Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on September 17, 2020

VINNYTSIA, Ukraine They sang. They danced. They slumped in exhaustion on their luggage. For a second night in a row, hundreds of Hasidic Jewish pilgrims remained outdoors along a road between checkpoints on the border between Ukraine and Belarus on Tuesday, stranded by coronavirus travel restrictions.

Border guards in Ukraine have reinforced the crossing where the pilgrims are seeking to enter the country to celebrate Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, in the city of Uman, site of the grave of Rabbi Nachman, the founder of the Breslov branch of Hasidic Judaism.

As Covid-19 cases in the country ticked up, Ukraine closed its borders last month, blocking the pilgrimage, which typically draws tens of thousands of people, many coming from Israel. Israeli health officials have supported Ukraines decision.

The pilgrims began arriving at a border crossing with Belarus on Monday afternoon, according to the Ukrainian border guard service. Authorities in Belarus let the group pass, and they gathered on a road in the buffer area between the two border stations.

The men tried to convince the border guards to let them through to celebrate the new year, the most important religious holiday for Hasidim. Little boys, looking bored and sleepy, stood by watching.

The pilgrims traveled to the Novi Yarylovychi border crossing after Belarus announced that it was open, Israel Public Broadcasting said in a tweet. But the border was shut. Ukrainian authorities said the pilgrims had been warned about the border closure beforehand.

Ukraines border guard service said that 690 pilgrims had gathered along the border by Tuesday, and the agencys director, Serhiy Deyneko, said that more were expected on charter flights arriving in Belarus. Belarusian media reported a different number of pilgrims on the border, saying about 1,500 had already arrived.

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, who is Jewish, said that the border closure would be enforced. The State Border Service has enough forces and means for reliable protection of the state border, a presidential office statement said. Guards were reinforcing the border with a secondary barrier, several hundred yards inside Ukraine.

Ukraine on Tuesday reported 2,905 new cases of coronavirus in the past 24 hours. The countrys ban on foreign visitors, instituted last month, is in place until Sept. 28.

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Covid Strands Hasidic Pilgrims on Ukraine-Belarus Border - The New York Times

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Posted By admin on September 17, 2020

Ukraine on Thursday strongly warned thousands of Hasidic Jewish pilgrims who have been stuck on its border for days that it won't allow them into the country due to coronavirus restrictions.

Ukrainian authorities said about 2,000 people have gathered at the border with Belarus, in hope of traveling to the Ukrainian city of Uman to visit the grave of an important Hasidic rabbi who died in 1810, Nachman of Bratslav.

Thousands of the ultra-Orthodox Jews visit the city each September for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year. Its celebrated September18-20 this year, and some pilgrims had managed to get to Uman before Ukraine closed its borders in late August amid a surge in COVID-19 infections. Thousands of others traveled via Belarus, which hasnt barred foreign visitors from entering.

On Thursday, Ukraine's Interior Ministry official Mykhailo Apostol reaffirmed that the pilgrims will not be allowed to cross the border.

Ukraine has shut its borders to foreigners, and no exclusions will be made for the Hasidic pilgrims," Apostol told reporters. It's getting colder and we suggest that they come back to Belarus, buy tickets and go home.

Israeli Higher Education Minister Zeev Elkin tweeted Thursday that efforts to help the pilgrims enter Ukraine have failed, and called on them to return to Israel.

At one point, dozens of Hasidic pilgrims dressed in Ukrainian traditional cossack costumes sang Ukraine's national anthem and shouted Glory to Ukraine! in an apparent attempt to soften authorities' hearts.

As thousands of pilgrims spent days in the no-man's land between Belarus and Ukraine, some sleeping in makeshift tents and others on the ground, Ukraine and Belarus bickered over the standoff.

On Wednesday, Ukraines presidential office accused Belarusian authorities of issuing misleading signals to the pilgrims that they would eventually be allowed to cross the border. Belarusian officials shot back accusing Ukraine of inhumane treatment of the pilgrims, and offered to provide buses to drive the pilgrims to Uman and back to Belarus.

Ukraines presidential office alleged Wednesday that Belarusian authorities actions could be rooted in the latest tensions between the two neighbors following Belarus controversial presidential election.

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Ukraine has joined the United States and the European Union in criticizing the August9 vote, in which President Alexander Lukashenko extended his 26-year authoritarian rule, as neither free nor fair and urged Belarusian authorities to end their crackdown on protesters.

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Ukraine tells Hasidic Jewish pilgrims stuck on its border to turn back - Haaretz.com

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Posted By admin on September 17, 2020

Dozens of buses will leave midday Thursday from locations across Israel, all heading for Yirmiyahu Street 3 in Jerusalem, address of the Ger Hasidims giant study hall. These buses will carry 2,000 yeshiva students who havent been home for three weeks, during which time they were tested twice for the coronavirus.

People agree to give up seeing their wives and children for this, say members of this Hasidic group. Their journey will not end when they alight from the buses and enter the study hall, but only after a week and a half, after Yom Kippur, when they finally go home.

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Until that time, they will remain closed inside, unable to leave. What wont one do to participate in the Rosh Hashanah prayer with the admor, their spiritual leader? In addition to this group, 1,000 additional Hasidim who won a special lottery earlier this year will pray in an adjacent building, with the admor. The other 2,000 will hear the prayers from another building. In normal years, 18,000 men and 4,000 women attend these prayers. This year, women will have to stay home, with only 1,000 men attending the prayers.

The special plan devised for the Ger Hasidim came about after a visit to the location by epidemiologist Prof. Itamar Grotto, who is responsible for the ultra-Orthodox population in the fight against the virus, as well as representatives of a council for yeshivas and representatives of the Ger Hasidim.

The permission given for 1,000 participants is congruent with the criteria for conducting synagogue prayers, says a senior Ger Hasid. Thats why we dont see any problem with it or think it needs special approval. Despite this, a source at the Health Ministry told Haaretz that the Ger admor was asked not to proceed without approval, so talks with the ministry continue.

The total obedience to the admor among Ger Hasidim has turned out to be a great advantage during the pandemic. The admor, who is known to be very strict on health issues, instructed his flock to take every precaution and abide by all Health Ministry regulations. Thus, one can hardly see a Ger Hasid walking around without a mask. The admors house has been fitted with new systems and partitions, estimated to have cost more than 100,000 shekels ($29,000), in an attempt to maintain his isolation while meeting only a handful of people.

Thus, the Ger Hasidim launched an unprecedented logistical campaign to enable adherence to ministry guidelines and to allow a large as possible a prayer gathering at Rosh Hashanah. The study hall was divided into strictly separated capsules, with every congregant familiar with the exact point he enters and the exact seat he occupies.

We gave out tickets, setting up teams wearing vests, the works! says a senior Ger Hasid.

The investment in the adjacent building, where the 2,000 students will remain, is unusual by any criterion, and is estimated to have cost the group 7 million shekels. In recent days, they set up three huge ritual baths there, with 100 showers. Two floors have been set aside as dormitories.

The lower floor will have the baths and showers, the second floor the dining area and the third floor the study area. The two floors above that contain the dormitories, says this Hasid.

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According to a draft of this plan obtained by Haaretz, the Ger Hasidim received a dispensation to bring 1,000 people into the study hall, due to the special conditions there and the size of the area (almost 40,000 square feet). The compound has 300 bathrooms, says the plan. The entry and exit routes of the different capsules will be marked and separated. Worshippers will enter and leave through designated doors.

Regarding the other study hall, the plan calls for documenting and registering everyone, including name, ID number, address, phone and capsule number. Registration will be managed by a person responsible for handling the pandemic, who will report to the district health office and to the headquarters of the campaign against the virus.

The Ger Hasidim are required to appoint a coronavirus supervisor for each group. He will have to make sure that procedures are implemented and document the health status of each group daily, including taking temperatures and interrogating worshippers.

The plans calls for traveling to Jerusalem only on designated buses leaving the different yeshivas, making no stops along the way. Priority will be given to bus drivers who are part of the community, otherwise a six-foot distance will be maintained between drivers and passengers.

The senior Geur Hasid says that some yeshivas already have experience in moving their students somewhere else under controlled conditions. A few weeks ago, everyone in the Hevron yeshiva went to the beach. They left at 1 A.M., got on the bus, and were at the beach for a few hours before returning. As long as they dont come in contact with someone from the outside there is no problem, he says.

A source at the Health Ministry told Haaretz that the plan for the 1,000 has already been approved, and that the one for 2,000 students is still under review. Logically, it should also be approved, but there are some capsules with sick people, so this is still under discussion, he said.

A Zoom meeting about this issue was held on Wednesday. Health Ministry officials asked for more details. No approval has been given yet, but the likelihood that it will is great. This group is the one meticulously sticking to guidelines. Theyve built an empire there, said one source. We realize that it will be difficult to explain to the public what the difference is between prayers there and everywhere else.

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Thousands of Ger Hasidim to hunker down together in Jerusalem over High Holy Days: No worries - Haaretz.com

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Posted By admin on September 17, 2020

KIEV: Around 1,000 Hasidic Jews were massed on Ukraines border Thursday, with some vowing to stay, even though Kiev refused their entry citing coronavirus restrictions and Israel urged them to return.Tens of thousands of Hasidic Jews travel to the central Ukrainian city of Uman every Jewish New Year which falls on September 18-20 this year to visit the tomb of Rabbi Nahman, the founder of the Breslov Hasidic movement.The mainly American, French and Israeli believers departed for Uman this year even though both the Ukrainian and Israeli governments last month urged them not to travel because of the pandemic.Kiev has closed its borders for most of the month of September but the pilgrims attempted to bypass the restrictions by traveling through Belarus.Speaking to AFP from the Ukrainian-Belarusian border, one of ultra-Orthodox pilgrims, Itsik Cohen, said the believers were hoping for divine intervention.Im waiting and praying that they open the borders, so we can have the privilege of being with our Rabbi, God willing, said Cohen, an Israeli Breslov Hassid from Jerusalem.We believe in God, and if God wants it this way, we need to do anything we can to show our determination, to the very last minute.Ukrainian authorities said the situation had not changed since Monday when crowds of believers began building up on the closed Ukraine border and pilgrims were still refusing to leave.A video released by Ukraines border guards on Thursday showed tents and sleeping bags on the roadside along with piles of garbage.They are dancing, they are singing, they are praying, the spokesman for the Ukrainian border guard service, Andriy Demchenko, told AFP.He said that some 1,000 pilgrims had reached the no-mans land at several border crossings, while the total number of believers in Belarus hoping to cross was closer to 2,000.Ultra-Orthodox members of the Israeli coalition had pressed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to enable the tradition, despite the objection of health officials who feared the crowded mass event would increase contagion.But an Israeli minister indicated Thursday that efforts to enable ultra-Orthodox believers access to Uman had failed.Ukraine announced it wouldnt allow entry via border crossings or any form of small delegation, Higher Education and Water Minister Zeev Elkin, who is Ukrainian-born, said on Twitter.I call on our citizens to return to Israel and uphold the quarantine instructions upon their arrival.Moshe Garcin, a 44-year-old pilgrim who arrived in Uman days before Ukraine closed its borders, told AFP that its not for them (Israel government) to say this.And pilgrim Cohen dismissed the Israeli ministers call.Elkin doesnt determine the reality, theres a God in the world, he said.Both Ukraine and Israel are keen to avoid a spike in coronavirus infections, with Kiev closing the borders to foreigners until late September.Israel is set to be the first developed country to enforce a second nationwide shutdown, to begin on Friday afternoon.The Belarus border guard service said 1,216 people had attempted to cross since Monday, including 337 children.The pilgrims standoff on the border has led to diplomatic tensions between Ukraine and Belarus.Ukrainian authorities on Wednesday accused Belarus of giving them false hope of entering despite the restrictions by spreading rumors that the Ukrainian border may still be open to foreigners.Minsk has called on Kiev to open dialogue with the pilgrims and show respect for their rights.The Red Cross came and gave us water, hot water and cold water and tea, and provided medical care to whoever needed it, pilgrim Cohen said.Meanwhile, up to 3,000 Hasidic Jews have arrived in Uman for the celebrations, local police said. Law enforcement has tightened security near Rabbi Nachmans tomb where pilgrims have congregated.Ukraine has reported more than 166,000 cases of coronavirus and 3,400 fatalities.On Thursday, Ukraine reported a new daily record of 3,584 coronavirus infections.

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Burned out and abused: French COVID-19 testers strike over work conditions - Arab News

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Posted By admin on September 15, 2020

When is a door not a door? Well, if youre a member of Beth Jacob Congregation in Oakland and are tasked with helping to make a community eruv, or boundary used on Shabbat, you have to get creative.

We call them canisters, said Rabbi Gershon Albert, spiritual leader of the Modern Orthodox synagogue.

The devices, each a thin cylinder a few feet tall, are among the ingenious solutions the community has found to set up an eruv, something that has been in the works for two decades.

An eruv is a halachic device that essentially expands the boundaries of a private, enclosed space in which Jews are permitted to carry certain items on Shabbat. By demarcating a neighborhood with an eruv, it makes the whole neighborhood a kind of communal private space.

We feel really fortunate, really blessed weve been able to arrive at this moment, Albert said.

Within a properly constructed eruv, it is permissible to push a stroller or wheelchair to the synagogue on Shabbat, for example, something that would normally not be allowed in a public space. Without an eruv, families with small kids or older members who cant walk to synagogue are shut out from worship services and the social life of the congregation.

The process of mapping out the eruv is painstaking, with every inch of ground surveyed for a perimeter that can be used as part of the wall, or converted into one. That means identifying existing wires, fences and even slopes that can be considered, halachically, as boundaries.

In many cities, utility poles and wires do the brunt of the work. Rabbi Judah Dardik, the rabbi of Beth Jacob until 2014, called telephone poles the bread and butter of an eruv. But in many neighborhoods of Oakland, the wires are underground.

Underground wires dont do you any good in making a door-frame shape, he told J. by phone from his home in Israel. Nobodys going to allow the Jewish community to be putting up poles and wires, which I totally respect. The idea here is dont create an eyesore.

On the other hand, Oakland does have one thing that helps in making an eruv. One of the benefits of being in Oakland, in spite of how challenging it is, is the houses are so close together, Albert said, and small gaps in an eruv are permitted under some circumstances.

But bigger spaces still had to be surmounted, and thats where the canisters come in. Like city gates, they constitute doors that can complete the integrity of the eruv. They use string and are mounted on congregants houses.

If you were to open them, youd have from a halachic standpoint a portable door, Albert said. Our community spent significant resources to work with engineering firms to create the canisters.

One of the congregants who volunteered to help with the eruv was Raphie Shorser. After a serious bike accident in April, he began walking in his neighborhood with an eye to eruv-building. It was especially important for him, as he and his wife were expecting a baby.

Some people care, some people dont, he said. For people who do care, it can make a very big difference in terms of their quality of life.

As he walked, he kept an eye out for wires and fences, but he said it was the canisters that were the key to making the eruv complete.

Ninety-nine percent kosher is a hundred precent nonkosher, he said. Its the same thing with an eruv. You can have 99 percent of it up, but without that last percent its useless.

The new eruv covers an area with a circumference of around 10 miles in a neighborhood east of Lake Merritt, and its the fruition of work going back about 20 years, starting with Dardiks predecessor and continuing under Dardik. On Sept. 10, Dardik joined Albert and the community for a virtual celebration and lchaim. The eruvs construction was supervised by an expert who has helped in setting up more than 60 eruvs in the United States, Albert said.

Now that its up, it will be checked weekly to make sure everything is correct.

The eruv is only as good as much upkeep is put into it, said Albert, who came to Beth Jacob in 2014. We take that very seriously.

Status updates will be posted on the Beth Jacob website, which also has a map of the eruv and information on tricky spots like the following: Utility pole on Leimert Blvd.: Must walk on sidewalk between house and utility pole.

Albert praised the community volunteers who have worked on the eruv over the years, especially their concerted effort in the last few months to get it done. A little more than half of Beth Jacobs families live within the current eruv, so expansion plans are already in the works.

There are also two eruvs in San Francisco (in the Richmond District and in the Sunset), one that encompasses parts of Berkeley and Albany, and one in Palo Alto. All mark places where Orthodox families have created a community. But Dardik said it is important not to think of the eruv as an enclosure, and especially not as something meant to separate Jews from the world at large.

Its not about walls, or blocking anyone, he said. Its about demarcating the footprint of a community.

For Albert, getting it done just in time for Rosh Hashanah is very special, especially considering the years of work that have gone into it.

It just feels like the hand of God giving us something to rejoice in, he said.

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Oakland synagogue celebrates new year with long-awaited eruv J. - The Jewish News of Northern California

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Posted By admin on September 15, 2020

(JTA) Jerusalems Great Synagogue will be closed during the High Holidays for the first time since it opened more than 60 years ago.

In a statement on Sunday, the synagogue cited the risk of worshippers passing the coronavirus to others. Israel is currently in the process of implementing a second nationwide lockdown in response to an alarming rise in COVID-19 cases.

The deciding consideration was the personal safety of every one of you, the statement said. Even if we stand by these [lockdown rules], there is still a risk. One person makes a mistake; one person is positive [for the coronavirus] and did not know; one person who can infect another. The Great Synagogue wants to prevent this risk [from affecting] every one of you.

The Orthodox synagogue, which first opened for prayer in 1958, seats 850 men and 550 women.

The congregation was founded in 1958 within the Heichal Shlomo building, which was at the time the seat of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel. As the number of worshippers grew, a larger synagogue was built on the property next to Heichal Shlomo, in the style of the Temple in Jerusalem, and dedicated in 1982. Chief Rabbis, Israeli presidents, Prime Ministers, Knesset members and judges have attended services at the synagogue. Tourists frequently visit on Friday night to hear the Orthodox synagogues cantor and choir.

The government on Sunday evening announced the regulations for the upcoming three-week lockdown, which wall start on Rosh Hashanah and last until after the Sukkot holiday in early October.

The post Jerusalems Great Synagogue will be closed for the High Holidays for the first time appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

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Jerusalems Great Synagogue will be closed for the High Holidays for the first time - Cleveland Jewish News

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Posted By admin on September 15, 2020

(September 15, 2020 / JNS) After an arson attempt at The Way Christian Church church in Berkeley, the pastor and the media blamed it on a racist who was lashing out at the churchs Black Lives Matter banner.

[Pastor Mike] McBride is now considering whether his decades long work challenging police brutality, registering people of faith to vote, or speaking out against white supremacy irritated the suspected arsonist, or whether they were angered by the Black Lives Matter sign hanging from the church, a press release from the church announced.

As our nation continues to confront our dark history of racism, I am glad that the parishioners of The Way and Pastor Mike McBride, who have been at the forefront of social justice and the Black Lives Matter movement, are safe, Mayor Jesse Arregundeclared. Anti-Black hate, and all forms of racism, has no place in Berkeley.

A week later, Shameka Latoya Adams was arrested for a similar arson attempt against the Congregation Netivot Shalom synagogueon the same block. Its unknown if Shameka had also tried to set the fire at The Way Christian Church, but the synagogue fire received far less attention. Nor did anyone suggest that trying to set fire to a synagogue might be anti-Semitic.

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The Berkeley synagogue arson was another incident in a violent year, but not an isolated one.

In August, that same month, the Chabad Jewish Center in Portland suffered two arson attempts in five days. The first fire had been dismissed as an electrical issue, but in the second case, the gas and power had beenshut off, and the building had beenboarded up with no one inside.

The second fire was deemed suspicious and led to an FBI investigation.

This was not the first time Chabad centers had been targeted. Last year,two fires were setat the Chabad Center for Jewish Life in Arlington, Massachusetts, and a third fire at the Chabad Jewish Center in Needham.

The third synagogue arson in August took place at the University of Delaware Chabads Center for Jewish Life. After firefighters battled the blaze for three hours, the estimated damage stood at around $200,000. The fire marshal deemed it a case of arson and launched an investigation.

Three synagogue arsons in one month are as notable as the lack of interest in the pattern.

Berkeley and Portland are notorious incubators of leftist radicalism, and the University of Delaware takes pride in being both diverse and progressive.

Theres an understandable discomfort when talking about why attacks against Jews keep happening in some of the most progressive parts of the country. And theres often just as much discomfort when confronting the perpetrators of some of the attacks on synagogues.

Shameka Latoya Adams has been described as a black woman, but the booking report lists Shameka as male. In May of last year, a man was caught on video hurling molotov cocktails at Congregation Anshe Sholom Bnai Israel in Chicago. The arson attempt failed and the suspect was apparently never caught, but the police were looking for a black male.

Last March, Andrew Costas, a Satanist, and his girlfriend, hadplotted attackson 13 churches and synagogues in Maryland. Costas was caught after he firebombed a Catholic church and defaced a synagogue with Nazi swastikas as part of a ritual to prove he was the antichrist.

While white supremacists have carried out the deadliest attacks on synagogues in recent years with mass shootings at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh and an attack in Poway, California, the ongoing drumbeat of violence often comes from the blight of a failed society.

In March 2020, ahomeless womanwas arrestedafter startinga fire at Temple Emanuel in Pueblo, Colorado. The temple had been previously targeted in a white supremacist bomb plot in November of last year.

A homeless man had previously started a fire that destroyed the 119-year old Adas Israel Synagogue in Duluth, Minnesota, in the fall of last year. Also in the fall, a manhad set fireto a backpack on the steps of the Park Slope Jewish Center in Brooklyn, New York on Yom Kippur.

While targeted anti-Semitic violence is very much a reality, the collapse of law and order, the political philosophy that turned over public spaces to mentally unstable vagrants and junkies, has a heavy ongoing cost. The idea that there is a firm dividing line between racist violence and social instability, between hate and dysfunction, is politically appealing to liberals, but not true.

Social collapse hurts everyone. Especially those who are vulnerable and have a lot to lose.

An unstable society is more likely to spawn violent fanatics, white and black nationalists seeking meaning and purpose in a world that no longer seems to offer them one, not to mention criminals and crazies who will follow their impulses, instincts and the voices in their heads.

The wave of Black Lives Matter violencealready resultedinmultiple attacks on synagogues. But, even further out of the spotlight, the rising extremism and instability is taking its toll.

And thats one reason why the media and liberal organizations dont want to talk about it.

When California Jewish organizations thought that a black church had been attacked because it had flown a Black Lives Matter banner, they issued outraged statements blasting racism.

But when the nearby Congregation Netivot Shalom suffered an arson attempt and the alleged perpetrator inconveniently proved to be a black transgender person, the JCRC and the other organizations that had rushed out statements earlier maintained an uncomfortable silence.

This double game is being played after the fires in Portland and at the University of Delaware as the federations and their local papers wait to find out who the perpetrators of the arson are.

Not all burning synagogues are created equal. Some are condemned, many are ignored.

A white supremacist planting a bomb is firmly condemned, but a black man throwing molotov cocktails at a synagogue is carefully not discussed. The rising tide of homeless violence, and its spillover into synagogue robberies and arson, is not a fit subject for social justice temples.

The countrys progressive cities are becoming wastelands of violence. And leaders who care more about social justice and the buzzwords of the political moment cant afford to notice it.

But meanwhile, synagogues are burning.

Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is an investigative journalist and writer focusing on the radical left and Islamic terrorism.

This article was first published by FrontPage Magazine.

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Three synagogue arsons in one month in the most progressive US cities - JNS.org

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Posted By admin on September 15, 2020

Sept. 14, 2020 By Allie Griffin

A Queens resident launched a petition Sunday to protect a Rego Park synagogue, a diner and a group of small businesses from the wrecking ball.

A developer who owns the triangular lot at 98-81 Queens Blvd. that includes Ohr Natan Synagogue, the Tower Diner and several small businesses wants to knock down the existing buildings to make way for a 16-story mixed-use building.

RJ Capital Holdings, under the name Trylon LLC, filed an application in June to rezone the property in order for it to construct the development that would feature 170 apartments and 118,000 square feet of commercial space. Forest Hills Post was first to report on the application last month.

Michael Conigliaro, who once ran against State Sen. Joseph Addabbo in District 15 as a Republican, launched the petition that calls on city officials to reject the rezoning application.

This proposal must NOT be permitted, as it would also do immeasurable harm to the surrounding community by destroying historic buildings, removing small businesses with no guarantee of ever reopening, blocking light and air, & increasing traffic and congestion, Conigliaro wrote in the petition.

The synagogue occupies the building that once was the historic Art Deco-styled Trylon Theater, which opened in 1939 and closed in 1999. It serves a congregation of roughly 1,000 members, mostly residents of Rego Park and Forest Hills.

The Tower Diner is housed in what was once a colonial bank building and still features a tall clock tower.

Nearby residents dont want the historic buildings to be destroyed for an apartment complex. More than 100 people have signed the petition thus far.

This is one of the most cultural, social, significant, historical, and architectural sites of the community and is on a list of other local sites that are currently endangered or have already been demolished, Conigliaro said in the petition. These sites are unofficial landmarks, which are about to be lost forever.

RJ Capital Holdings has promised to provide space for the synagogue in the new building it constructs. The developers said they will reach out to additional tenants to see if they would be interested in renting space once the new development is completed as well.

The developers previously told the Queens Post that they aim to break ground in 2022, but the construction timeline is dependent on when the public review process (ULURP) can begin and how the process unfolds.

The developer is waiting on the Dept. of City Planning to certify the project in order for the public review process to take place.

The ULURP process typically takes seven months after the plans are certified by City Planning. The plans as required by ULURP will need to be reviewed by Community Board 6 and the Queens Borough President, and then be approved by the City Planning Commission and City Council.

Residents can weigh in on the proposal at public hearings during the review process and the City Council has the ultimate power to reject the application.

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Petition Launched to Save Rego Park Synagogue and Diner from Demolition - Forest Hills Post

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Posted By admin on September 15, 2020

The United Synagogue has said it is amazed at how quickly synagogues have adapted to government guidance on what Jews can and cant do during this months High Holy Days.

If follows the issuance of detailed rules on Monday to ensure that Jewish gatherings over the festive season including for Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot limit the spread of coronavirus, after consultation with Public Health England.

There were fears that rising infection rates and the Governments new rule of six would mean the effective cancellation of this years High Holy Days, but the guidance confirmed that services can take place in synagogues.

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Because of the challenges of keeping everyone socially-distanced and the demand for places, communities have had to quickly adapt their plans, running additional minyanim and recruiting extra baalei tefillah (prayer/service leaders), said Jo Grose, director of communities at the United Synagogue (US).

It is of course disappointing that some of our communities have had to relocate their planned programming and services in gardens but we have been amazed at the speed at which they have found new locations and reorganised their plans.

Shuls are supporting members through honey cake drop-offs, food parcels, arts and crafts programmes for children and even a bus for the rabbinic team to drive by and greet people, she said, with communities supporting those who are self-isolating through phone calls, packages and medicine drop-offs.

Grose said the US had extremely positive engagement with public health officials. They listened to and heard the challenges and concerns of the Jewish community and we thank them for their time, she said.

The governments new Rule of 6 means that many Jewish families wont be able to enjoy a large festival meal together as they would do in usual years. We know this is very disappointing but also know our community recognises the urgent public health need to do what we can to bring the disease under control.

Synagogues are being told to ensure social distancing and avoid communal prayer shawls and books, while those blowing the shofar for Rosh Hashanah must keep two metres from other worshippers and blow it away from people, to minimise the chance of spreading the virus through droplets.

Mask-wearing worshippers, who must pre-book to attend, are being told to bring their own prayer books, while in shul microphones are being used where possible, and where the synagogues leaders deem the use of electronic equipment acceptable.

The guidance acknowledges that the Rule of Six limiting social gatherings to six people from a maximum of two households will have a particular impact on Sukkot, the festivals focus being one of hospitality.

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United Synagogue 'amazed' at speed of shuls adapting to new Covid-19 rules - Jewish News

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Posted By admin on September 15, 2020

Morning prayer service (Shacharit) in Fair Lawn takes place at the back of Congregation Shomrei Torah in Fair Lawn on 09/10/20. NorthJersey.com

Most years, a high holiday crowd of 3,300 packsthe sanctuary of TempleEmanu-El in Closter to recite ancient prayers, sing holiday tunes and listen to the blasts of the shofar, the ram's horn traditionally blown during Judaism's most sacred holiday.

This year,services at the Conservative temple will have more of a Hollywood feel.

Rabbi David-Seth Kirshner normally spends the weeks preceding Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippurcraftingsermons and preparing menus for dozens of dinner guests. Instead, he's playing himself on the set of a virtual high-holiday extravaganza.

"It's like shooting a live television show," said Kirshner. "It meant havinga film crew around with cameras and lights and markers and directors that created a sense of excitement and even freneticism, which made it feel likewe were filming 'Keeping the Faith' meets 'Top Gun II.'"

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The high holiday period that opens Friday evening is usually a time of spiritual introspection and self-improvement for Jews. But amid coronavirus fears and social distancing restrictions, congregations across North Jersey are being forced to get creative, with high production-value virtual performances, outdoor services and shofar house calls attempting to bring ancient traditions to the faithful.

The pandemic provokes a greater urgency forprayer, local rabbis said, as well as adauntingchallenge to uplift their flocks while keeping them safe.

"We arestill goingto provide one ofthe most meaningfuland powerful high holiday services our congregationhas everexperienced," saidRabbi Meeka Simerly of Temple Beth Tikvah in Wayne. She'll be livestreaming from an empty sanctuary this yeara "painful" but necessary concession.

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Rosh Hashana, the Jewish new year, begins on the eve of Sept. 18 and is typically celebrated with synagogue services, festive meals with ritual foods, and sounding the shofar, whose piercingcry aims to inspire repentance.

Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, begins at sundown on Sept. 27, and is generally observed by abstaining from food and drink, withmuch of the day spent in synagogue.

As worshipers around the world prepare to usher in the Jewish new year of 5781 amid COVID concerns, thecelebrations are being reimagined.

Houses of worship around New Jersey closed in late March, after Gov.Phil Murphy bannedlarge gatherings. Restrictions haveeased in recent weeks, and indoor prayer services have resumed in some places, albeitwith limited attendance and strict guidelinesin place.

Many conservative and reform congregations embraced onlineservices when the outbreak began. With the high holidays upon them, synagogues are upping the ante, hiring professional production companies to create sophisticated digital events with dress rehearsals, promotional videos emailed to congregants and prerecorded performances from choirs and cantors.

The goal, clergy say, is to create a spiritual feeling and a community atmosphere, rather than a sense that someone is watching a movie fromtheir sofa.

Rabbi David-Seth Kirshner of Temple Emanu-El(Photo: Temple Emanu-El)

The end resultwill bring worshipersthe familiar components ofthe high holiday service, including"thesermons and vignettes from the clergy, tunes they know from the cantor and rolesthat people in our congregation have had for years," said Temple Emanu-El's Kirshner,whose temple will also offer in-person services with limited attendance.

At Temple Beth Rishon in Wyckoff, musician Adam Fox will lead services expected to be streamed to almost 1,000 members. He'll sing from the sanctuary, while masked, accompanied by a pianist and one other singer, but no choir. Congregants will un-mute themselves during the Zoom broadcast to recite readings and blessings.

"Beth Rishon is very musically inclined and we had to figure out how to bring musical elements to our virtual format while being socially distant," Fox said.

In Teaneck, Congregation Beth Sholom will offer a hybrid affair with severalsmall, in-person prayer services inaddition to a livestream for those who preferto stay home. Putting together an infrastructure for the two parallel systems has been a tremendous effort, said Rabbi Joel Pitkowsky. Rain could complicate things even further, he said.

Pitkowisky hopes congregants of the Conservative temple will find meaning in the holidays this year, despite all of the changes. His goal, he said, is to help people feelconnected to community and God at a a time when so many feel isolated and alone.

"We don't want to just get the holidaysdone. We want it to be an amazing religious experience."

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State regulations permit indoor religious services limited to25%of a room's capacity, but capped at 150 people regardless of the size of the room, a spokesman for the governor's office said this week. There are no numerical limits on outdoor religious services or worship under tents with open sides.

Some synagogues don't have the option ofgoingdigital: Orthodox Jews, who are prohibited from usingelectronics on the high holidays, are mainly planningsmall, socially distanced services in tents, backyards or indoors with social distancing restrictions in place.

The Jewish Center of Teaneck, an Orthodox synagogue, will significantly shorten its normalhours-long prayer service, allowing for smaller, multiple in-person gatherings.

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"Everyone will be wearing masks. There will be less singing and abbreviated services so it will be more streamlined," said Rabbi Daniel Fridman. Several piyutim, orliturgical poems, will beeliminated because they are not a required part of the service, he said. But such changes will not impact the essence of the holidays or the spiritual feeling, according to Fridman.

Some of us congregants feel bad that they haven't attended synagogue in months due to the pandemic. Fridmanreassuresthem that it's okay. "According toJewish law, health takes precedence over everything,"he said. "If anyone feels unsafe attending services, they should pray at home."

Fridman plans to makehouse calls as well, albeit outdoors,with his shofar so that everyone who wants to can hear the blowing of the ram's horn for the holiday.

Rabbi Abe Weintraub opens the Sefer Torah during the outdoor morning prayer services (Shacharit in Hebrew) at the back of Congregation Shomrei Torah in Fair Lawn on 09/10/20. (Photo: Mitsu Yasukawa/Northjersey.com)

In a year when it's difficult for communities to gather, innovations abound. Some temples are holding holiday sing-a-longs on Zoomand distributing giftbags. Rabbis are making hundreds of phone calls and sending emails to check in on their flock. Many have ramped up online learning and prayer programsin the lead-up to the high holidays.

Temple Emanu-El and Temple Beth Rishon will hold drive-by shofar blowingfor congregants and distribute baskets with apples and honey, traditionalRosh Hashana foods that symbolize a sweet new year. Several congregations, such as Temple Sinai of Bergen Countyin Tenafly, are holding outdoor, socially distanced Tashlich services, in which people symbolically "cast away" their sins near a body of water.

Congregation Shomrei Torah in Fair Lawn, an Orthodox synagogue, has invited community members to submit their spiritual reflections to a journal called 2020 Visions. And its leader, Rabbi Andrew Markowitz, is running a book club over Zoom focused on repentance.

"The most important thing to us right now as we are slowly reopening our synagogue is that everything that we do is done in a safeand healthy manner," he said.

Deena Yellin covers religion for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to her work covering how the spiritual intersects with our daily lives,please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email:yellin@northjersey.comTwitter:@deenayellin

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NJ Jews will adapt high holidays to the COVID crisis with TV shows and shofar house calls - NorthJersey.com

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