewswire

Category: Ashkenazi | Comments Off on Victor Center for the Prevention of Jewish Genetic Diseases Now Serving New York, New Jersey and Maryland – PRNewswire
Tags:

Posted By admin on September 23, 2020

The coronavirus cabinet has been meeting since 2 p.m. Wednesday to discuss how to tighten restrictions on the public as the number of coronavirus cases in the country soar.

According to the ministry, some 31 coronavirus patients have died in the last 24 hours.

During the meeting, Likud and Blue and White ministers clashed, mainly about demonstrations. Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi lashed out about the idea that some members of the government are pushing for a full national lockdown, which goes contrary to the recommendations of health professionals.

This is the second coronavirus cabinet meeting this week. Tuesdays meeting disbanded after nearly nine hours over disagreements over how prayers and demonstrations would be handled, as well.

At one point during the cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the room to attention and said, You will respect the discussion." At another, Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz convened an emergency meeting of his faction ministers. He told them, Stop the disproportionate discussion of the demonstrations immediately."

"Insist on what is good for the citizens health and what will stop the spread of infection, while balancing Judaism, democracy, economy and society," he stressed.

Ashkenazi accused Likud ministers of recommending a closure to stop demonstrations against the government and Netanyahu.

"I hear the health professionals say there is no reason for a general closure, he said. I want to understand why a full closure is recommended here if so. A full closure is a last resort and not a solution to demonstrations."

Justice Minister Avi Nissenkorn also blamed Likud ministers: "We agreed to a closure, but now you suddenly want a decision that will only ban demonstrations on Balfour Street, in front of the prime ministers residence.

For his part, Netanyahu explained why demonstrations must be stopped.

"If we can leave home to demonstrate, then people will also be able to go to the beach and call it protesting, he said. "Who said you have to go far to demonstrate? Let them demonstrate under the house."

He said that he supports demonstrations, but every week Israeli citizens see that they are required to celebrate the holiday alone, to comply with health guidelines, and on the other hand protestors are coming out in masses.

"The pandemic is spreading all over the world, people are losing their jobs at best and the lives of their relatives at worst, and all they care about is continuing the demonstrations against Netanyahu at all costs," Intelligence Minister Eli Cohen tweeted against Blue and White ministers. "Does their hatred of Netanyahu outweigh their desire to preserve the lives of Israeli citizens?"

At a certain point in the meeting, there was also a confrontation between Economy Minister Amir Peretz and Netanyahu.

The prime minister said he wanted to impose a full closure immediately. Peretz said, Public confidence has been broken because every two days we make a different proposal. The decisions do not last more than two days. I propose to accept the outline prepared by the attorney-general, coronavirus commissioner and the director-general of the Health Ministry.

Likud MK Haim Katz, who chairs the powerful Likud central committee, said the government and Knesset should be dispersed.

"Nothing is working," he lamented.

Interior Minister Arye Deri walked out of the meeting earlier in the day when some ministers discussed possibly shutting synagogues as early as Thursday.

Deri had said that prayer could take place in open spaces and that synagogue prayer could close entirely on other days - just not Yom Kippur.

When the Health Ministry prevents gatherings in closed spaces, we will all pray in the public space, he said. During the closure, anyone who wants to demonstrate will do so near his home.

Recall, on Tuesday after the cabinet meeting, Deri said, We are in a life-saving situation. I am willing to go to the rabbis and persuade them to pray more in the public space. But he said he cannot convince the rabbis to give up the tradition of hakafot if demonstrations continue as usual.

I am accountable to the public, he continued, I will do my best for God. We are a Jewish and democratic government, and for me Judaism is first and most important. If the government decides no to praying on Yom Kippur and yes to demonstrations, I do not know that I can stay in such a non-Jewish government.

Earlier, it appeared that the parties may have come to better terms ahead of the meeting. Gantz had posted on social media that In a democracy, the right to demonstrate and protest is sacred. The demand of those who want to pray, as the Jewish people have practiced for thousands of years, is also sacred and just. The demand of those who want to earn a decent living, return to work and take care of their child is real and just. But no less important is the right to health and security.

In addition to limiting demonstrations and prayers to 20 people in outdoor spaces, the ministers are also considering the following restrictions: closing all non-essential businesses and marketplaces; reducing public transportation substantially; stopping all outgoing flights from Ben-Gurion Airport; allowing only nuclear families to gather; and asking elderly and high-risk individuals to stay home.

The ministers are also looking to increase the abilities of the hospitals to take more patients, step up enforcement and improve the process for cutting off infection chains.

Coronavirus commissioner Prof. Ronni Gamzu spoke Wednesday morning to Radio Jerusalem and said that from his perspective, restrictions at this point should be about everything, including demonstrations There is no gathering that is not contagious... When you take off your mask and shout at demonstrations, or if in the heat of the demonstration it falls down, then it is clear what happens.

He added that the country will not open fast like last time not the education system, restaurants or leisure activities.

"Everything will be graded and slow," he said. It depends on two parameters: a low coefficient of infection and a decrease in the level of morbidity that will reduce the number of serious patients.

View post:

Likud, Blue and White spar over protests as infection soars - The Jerusalem Post

Category: Ashkenazi | Comments Off on Likud, Blue and White spar over protests as infection soars – The Jerusalem Post
Tags:

Posted By admin on September 23, 2020

100,000 march in Minsk for week 7 of Belarus protests

KYIV, Ukraine Tens of thousands of Belarusians calling for the authoritarian president to resign march through the capital as the countrys wave of protests enters its seventh week.

Hundreds of soldiers block off the center of Minsk, deploying water cannons and armored personnel carriers and erecting barbed wire barriers. Protests also take place in several other cities, including Brest and Grodno.

The crowd in Minsk includes about 100,000 people, says Ales Bialiatski, head of the Viasna human rights organization. He says dozens of demonstrators were arrested in Minsk and Grodno.

Protests began August 9 after an election that official results say gave President Alexander Lukashenko a sixth term in office; opponents and some poll workers say the results were manipulated.

Lukashenko, who has repressed opposition and independent news media during 26 years in power, has rejected suggestions of dialogue with the protesters. Many members of the Coordination Council that was formed by the opposition to push for a transition of power have been arrested or have fled the country.

The Minsk demonstrators carry the red-and-white flags that were independent Belarus national standard before being replaced in 1995, early in Lukashenkos tenure. Some bear placards depicting Lukashenko as a mustachioed cockroach.

Although protests have taken place daily since the election, the Sunday gatherings in Minsk have been by far the largest, attracting crowds of as many as 200,000 people.

Every Sunday, you are showing yourselves and the world that the Belarusian people are the power, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who was Lukashenkos main election opponent, says in a video message from Lithuania, where she is in exile.

AP

Protesters with old Belarusian national flags march during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus, September 20, 2020. (AP Photo/TUT.by)

Read the original:

FM Ashkenazi hails US declaration that UN sanctions on Iran in force - The Times of Israel

Category: Ashkenazi | Comments Off on FM Ashkenazi hails US declaration that UN sanctions on Iran in force – The Times of Israel
Tags:

Posted By admin on September 23, 2020

The Trump administration is pressuring Lebanon to open a line for direct negotiations with Israel before the elections. It seems that wishful thinking is one thing, but the reality Lebanon is experiencing, with its political components and complications is another. Washington and Israel are still hoping to make a breakthrough in the Lebanese scene, not only with regards to the formation of the new government, but also regarding claiming Lebanons gas and oil, which Israel claims to have a right to. The wishful thinking of the two has reached the point of a common belief that direct negotiations can begin between Lebanon and the occupation before the American elections.

An American delegate has revealed his administrations intentions and informed the Lebanese officials that benefitting from Lebanons oil wealth is linked to negotiating with the occupation. David Schenker, assistant head of the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs in the State Department, visited Lebanon and met with Lebanese officials and exposed the American administrations intentions behind the negotiation process for demarcating the borders with Israel. After Davids visit, it became apparent that his vision, which was not without an American trap for Lebanon, was a disguised initiative to continue pressuring the Lebanese government to drag it into negotiations beyond the demarcation of borders.

Informed sources say that Lebanon is suffering from a stifling economic crisis and worsening financial hardship, and this has opened the door for great international pressures, which have recently gone beyond demands for economic reforms, to reach the stage of political-security demands that are wrapped in an economic cover. This was clearly demonstrated during the talks conducted by Pierre Dukan, the French delegate charged with following up on the implementation of the decisions of the Cedar Conference. This was then followed up by David Schenker. The US effort is focused on finding a direct negotiation channel between the two sides, to agree on the borders of the economic waters and divide the disputed areas between them, as the situation in Lebanon has become favourable, which was not the case in the past.

READ: Aoun warns Lebanon will go to hell unless government agreed

High-ranking Israeli and American officials said, in separate conversations to Israeli news site Walla, that the American administrations goal is to achieve direct negotiations before the presidential elections in November. This would be a major political achievement for President Donald Trump, as in addition to resolving the dispute over the maritime borders, no direct political negotiations have taken place between the two sides for 30 years.

However, what is motivating the US administration to hope that it can impose its political will on the Lebanese side this time? The report indicates that conditions have become favourable in recent weeks, specifically after the catastrophic explosion in the Beirut port, and due to the repercussions of the economic crisis in Lebanon, in addition to internal criticism from the Lebanese parties of Hezbollah. These are all factors that prompted the US administration to resume its efforts to start negotiations between the two countries.

Israeli sources note that it was to this end that David Schenker visited Israel and met with Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz, who is in charge of the maritime border file on behalf of the Israeli government. He also met with the new Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi; whose office is a partner in the ongoing contacts.

According to the same sources, Schenker briefed the two ministers, Steinitz and Ashkenazi, after his return from Beirut of the contents of his talks with the Lebanese side, and presented them with an updated draft of a document of principles to start negotiations.

This article first appeared in Arabic in Addustour on 21 September 2020

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.

See the original post here:

Lebanon's oil in exchange for negotiating with the occupation - Middle East Monitor

Category: Ashkenazi | Comments Off on Lebanon’s oil in exchange for negotiating with the occupation – Middle East Monitor
Tags: